1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Zagato Spyder

This 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Spider is a fifth-series car fitted with a supercharged dual overhead camshaft engine producing 85 horsepower. It has the streamlined, lightweight coachwork by Zagato and is fitted with four-wheel mechanical drum brakes.

Its very early ownership has been lost to history. In 1934 it was in the possession of Charles E.C. Martin. The next owner, also of the United Kingdom, was Johnny Spindler who used it in competition at the Prescott Hill climb in the early postwar years.

Near the close of the 1950s, the car was in the ownership of a U.S. Navy officer in Norfolk, Virginia. It was sold to Gene Cesari, who sold it to L. Scott Bailey, the founder, editor, and publisher of Automobile Quarterly. The next owner was a resident of Washington, Pennsylvania.

The next owner, in the late 1980s, entrusted Tony Merrick in England to perform a light mechanical and cosmetic restoration, which was completed in 1993. It was used sparingly after the restoration - until it was entered in the 1997 California Mille 1,000-mile run.

It was purchased in 1998 by another individual who enlisted David George to perform a thorough restoration. In 2003, it was purchased by the current owner, who spent an additional $100,000 on a complete engine rebuilt by expert Jim Stokes in England. It was then driven twice on the Mille Miglia Storica with great success.

The car is currently painted in an all-black livery with a matching black leather interior. It is in impeccable cosmetic and operational condition and one of the very few Pre-War Alfa Romeos still wearing its original Zagato coachwork.

In 2008, this Series V Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 was offered for sale at the Gooding & Company auction held in Pebble Beach, California, and was estimated to sell for $1,300,000 - $1,600,000. As the gavel fell for the third and final time, the lot had been sold for $1,320,000, including the buyer's premium.

As one of the most successful models of its period, the Alfa Romeo 6C 1750, along with its predecessor the 19500, embodied the functional simplicity typical of the 1930s Italian sports car. With its supercharged performance and elegant coachwork, the 1750 could be described as the ancestor of every GT car ever made. This late Series V model is one of the few 1750s still retaining its original Zagato coachwork. It was driven in competition by several British owners during the first half of its life. It arrived in the United States in the 1950s, and L. Scott Bailey, the founder of Automobile Quarterly, owned the car for a number of years. Now carefully preserved, it has been driven on many rallies in recent years.

In 2009, it was on display at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

By Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2009