1923 Alfa Romeo RL

Roadster

The Alfa Romeo RL was produced between 1922 and 1927. It was Alfa's first sports model after World War 1. The car was designed in 1921 by Giuseppe Merosi and had a straight 6 engine with overhead valves. Three different versions were made: Normale, Turismo and Sport. The RL Targa Florio was the race version and was half the weight of the other models. In 1923 Alfa's racing team had drivers like Ugo Sivocci, Antonio Ascari, Giulio Masetti and Enzo Ferrari, who would later become the Alfa Romeo team manager before starting his own sports car company. Famously superstitious, Sivocci painted a green cloverleaf symbol on a white background on the bonnet of his RL, and after he won the Targa Florio in 1923 that symbol was adopted by the Alfa Romeo team and used to this day as a good luck token on all its race team cars.

Roadster

The RLTF (Targa Florio) was the race version and designed for the Targa Florio. It weighed half of the Normale version; the engine used seven main bearings instead of four and had twin carburetors. The Targa Florio winning 1923 entry carried the green cloverleaf on a white background that became the Alfa team's good luck token.

The 1923 RLTF cars were converted to 1924 specifications so there are no original 1923 spec cars remaining. This car is one of two RL's fitted with replica 1923 coachwork. The car was an RLSS (Sport) four place tourer. In 1942, Brian Selleck , a grazier in Barham, New South Wales, Australia, discovered the RL chassis and running gear. He acquired the car and used it as a dirt track racer. In the early 1950's Selleck converted the car to 1923 RLTF specifications. It was retired in the 1970's, refurbished in the 1990's and eventually imported by the current owner.

In the early 1920s, the Italian automotive engineer, Giuseppe Merosi, designed the Alfa Romeo RL. This was not his first design for Alfa; his history with the company dates back to the early 1910s when he designed the A.L.F.A. 24 HP. During the mid-1910s, he designed a DOHC four-cylinder engine with 16-valves and displaced 4.5 liters.

The Alfa Romeo RL was produced from 1922 through 1927. It had a displacement size of 2.9 liters from its six-cylinder engine, which would continue to increase throughout the years, culminating with a 3.6-liter size and around 125 horsepower. There were four versions of the RL created, the Normale, Turismo, Sport, and RLTF (for Targa Florio). The RLTF was a purpose-built, racing version stripped of non-essential items, given sleek designs, and weighed about half the other versions. The engine was finely tuned and given seven main bearings and double carburetors. It was used in competition by such legendary drivers as Ugo Sivocci, Enzo Ferrari, Antonio Ascari, and Giulio Masetti. One example driven by Sivocci won the 1923 Targa Florio race.

The RL featured a pushrod OHV 6-cylinder engine mated to a four-speed, suspended by semi-elliptic springs, and placed in a ladder frame.

by Dan Vaughan