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Set to be
the undisputed star of Gooding & Co's inaugural Amelia
Island Auction, which takes place tomorrow, will be the
stunning and legendary recreation of the 1939 Alfa Romeo
6C 1500 SS Aerodinamica with coachwork by Touring, built
on one of the original chassis in the final project
carried out by Ing. Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni.
The story of the
authentic pre-war car and Touring's 'Aerodinamica' project
with enveloping fully-aerodynamic bodywork, to be years
later recreated by Anderloni along with the craftsman's
skills of Dino Cognolato, is one of automotive history's
finest chapters, and this unique car is expected to fetch
between US$800,000-1,300,000 when it goes under the hammer
on Friday.
Summary
The Berlinetta
Aerodinamica was the ultimate evolution of Carrozzeria
Touring’s technical and aesthetic achievements prior to
WWII. Conceived for the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1939, the Alfa
Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport Berlinetta Aerodinamica was the
refined successor to the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 Le Mans
Berlinetta. Its wind-swept lines and fully integrated
fenders are a testimony to Touring’s advanced thinking – it
is the pinnacle of pre-war Italian design combining the best
of elegance, aerodynamics and competitive purpose.
The original
Berlinetta Aerodinamica was last seen at the Mille Miglia
in 1940 and unfortunately never surfaced in 70 years that
followed. There are no known records of the exact chassis
that carried the 1939 Aerodinamica Berlinetta coachwork by
Carrozzeria Touring. Opinions vary as to whether one or two
examples were built and, despite the painstaking research by
numerous Alfa Romeo historians, the full story remains
unresolved.
According to
Luigi Fusi in Alfa Romeo All Cars from 1910, only 33
pre-war 6C 2500 Super Sport chassis were built by Alfa Romeo
and this car is based on one of these rare competition
chassis. The car was found in Eastern Europe in 1989 just
following re-unification. At that time, the chassis carried
post-war cabriolet coachwork created by an unknown builder,
and a pre-war 6C 2500 engine that remains with the car. The
cabriolet coachwork was later removed and the chassis was
carefully examined and declared an authentic 2700 mm pre-war
6C 2500 SS chassis by Automotoclub Storica Italia (ASI).
There is no known record of its original coachwork.
After a several
years of planning, an ambitious effort was initiated to
re-create the 1939 Touring Aerodinamica Berlinetta
Superleggera coachwork. The project was realized through a
collaboration between Ing. Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni,
the former head of Carrozzeria Touring, and master
coachbuilder Dino Cognolato of Vigonza, Italy. By 2001, the
main aspects of the coachwork were completed and Ing.
Anderloni unequivocally declared it a “faithful
reconstruction of the Berlinetta Aerodinamica Integrale
executed with original systems and methods of the Touring
body works in 1939.” He further stated he was “satisfied
having participated in this demanding endeavor and having
contributed to getting the closest possible to the vanished
original.” Ing. Anderloni sadly passed away in 2003. This
was his final major project – a lasting tribute to his
father’s work and heritage of Carrozzeria Touring.
The car was
purchased in 2003 by its current owner and the demanding
restoration effort was completed in Italy in 2007. The final
coachwork and exquisite details were finished by Ing.
Cognolato and the mechanical aspects were completed by Nino
Epifani in a manner consistent with period Super Sport
specifications.
Restoration and
Reconstruction
In 1989, this 6C
2500 SS, chassis 915080, was rescued from an obscure
existence in Eastern Europe. Upon its arrival in Germany
during August 1990, Fahrschule Kandler GmbH offered the Alfa
Romeo eventually selling it to Mr. Heinz Jasper of
Wuppertal, Germany. Around that time, Mr. Jasper registered
his car with chassis no. 915080 and engine 923882 with the
6C 1900/2500 Registry.
In 1994, Mr.
Jasper sold the Alfa Romeo to a prominent Italian collector
who then brought the car to Dino Cognolato’s Carrozzeria
Nova Rinascente in Vigoza, Italy. When the post-war body
was removed, discovered underneath was a remarkably
well-preserved example of the rare 6C 2500 SS chassis. The
side rails were intact, as were all of the cross-members,
except for the differential support which had been modified
and moved rearward to accommodate a non-original
differential. The front cross member bearing the chassis
number was X-rayed to confirm the originality of the
stamping. The chassis was subsequently authenticated by the
ASI National Technical Commission which confirmed it as an
original pre-war Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS 2,700 mm chassis. A
correct prewar Alfa Romeo rear end was eventually sourced
and the differential support was carefully repaired to the
original, factory specification.
Once the bare
chassis was in proper order, Ing. Carlo Felice Bianchi
Anderloni (1916 – 2003) was contacted and told of a special
project. The discovery of this rare SS chassis would be an
exciting opportunity to re-create one of his family’s most
important works that had been lost to time – the strikingly
modern and influential 6C 2500 SS Berlinetta Aerodinamica.
The reconstruction of the Berlinetta Aerodinamica was an
extremely important project for Carlo Felice Bianchi
Anderloni. He wrote a brief monograph on the subject in
which he stated his strong motivation to bring back a design
that had been forever lost.
An excerpt of
his monograph, translated by Nino Epifani, reads:
Those who know
me well must have heard me saying: I would rather see a
Touring body well reconstructed than not see one at all or
just in old pictures… I remember the last time I saw it, was
more than 60 years ago at the 1940 Mille Miglia, when with
the Count Trossi as driver, attempted to challenge the
superiority of the BMW, bodied as well by Touring
Superleggera. I never saw the car again.
Many, many years
went by and during that time I saw many body projects due to
my position at the Touring Works. I definitely saw the
pictures of that car while reorganizing the archives, as
well as related publications and especially on the original
plans that existed at that time, but the car, physically, I
could not admire anymore. Never appearing at the Historic
Mille Miglias, there was no trace left, it literally
disappeared, certainly destroyed in some accident or more
probable, war prey.
Well, to accept
the challenge for himself and perhaps the usual purists,
defenders of the preserved and the non existent as well, was
Dino Cognolato, owner of Carrozzeria Nova Rinascente of
Vigonza, renowned restorer whose reputation has crossed the
oceans, the man that will not let his specialists strike
hammer once if first there is not documentation, if first
has not been controlled that all the traces correspond to
the laws of the proportionate drawings, if first everything
has not been checked and controlled with tedious precision.
When Cognolato accepted to reconstruct the whole body of the
Trossi Berlinetta, he did it with the condition that I would
follow the project with my advice, periodically inspecting
at first the plans and then the work in progress, so that it
would reflect the original as much as possible.
Ing. Anderloni
started the project using contour drawings he prepared based
on access to certain Alfa Romeo archives. These initial
drawings were refined in a 1:5 scale at Carrozzeria Nova
Rinascente and later converted into full-scale drawings
with his supervision. Once the team was satisfied with the
drafts, the underlying shape of the body was re-created
using the Superleggera technique as was done by
Touring in 1939. This painstaking process took an enormous
amount of time and effort to complete as every detail was
done with the intention of being as close to the original
specification as possible. Photos taken at the time of the
reconstruction show the fabulous Superleggera frame,
intricately welded together from a multitude of
small-diameter steel tubes. Once this stage was complete,
the aluminum body was formed and carefully attached to the
spaceframe, reviving the long lost design.
By 2001, the
main aspects of the coachwork were finished. Ing. Anderloni
declared the bodywork a “faithful reconstruction of the
Berlinetta Aerodinamica” and signed the hood of the car. It
was the first time since 1940 that an Alfa Romeo bearing
this magnificent Carrozzeria Touring design had made a
public appearance. Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni died in
2003; this was his last major project.
The current
owner acquired the Alfa Romeo in early 2003. It took another
four and a half years of careful work to complete the car to
its present state. The body details, interior panels,
dashboard and trim were finished to an exceedingly high
standard by Dino Cognolato. The mechanical components were
entrusted to Nino Epifani of Epifani Restorations and his
operations in Italy. Mr. Epifani, one of the most respected
restorers of Italian sportscars, brought the 6C into healthy
tune. Like the coachwork, every effort was made to restore
the car as accurately as possible. For example, the proper
intake trumpets, floor shift gearbox and engine bay wiring
have all been restored to the specification of the original.
Upon completion,
the Alfa Romeo was displayed at the prestigious Amelia
Island Concours d’Elegance in March 2008 where it was
much admired for its modern design, incredible attention to
detail and uncompromised accuracy. Other appearances were
just as successful and the Alfa continued to draw crowds at
the St. Michaels Concours d’Elegance and during
demonstration laps at the 2009 Pittsburgh Vintage Grand
Prix.
Pre-war 6C 2500
Super Sport (Tipo 256)
In 1939, the
regulations for sports car racing were drastically changed,
proving to be a death knell for the legendary series of
supercharged Alfa Romeos. While the change in formula
shifted focus to normally aspirated, production-based sports
cars, it certainly did not stifle innovation. In reaction to
these sweeping changes, Alfa Romeo was forced to pin their
collective hopes on a special variant of the 6C 2500, dubbed
the 6C 2500 Super Sport or Tipo 256 (2500 cc, 6 cylinders).
Not generally considered a model in its own right, the
chassis and engine numbers were taken directly from the
series of 6C 2500 Sports.
The 6C 2500
Super Sport featured a shorter wheelbase (2,700 mm),
compared with the standard 6C 2500 Sport model (3,000 mm),
and was upgraded with three horizontal Weber carburetors, a
highly tuned engine and numerous lightweight castings. The
Berlinetta Areodinamica was the fastest version produced,
boasting 125 bhp at 4900 rpm and a top speed of 122 mph. The 6C 2500 SS
Berlinetta Aerodinamica was based on Touring’s own
aerodynamic research and was regarded as a radical design at
the time-from the inception of the automobile, most
designers were of the opinion that na open car would always
be faster than a similar closed car. It was also the first
Alfa Romeo coupé designed without distinct mudguards in the
fender line and was, in many ways, the first “modern” design
created before the war. Like the 8C 2900 Le Mans Berlinetta,
the 6C 2500 SS featured a similar “fastback” design, however
the high tail of the 8C had been re-evaluated and replaced
with a teardrop form. Every consideration was made for
aerodynamic efficiency – even the leather hood straps were
placed within reliefs on the bonnet surface, making them
flush with the bodywork.
The 6C 2500
Super Sports were the basis for the Alfa Romeo racing
organization, known as Alfa Corse. Alfa Corse
was managed by Scuderia Ferrari which had been
absorbed by Alfa Romeo in 1938. The 6C 2500 Super Sports
were initially prepared in at Scuderia Ferrari in
Modena in 1939. The following year, Alfa Corse
activities moved to Milan following the departure of Enzo
Ferrari. During that time, 33 chassis were produced; most
were used by Alfa Corse although a number were
reserved for Alfa Romeo’s most important private clients.
Unfortunately, no Alfa Romeo factory or Touring records
detailing the specific 1939 and 1940 6C 2500 Super Sport
chassis numbers survive.
6C 2500 Super
Sports were in force at most of the important road races
throughout 1939 and 1940. The Berlinetta Aerodinamica design
made only two appearances: one at Le Mans in 1939 and the
other at the 1940 Mille Miglia. At Le Mans 1939,
Raymond Sommers and Prince Bira were driving in 10th place
overall before they were forced to retire with engine
problems. Count Trossi and his mechanic Ascanio Lucchi
entered the Berlinetta Aerodinamica in the 1940 Mille
Miglia, finishing in 8th place behind a field of
Touring-bodied BMWs and Alfa 6C 2500 SS models.
Driving
Impressions
While suitable
for concours, this incomparable Alfa Romeo truly shines on
the road. The aerodynamic, lightweight body, combined with
the advanced chassis and well-sorted drivetrain of the 6C
2500 SS make this Alfa an absolute delight to drive on the
open road. Following 1000 miles on the 2008 Colorado Grand,
the owner reports that the car provides a perfect blend of
pre-war character and post-war manners. The sound from the
engine and straight cut gears in the differential is
powerful and metallic but not overbearing. The four-speed
transmission is direct, compliant and quickly mastered; the
brakes inspire confidence and, once comfortable with the
car, one is able to take on curvy back roads with incredible
agility and exhilarating speed. Given its perfect 50/50
weight distribution, it provides the excellent feedback and
balance for which the late 6C models are famed.
Inside the car
is very roomy with plenty of storage space for long tours.
The seats are comfortable and the driving position is
ergonomically pleasing. Rear visibility is augmented with
beautifully designed period-style side mirrors which can be
quickly attached for driving and detached for show. A quick
flick opens the air vents on the cowl filling the cabin with
a refreshing breeze. Even with temperatures approaching 90
degrees, the cabin remains surprisingly cool and comfortable
at speed.
Not only is this
car eligible for a wide variety of tours, concours and
driving events, with some adjustments, it can be prepared
for vintage racing. On track, its fortunate next owner can
experience, first hand, one of the most advanced sports
racing cars produced before WWII. It is also likely that
this car would be eligible for the Le Mans Classic and other
top events, given its authentic pre-war SS chassis, intimate
connection with Ing. Anderloni and similarity, both
aesthetically and mechanically, to the original Berlinetta
Aerodinamica that Prince Bira and Raymond Sommers drove in
the 1939 edition of that legendary event. Arguably the
finest existing example of the pre-war 6C 2500 SS, this
exquisite Alfa Romeo is not simply a beautiful automobile,
it will always stand as a monument to one of the most
prolific Italian coachbuilders, Carrozzeria Touring, and its
leader, Ing. Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni.
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