1932 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport

The Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport was designed by Vittorio Jano and built in three series between 1930 and 1930. The supercharged all-alloy straight six had twin overhead camshafts, hemispherical combustion chambers, and a roots-type supercharger. The vehicle's lightweight characteristics, advanced chassis, and powerful engine made it suited for both road and track. In both Gran Sport and Testa Fissa forms, 6C 1750 examples won nearly every major sports car race of the day, including the 24 Hours of Spa, Brooklands Double Twelve, Monza Grand Prix, and the Mille Miglia.

The 6C 1750 was sold as a bare chassis and most received coachwork by prominent Italian coachbuilders, including Zagato, Touring, and Castagna. Most of the body styles were touring or spider bodies. A few examples were bodied by Carrosserie Figoni located in Boulogne-sur-Seine. The company was founded by Giuseppe Figoni who later partnered with Ovidio Falaschi.

Figoni's first body on an Alfa Romeo chassis was a lightweight tourer built for Raymond Sommer's short-chassis 8C 2300. The car later won the 24 Hours of LeMans in 1932 with Sommer and co-driver Luigi Chinetti.

This particular example is the first of approximately 30 Series V Gran Sport chassis built for 1932. It was delivered new to France and retains the appropriate 'Alfa Romeo Paris' radiator badge and French-language data plates, reading 'Grand' rather than the Italian Gran Sport. The 'Alfa Romeo Paris' badge refers to the cars that Luigi Chinetti imported prior to 1933 into France and sold through his Paris agency.

This Alfa also has the French-language wheel knock-offs and rare adjustable shock absorbers. It was one of the few examples to received coachwork by Figoni, who fitted a two-seat Roadster body. It has a fold-flat windscreen, flowing fenders, and two-tone paint scheme. The car was completed in October of 1932.

It is believed that the car's first owner may have been Pierre Louis-Dreyfus. It was registered in Paris until August of 1932, when it was sold to Sté Tricotage de l'Ariège et Bonneterie de Garonne Réunis, a company in Toulouse, France. The company's CEO was José Soler Puig. In December 1934, Mr. Puig sold the Alfa Romeo to a new owner in the Paris area, and it was registered there as '9084 RJ 4.' It remained in Paris until December of 1947, when it entered the care of Yvonne Chassagne of Cannes, France. Soon after, it was sold to David L. Jayet and remained with him until 1953. Several years later the car was exported to the United States, and resided on the East Coast of Florida. In the mid- to late-1960s, the Alfa Romeo was sold to William S. Comer of Lake Park.

After Mr. Comer's passing in January of 1947, his estate sold the Figoni-bodied 6C 1750 to Gene Cesari, who purchased the car sight-unseen. Two decades later, it was treated to a restoration. The restoration was not yet completed when it was sold in December of 1997 to Sir John Venables-Llewelyn of Wales, who had the work completed by Jim Stokes. The previous owner acquired the Alfa Romeo from Sir Venables-Llewelyn around 2014 and immediately commissioned a more comprehensive restoration, bringing it back to its original specification. The body was finished in its original two-tone color scheme. The work was completed in late 2015 and since then has seen very little use under the current ownership.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2018

The Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport was one of Alfa Romeo's most capable sports-racing cars. Fitted with competition bodywork, Tazio Nuvolari drove one to overall victory at the 1930 Mille Miglia. This unusual Gran Sprot was ordered as a bare chassis by the French Alfa Romeo importer, and the final assembly and bodywork was completed by the French Carrosserie Figoni in Paris. The cabriolet is one of two 6C 1750 GS cabriolets. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the car was owned by Sir John Dillwyn-Venables-Llewelyn in wales, and he had it restored by two Alfa Romeo experts, Jim Stokes and Blakeney Motorsport in the United Kingdom. Using an original photo, the car was returned to its original color scheme of white body and black fenders.