1948 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500

One of the most beautiful cars of the lat 1940s, the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 was among the first Italian sports cars to go into production after World War II. The superbly styled coachwork by Pininfarina earned the 6C 2500 dual honors; it was one of the last cars to be recognized by the Classic Car Club of America and one of the first to be honored by the Milestone Car Society as a postwar collectible. Subtle in its design, most Alfa Romeo 6C 2500s, such as this award-winning example from the Jerry McAlevy Collection, had only minor exterior embellishments.

Equipped with a four-wheel fully independent suspension and hydraulic brakes, the 6C 2500 Sport and Super models were powered by a race-proven 2,443-cc six-cylinder, dual-overhead cam engine, with hemispheric combustion chambers. Sport models had a single-barrel carburetor, 7:1 compression ratio, and developed 90 horsepower.

The car's striking shape was actually narrower at the rear than the front, which led to the unusual three-passenger front bench seat, divided by a smaller driver's cushion and a cozy two-passenger rear seat. The cars were right-hand drive, with a four-speed shifter mounted on the left side of the steering column.

The 6C 2500 interiors were superbly appointed with jewel-like instruments, faux yellow ivory control knobs, and luxurious upholstery of glove-soft leather. Such fine detail was a hallmark of these last almost hand-built Alfa Romeo tourers.

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The Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 was introduced near the end of the 1930's. The 6C name was derived from the engine size, an inline-six while the 2500 represented the engines cubic-centimeter displacement size.
The engine was a version of Vittorio Jano designed six-cylinder engine. The 6C was available in a plethora of body styles and wheelbases and was produced during two different times in history. Most of the coachwork was handled by Touring of Italy or by Pinin Farina. The body styles ranged from coupes and convertible to four-seater salon. In 1939 Alfa Romeo introduced the SS version, a short-wheelbase model, dubbed 'SS' for Super Sport, that had a high-compression 6C engine rated at 105 horsepower. It was the top-of-the line 6C model that married style and performance together to create the perfect road-going vehicle.

World War II had interrupted production for many automobile manufacturers. During this time many switched their efforts to support the war, such as building engines for marine and aircraft or by producing vehicles that were suitable for war time. When Alfa Romeo resumed production, their vehicles were similar to those they had offered in 1939. The main difference was that Alfa Romeo now bodied the cars themselves rather than providing the rolling chassis for custom coachbuilders to body. The designs had become standard but they were still based on sketches and designs produced by coachbuilders such as Pinin Farina and Touring. Pinin Farina built the exclusive bodies such as the Cabriolet. These vehicles were elegant and stylish and had a price tag that matched. Touring built the Coupes which became known as the Villa d'Este in 1949 after winning the famous Concours d'Elegance Villa d'Este. When outfitted with the Superleggera, meaning light weight, bodies they were capable of speed of over 100 mph.

The engines were similar to the Jano designed six-cylinder power plant, capable of producing 110 horsepower. Independent suspension was installed to soften the ride while improving performance and handling characteristics. A four-speed manual transmission was similar to the one used prior to the onset of the war.

The history of the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 automobiles are extensive. The various designs and body-styles matched with their mechanical capabilities make these one of the finest Alfa Romeos ever produced.

by Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2005

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