1930 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS Spyder

The first race of Scuderia Ferrari was the 1930 Mille Miglia, the fourth running of this epic endurance race. A team of three Alfa Romeo's were entered, driven by Ferrari's partners Alfredo Caniato and Mario Tadini and the political activist and amateur racing driver Luigi Scarfiotti. Scarfiotti drove this elegant and sporty GS Spyder, chassis number 8513033.

This was the latest iteration of the gifted Vittorio Jano's 6C series, a supercharged version of the 1750cc engine. In 1930, the 6C 1750 could be purchased in one of three versions - a naturally-aspirated Turismo featuring a single overhead camshaft, and the 2nd and 3rd series twin-cam Super Sport available with or without a supercharger and the 4th series supercharged Gran Sport.

Both of the supercharged versions were fitted with Alfa-built twin-lobe Roots-type blowers. The difference between the Gran Sport and the Super Sport was the supercharger - the Super Sport has a smaller, geared-up supercharger. The Gran Sport version was driven at engine speed which eliminated the high-pitched supercharger while. The GS produced 102 horsepower at 5000 RPM and fitted into a wheelbase that measured 1.745m. The engine was mounted 15-inches back, in the frame, with a sloping radiator mounted in front.

Chassis number 8513033 was first registered on April 1st of 1930 with the Macerata provincial index 'MC 2012' which it still wears today. It wears a two-seater body which was built by Zagato. Most of the cars clothed by Zagato during the 1920s and 1930s were built on Alfa Romeo chassis.

Two weeks after receiving the car, Scarfiotti drove in the Mille Miglia road race as part of the Scuderia Ferrari Team. His co-driver and mechanic was Guglielmo Carraroli, who had been Enzo Ferrari's riding mechanic since the early 1920s.

The Alfa Romeo 6C 1750's swept the board in the Mille Miglia, with Nuvolari finishing first. The 1500cc version won its class. Even though the Alfa Romeo cars had much success in this race, none of the Scuderia Ferrari cars finished. Scarfiotti cars had been eliminated by a broken leaf spring.

Scarfiotti continued to race his Alfa during 1930 with several significant finished. He placed second overall and first in his class at the Colle di Paterno in July. He placed fifth overall in the Coppa Gran Sasso and fourth in the 12-mile Teramo-Civitella del Tronto hillclimb. Another fourth was earned in the Coppa Pierazzi.

The car returned to the Mille Miglia in 1931 with Scarfiotti at the wheel and under the banner of Scuderia Ferrari. His co-driver and mechanic was Piero Bucci. This time, the car emerged in sixth place overall, in 17 hours, 27 minutes, and 36 seconds. It was just 1 hour and 17 minutes behind the winning SSK Mercedes driven by Rudi Caracciola. It finished three places and 21 minutes ahead of Tazio Nuvolari who was driving an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300.

Scarfiotti sold his 6C 1750 GS back to Alfa Romeo in 1932. It was re-registered 'as new' two months later to the Scuderia Ferrari with two-seat spider bodywork. It was registered to the Alfa Romeo company in Milan on May 18th of that year, but its subsequent history is unclear. It was 'discovered' in Modena in the early 1960s. It was brought to a restoration shop in Florence for re-commissioning. It is believed another restoration was completed by Autofficina Faralli, near Pisa, Italy, in 1999. In 2005, the car came to the United States and has since been part of a collection in Texas.

In 2008, this GS Spyder was offered for sale at the 'Quail Lodge, A Sale of Exceptional Motorcars and Automobilia' presented by Bonhams Auction. The lot was sold for $1,107,000 inclusive of buyer's premium.

By Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2008