1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Coupe

How does one try and rebuild after a terrible war? By doing something, creating something truly lasting with a mystique that will transcend generations and point a new way forward. Many believe Alfa Romeo achieved this by drawing from the old to create something new.

In 1939, Alfa Romeo's 6C 2500 would become Alfa's first road car capable of reaching speeds of 100 miles per hour. It was a defining moment for the company and the car. It truly represented something. Unfortunately, the Second World War would prohibit its full meaning from becoming realized.

Every single model of Alfa Romeo's 6C had that special blend of the excitement and passion of the track with the pastoral and leisurely. Both elements come through in every design and make for a compelling blend of distinctly Italian and distinctly Alfa Romeo.

The 6C 2500 would serve as the successor to the 2300. The model would be introduced in 1938. Unfortunately, by the time the 6C 2500 made its appearance, the Second World War was less than a year away from really heating up. As a result, the development would stop, and production would slowly grind to a halt. There would be a few hundred of the 6C 2500s that would be built during the years of the war, but, for all intents and purposes, the 6C 2500 was no more.

Alfa Romeo's newest model had barely come into existence before it had been forcibly made extinct. However, the end of the war offered many, including Alfa Romeo, a new lease on life.

Interested in getting back up and running again, Alfa Romeo would look to recapture what it had lost. And, what it had lost to the war was its 6C 2500. Therefore, to begin this new era, Alfa would look to the old one and would begin producing, once again, the 6C 2500.

As with every other model offered by Alfa Romeo, the 6C 2500 came in a couple of different packages offering differing levels of performance. There was the Turismo which had a 90hp engine. Then there was the top of the line for the road, the Super Sport. This model came with a 110hp engine. Alfa Romeo would make a 6C 2500 Tipo version, which was intended for the track. That version would come with a 120hp engine.

To keep all measures as cost-effective as possible in those early days after the war, Alfa Romeo would try and keep everything identical to the model that had been built prior to the war. This meant the chassis was basically the same. Even the fact the car would come offering body styles from Pinin Farina, Touring, and others would also be kept the same. In fact, it would be the final model to make use of a separate body and frame arrangement.


This particular 6C 2500 Super Sport, chassis number 915.734, would feature a body designed and built by Touring and would be constructed and finished in 1949. Although there had been a war and it would have been easy just to make the same old 6C 2500 that had been produced prior to the war, Vittorio Jano and Wilfredo Ricart looked to create something new from that which was actually old. Therefore, they would increase the bore of the engine and would also up the compression rate. The top everything off, the Super Sport model would make use of three Weber carburetors giving the car an impressive 110bhp.

As with every other Alfa Romeo design, racing courses through the veins of the 6C and, prior to the war, the car model would go on to a number of victories. This would translate over into the new mindset following the end of the war, and, a Competizione version of the 6C 2500 would go on to an overall victory in the 1950 Targa Florio, signifying perfectly the 6C 2500 was the perfect old car to point the way forward into the future. The Alfa Romeo would come through to take the overall victory ahead of Ferrari 166s and some Fiats confirming, yet again, Alfa Romeo's racing reputation.

As with many others, 915.734 would feature a body built by Touring of Milan and would be completed in July of 1949. On the 30th of the month, the car would be delivered to its first owner, a Milanese fabric manufacturer. Being in men's fashion, the owner would have the upholstery of the car completed in a material of his own choosing that had been produced by his own company. For a number of years, the car could be seen in and around Milan.

Frank Griswold lived in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and was a successful SCCA racer all around the northeast region of the United States. In 1948, he would take part in an 8 lap race of Watkins Glen's old grand prix course in a prewar Alfa Romeo 8C 2900. He was certainly well acquainted with Alfa Romeos as he was a dealer for the company in North America. He would go on to win the race defeating Briggs Cunningham and one Charles Addams, the cartoonist and creator of The Addams Family.

Having been successful with his 8C, Griswold would be interested in 915.734. Touring's lightweight and neatly-packaged bodies made them highly desirable. And so, Griswold would come to own the Alfa Romeo in the early 1950s. However, this particular 6C, despite its racy looks and provenance, could not be used for competition. Instead, Griswold would use the car for his personal transport for a number of years before Fred Cantor came to be its owner.

The car would now be in California, the ideal setting for the car. The Alfa remained in Cantor's possession until 1971. At that time, Norman G. Snart would show an interest in the car and would end up the new owner. Snart was yet another perfect candidate for ownership given the fact he had many years maintaining Alfas for a number of years and even served as president of the Alfa Romeo Association of Northern California.

Snart would own 915.734 for more than 40 years and then would come into the possession of its current owners. Unrestored over the course of its more than 60-year history, the 1949 6C is certainly highly original inside and out. The only divergence from original to be found from nose to tail is the engine. Period correct, the engine is number 928.105 and is the same type of 2500 cc, 110bhp powerplant that would have originally come with the car.

Offered at the RM Auction event in Scottsdale, Arizona, in January 2014, this highly original, unrestored 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport would provide an instant glimpse back through time. As a result of this high originality, the car would draw pre-auction estimates ranging from $325,000 to $425,000.

Sources:
'The Beginning', (http://www.silhouet.com/motorsport/tracks/wat.html). Short History of Road Racing at Watkins Glen. http://www.silhouet.com/motorsport/tracks/wat.html. Retrieved 8 January 2014.

'1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 News, Pictures, Specifications and Information', (http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z15583/Alfa-Romeo-6C-2500.aspx). Conceptcarz.com: From Concept to Production. http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z15583/Alfa-Romeo-6C-2500.aspx. Retrieved 8 January 2014.

'Lot No. 30: 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport Coupe by Touring', (http://www.rmauctions.com/lots/lot.cfm?lot_id=1063865). RM Auctions. http://www.rmauctions.com/lots/lot.cfm?lot_id=1063865. Retrieved 8 January 2014.

'Targa Florio', (http://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Giro_di_Sicilia-1950-04-02-3921.html). Racing Sports Cars. http://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Giro_di_Sicilia-1950-04-02-3921.html. Retrieved 8 January 2014.

By Jeremy McMullen