Alfa Romeo 1900

The Alfa Romeo 1900 is a sports sedan designed by Orazio Satta for the Alfa Romeo company in 1950. It was Alfa Romeo's first car built entirely on a production line and was also Alfa's first production car without separate chassis and first Alfa offered with left-hand drive. The car was introduced first time for bigger audience in 1950 Paris Motor Show.



The 1900 was offered in two door or four door models, with a new 1884 cc, 90 bhp, 4 cylinder twin cam engine. It was spacious and simple, yet quick and sporty. The slogan Alfa used when selling it was "The family car that wins races", not-so-subtly alluding to the car's success in the Targa Florio, Stella Alpina, and other competitions. In 1951 the short wheelbase 1900C (c for corto (Italian for short) version was introduced. It had a wheelbase of 2,500 mm (98.4 in). In the same year the 1900TI with a more powerful 100 bhp (75 kW; 101 PS) engine was introduced, it had bigger valves, a higher compression ratio and it was equipped with a double carburetor. Two years later the 1900 Super and 1900 TI Super (also 1900 Super Sprint) with 1975 cc engine were introduced. The TI Super had two double carburetors and 115 bhp (86 kW; 117 PS). Transmission was a 4-speed manual on basic versions and 5-speed manual in Super Sprint version, the brakes were drum brakes. The 1900 has independent front suspension (double wishbones, coil springs and hydraulic telescopic shock absorbers) and live rear axle.

Production at the company's Milan plant continued until 1959: a total of 21,304 were built, including 17,390 of the saloons.

The chassis was designed specifically to allow coachbuilders to rebody it, the most notable of which was the Zagato designed, 1900 Super Sprint Coupe, with an improved engine and custom body design. 1900M AR51 or "Matta" is 4wd off-road variant of this car.


1900 SS Zagato

Alfa Romeo 6C

Alfa Romeo 6C name was used on road, race and sports cars made between 1925–1954 by Alfa Romeo. 6C refers to a straight 6 engine. Bodies for these cars were made by coachbuilders such as James Young, Zagato, Touring, Castagna, and Pininfarina. Starting from 1933 there was also a 6C version with a factory Alfa body, built in Portello. n the mid-1920s, Alfa's RL was considered too large and heavy, so a new development began. The 2-liter formula that had led to Alfa Romeo winning the World Championship in 1925, changed to 1.5 liter for the 1926 season. The 6C1500 was introduced in 1925 at Milan, production started 1927, with the P2 Grand Prix car as starting point. Engine capacity was now 1487 cc, against the P2's 1987 cc, while supercharging was dropped. First versions were bodied by Young and Touring.

In 1928, a 6C Sport was released, with a dual overhead camshafts engine. Its sport version won many races, including the 1928 Mille Miglia. Total production was 3000 (200 with DOHC engine). Ten copies of a supercharged (compressore, compressor) Super Sport variant were also made.


6C Gran Sport (1931)

Variants:

* 6C 1500, 44 bhp @ 4400 rpm, 109 km/h (68 mph) (1925–1929)
* 6C 1500 Sport, 54 bhp @ 4500 rpm, 125 km/h (78 mph) (1928–1929)- 171 cars
* 6C 1500 Super Sport compressore, 76 bhp @ 4800 rpm, 140 km/h (87 mph) (1928–1929)
* 6C 1500 TF, 84 bhp @ 5000 rpm (1928–1929)
6C 1750 (1929-1933)
6C Gran Sport (1931)
6C 1750 GTC Touring (1931)

The more powerful 6C 1750 (1752 cc actual) was introduced in 1929 in Rome. Base model had a single overhead cam; Super Sport and Gran Sport versions had DOHC. Again, a supercharger was available. Total production was 369.

Variants:

* 6C 1750 Turismo, 46 bhp @ 4000 rpm, 109 km/h (68 mph) (1929–1933)
* 6C 1750 Sport/Gran Turismo, 55 bhp @ 4400 rpm, 125 km/h (78 mph) (1929–1932)
* 6C 1750 Super Sport/Gran Sport, 64 bhp @ 4500 rpm, 130 km/h (81 mph) (1929–1932)
* 6C 1750 Super Sport/Gran Sport compressore,85 bhp @ 4500 rpm, 145 km/h (90 mph) (1929–1932)
* 6C 1750 Gran Turismo compressore, 80 bhp @ 4400 rpm, 135 km/h (84 mph) (1931–1932)
* 6C 1750 Super Sport/Gran Sport/TF, 85 bhp @ 4800 rpm, 170 km/h (110 mph) (1929–1930)

The 6C 2300 (2309 cc) was designed by Vittorio Jano as a cheaper alternative to the 8C.



Variants:

* 6C 2300 Turismo, 68 bhp @ 4400 rpm, 120 km/h (75 mph) (1934)
* 6C 2300 Gran Turismo, 76 bhp @ 4400 rpm, 130 km/h (81 mph) (1934)
* 6C 2300B Gran Turismo, 76 bhp @ 4400 rpm (1935–1937)
* 6C 2300 Pescara, 95 bhp @ 4500 rpm, 144 km/h (89 mph) (1934)
* 6C 2300B Pescara, 95 bhp @ 4500 rpm (1935–1937)
* 6C 2300 B Corto/Lungo (1935)
* 6C 2300 B Mille Miglia

A.L.F.A 24 HP

The A.L.F.A 24 HP came on the market in 1910. This was the first automobile created by A.L.F.A (later Alfa Romeo). Giuseppe Merosi was the man behind engineering. The car was used for the first time in car racing in the 1911 Targa Florio. This was first commercial success for the company and the timeline of the HP series tells that the car was continuously developed onwards. The 24HP had a 4,082 cc (249.1 cu in) straight-4 sidevalve engine, which produced 42 bhp (31 kW) with 2200 rpm and gave top speed of over 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph). Until 1913 approximately 200 A.L.F.A 24 HPs were built.

The engine designation consisting of a number as well as "HP" came from the then usual designation of tax schedules. The 24HP became the starting point of a whole series of vehicles, which were built until 1921 and included:

* 12HP , 2413 cc straight-4 and 22 bhp (16 kW), (1910–1911)
* 15HP , 2413 cc straight-4 and 25 bhp (19 kW), (1912–1913)
* 40-60 HP , 6082 cc straight-4 and 70 bhp (52 kW), (1913–1914)
* 15-20 HP , 2413 cc straight-4 and 28 bhp (21 kW), (1914–1915)
* 20-30 HP , 4082 cc straight-4 and 49 bhp (37 kW), (1914–1920)
* 20-30 ES Sport , 4250 cc straight-4 and 67 bhp (50 kW), (1921

Alfa Romeo history

The company that became Alfa Romeo was founded as Società Anonima Italiana Darracq (SAID) in 1906 by the French automobile firm of Alexandre Darracq, with some Italian investors. One of them, Cavaliere Ugo Stella, an aristocrat from Milan, became chairman of the SAID in 1909. The firm's initial location was in Naples, but even before the construction of the planned factory had started, Darracq decided late in 1906 that Milan would be a more suitable location and accordingly a tract of land was acquired in the Milan suburb of Portello, where a new factory of 6,700 square metres (8,000 sq yd) was erected. Late 1909, the Italian Darracq cars were selling slowly and Stella, with the other Italian co-investors, founded a new company named A.L.F.A. (Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili), initially still in partnership with Darracq. The first non-Darracq car produced by company was the 1910 24 HP, designed by Giuseppe Merosi, hired in 1909 for designing new cars more suitable to the Italian market. Merosi would go on to design a series of new A.L.F.A. cars, with more powerful engines (40-60 HP). A.L.F.A. also ventured into motor racing, drivers Franchini and Ronzoni competing in the 1911 Targa Florio with two 24 HP models. In 1914, an advanced Grand Prix car was designed and built, the GP1914 which featured a four cylinder, double overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder and twin ignition. However, the onset of World War I halted automobile production at A.L.F.A. for three years.

In August 1915 the company came under the direction of Neapolitan entrepreneur Nicola Romeo, who converted the factory to produce military hardware for the Italian and Allied war efforts. Munitions, aircraft engines and other components, compressors and generators based on the company's existing car engines were produced in a vastly enlarged factory during the war. When the war was over, Romeo invested his war profits in acquiring locomotive and railways carriage plants in Saronno (Costruzioni Meccaniche di Saronno), Rome (Officine Meccaniche di Roma) and Naples (Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali), which were added to his A.L.F.A. ownership. Car production had not been considered at first, but resumed in 1919 since parts for the completion of 105 cars were still lying at the A.L.F.A. factory since 1915.[5] In 1920, the name of the company was changed to Alfa Romeo with the Torpedo 20-30 HP becoming the first car to be badged as such.[7] Their first success came in 1920 when Giuseppe Campari won at Mugello and continued with second place in the Targa Florio driven by Enzo Ferrari. Giuseppe Merosi continued as head designer, and the company continued to produce solid road cars as well as successful race cars (including the 40-60 HP and the RL Targa Florio).

In 1923 Vittorio Jano was lured away from Fiat, partly thanks to the persuasion of a young Alfa racing driver named Enzo Ferrari, to replace Merosi as chief designer at Alfa Romeo. The first Alfa Romeo under Jano was the P2 Grand Prix car, which won Alfa Romeo the inaugural world championship for Grand Prix cars in 1925. For Alfa road cars Jano developed a series of small-to-medium-displacement 4, 6, and 8 cylinder inline power plants based on the P2 unit that established the classic architecture of Alfa engines, with light alloy construction, hemispherical combustion chambers, centrally-located plugs, two rows of overhead valves per cylinder bank and dual overhead cams. Jano's designs proved to be both reliable and powerful.

During the 1960s, Alfa concentrated on competition using production-based cars, including the GTA (standing for Gran Turismo Allegerita), an aluminium-bodied version of the Bertone-designed coupe with a powerful twin-plug engine. Among other victories, the GTA won the inaugural Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am championship in 1966. In the 1970s, Alfa concentrated on prototype sports car racing with the Tipo 33, with early victories in 1971. Eventually the Tipo 33TT12 gained the World Championship for Makes for Alfa Romeo in 1975 and the Tipo 33SC12 won the World Championship for Sports Cars in 1977.

By the 1970s Alfa was again in financial trouble. The Italian government company Finmeccanica bowed out in 1986 as Fiat Group bought in, creating a new group, Alfa Lancia Industriale S.p.A., to manufacture Alfas and Lancias. Models produced subsequent to the 1990s combined Alfa's traditional virtues of avant-garde styling and sporting panache with the economic benefits of product rationalisation, and include a "GTA" version of the 147 hatchback, the Giugiaro-designed Brera, and a high-performance exotic called the 8C Competizione (named after one of Alfa's most successful prewar sports and racing cars, the 8C of the 1930s).

In 2005 Maserati was bought back from Ferrari and brought under Fiat's full control. The Fiat Group plans to create a sports and luxury division from Maserati and Alfa Romeo. There is a planned strategic relationship between these two; engines, platforms and possibly dealers will be shared in some market areas.

In the beginning of 2007, Fiat Auto S.p.A. was reorganized and four new automobile companies were created; Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A., Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. and Fiat Light Commercial Vehicles S.p.A. These companies are fully owned by Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A.

Racin History
Alfa Romeo has always been involved with motor racing. In the 1920s and 30s Alfa Romeo scored wins at many of the most famous and prestigious races and motoring events such as Targa Florio, Mille Miglia and Le Mans. Great success continued with Formula One, Prototypes, Touring and Fast Touring. Private drivers also entered some rally competitions, with fine results. Alfa Romeo has competed both as a constructor and an engine supplier, via works entries Alfa Corse, Autodelta and private entries. Today Alfa Romeo is active in different Touring car series and the new Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione is planned to take part to Le Mans GT2 class in the near future