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There are few
makes of car that can boast a history as fascinating as Alfa Romeo's. A
brilliant past that has produced, and continues to produce, a precious
historical and cultural heritage that is made constantly available to fans and
the general public through the Alfa Romeo historical association.
Created to promote and safeguard the brand, and to support marketing
initiatives, it has become a real living cultural centre which features a
display of cars and an archive of rare documents, and also participates actively
in international events.
These occasions allow the public to take a close, admiring look at precious,
unique, authentic models that have made racing history and are still fully
functional. The centre also interacts with and supports the thousands of
collectors who belong to the 300 or so clubs all over the world: they include 92
clubs in the USA, 150 in Europe, 7 in Africa and 3 in Oceania.
In 2004, the Alfa Romeo Automobilismo Storico team took part in twelve
international races, including a revival of the Mille Miglia, the Nuvolari Grand
Prix (won by the official Alfa Romeo 1750 SS driven by Viaro-Mair, while the
Ladies' Cup was won by the team of Oberti/Grimaldi in a 750 competizione), and
the revival of the Mille Miglia disputed a few days ago in Japan and won by the
Alfa Romeo Disco Volante Coupé, driven by the official team of Viaro-Mair.
A large team of Alfa Romeo veteran cars competed in the Milan-San Remo Cup, the
Winter Marathon, the 2000 km Durch Deutschland, the Suisse-Paris Raid and the
Vienna-Trieste.
We should mention the success of Phil Hill in the Le Mans Classic at the wheel
of an Alfa Romeo 6C 3000 CM coupé, and the many successes of the Alfa Romeo
Giulietta Ti in the European Historical Touring Car Championship, driven by
Marco Cajani for the Portello stable, which earned him the overall victory.
The Giulietta celebrated its 50th anniversary this year and was the guest of
honour at numerous events, drawing together hundreds of cars from all over the
world: from Japan to South Africa, the United Kingdom, Germany, Holland, Belgium
and Finland.
These events included the spectacular rallies organised at the Alfa Romeo
Historical Museum, the Balocco test track (another historical Alfa location),
Piazza del Duomo in Milan, and the inauguration of an exhibition at the Palazzo
della Ragione, with the orchestra from La Scala concluding the festivities in
the square in front of the Royal Palace.
And the Giulietta was also celebrated in the United States, in August and at the
recent Columbus Day festivities held in New York, with the assistance of the
Alfa fans of America.
We cannot overlook the charity work done by the Alfa Romeo Historical
Association, with 'Angelo dei Bimbi' (the Children's Angel), an initiative
organised with the American racing driver Sylvia Oberti, who has collected money
for hospitals by competing in motor races, as well as donating videogames and
DVD players to young patients.
The operation recalls a similar initiative undertaken by Alfa Romeo many years
ago, after the Second World War, with the famous 'Angel de los Ninos' aircraft.
And finally, Alfa Romeo's glorious tradition is kept alive by the Alfa Romeo
Historical Museum in Arese, which received more than 5000 visitors in the first
six months of 2004. Open, booking is necessary, from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to
Friday, the museum displays about 100 cars in an area of 5000 square metres, and
more than half of them function perfectly.
The historical archive has proved a precious source of information for
journalists and fans from all over the world: suffice it to say that it gave out
1500 photographs, 140 technical publications, films, drawings and almost 2000
written answers to technical and historical questions.
The historical
archive has also collaborated on the publication of several books, from the
story of Nuvolari to the history of the Giulietta, the history of Matta and even
the history of the trolleybus.
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