1954 Alfa Romeo 1900 SS Coupe

In 1952, Elio Zagato founded the Sant Ambroeus racing team with several friends. A local builder named Vladimiro Galluzzi joined the Sant Ambroeus team, driving an Alfa Romeo Touring-bodied 1900 coupes. The 1900C had a short wheelbase platform, alloy-head dual-cam motor, and a modern suspension system. Elio felt that with a lighter, more aerodynamic body, the car's performance would be greatly enhanced.

The Zagato Coachbuilder was able to source 1900C chassis for development, and by September of 1954, Zagato had clothed their first Super Sport in an aluminum-alloy body with Plexiglas windows. In comparison to the standard version, the Zagato-bodied example weighed significantly less. A limited back of production models were soon approved. Approximately 39 berlinettas and two spiders were eventually built, all of them prior to mid-1956.

The Super Sprint Zagatos became popular at sports car races across Europe, with as many as six examples entered at the 1955 Mille Miglia. Joakim Bonnier notably took first overall in his car at the 2-liter Sverige Grand Prix on August 7, 1955.

This particular Super Sprint Zagato has been treated to a restoration bringing it back to factory standards. The car was completed on July 29th of 1954 and was the 16th example of the 39 cars bodied as coupes. The assembly at Zagato was completed on April 22nd of 1955 and was finished in avorio (ivory) paint and sold to SIMAR of Caracas, Venezuela, on March 23rd. The buyer may have been a proxy for a driver of the Scuderia Madunina team. The Milan-based organization did not formally own any of its cars. All of the Scuderia's entries were privately owned by their respective drivers, whose membership in the organization allowed them to race under the team's entrant's license, thus negating the need for drivers to acquire this license individually from the C.S.A.I. Madunina.

The car was entered un the Madunina banner by Carlos Ruiz Lucero in La Vuelta a la Cordialidad on December 18th of 1955. This was a 225-mile race between Barranquilla and Cartagena, Colombia. It wore race number 44 and finished fourth overall and first in class.

The Alfa was sold a few years later to fellow Venezuelan Luis Beltran Moreno, after which it passed to Antonio Yanes of Caracas. It was purchased in 1993 by Ludo Doorenweerd of Belgium, who in turn eventually sold it to Graham Earl of Britain. Ownership later passed to a Scottsdale-based enthusiast. It was purchased in a semi-restored state, and set for several years before a full restoration was commenced in 2008. The completed car was finished in midnight blue with the interior re-trimmed with tobacco tan leather. A correct 1900C tipo 1308 engine was sourced and installed to replace the Alfa Romeo 2000 that had been installed at some prior point.

In 2010, the car was entered in the Colorado Grand. In 2011 it was shown at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. In May of 2012 it was shown at the Greystone Mansion Concours d'Elegance, where it won a Best in Class award.

By Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2016

Built specifically for the 1954 race season, this car is one of 39 coupes and two convertibles fashioned out of lightweight aluminum by Zagato. These cars sported a new 1900cc engine with an output of 90 horsepower, the successor to the legendary Alfa Romeo 6C, and each car was individually hand-crafted. A few were built with the distinctive double-bubble roof, such as this SS Zagato Coupe.