1942 Alfa Romeo 6c 2500 Sport Convertible

 The first post-vintage car from Alfa Romeo was designed by Vittorio Jano in 1934: the 2,309cc 6C 2300. Traditional in layout, with undersquare dimensions of 70mm bore and 100mm stroke and dual overhead camshafts, this Jano-designed six-cylinder was conceived as the successor to the fabled, but by the mid-Thirties dated, 6C 1750 as the mainstay of Alfa Romeo production. Virtually identical in displacement to the 8C 2300 Monza, Jano's new 6C was simpler to produce in quantity and designed to be an inherently reliable and competent automobile capable of providing excellent
 performance with multi-passenger coachwork.
 
The chassis was built around boxed section frame rails. Its brakes, large drums with aluminum cooling fins shrunk around the cast iron drums, were unusually effective for the time and, like the engine, show Alfa's concern for performance with larger and heavier coachwork as well as the demands of touring use with several passengers and luggage.
 
Re-named the 6C 2500 when it was expanded to 2,443cc displacement with a 2mm increase in cylinder bore in 1939, it also received other performance enhancements including an improved cylinder head for better breathing and an increased compression ratio. The new 6C continued in production, and winning races, after World War II, forming the basis for Alfa Romeo's resurrection from the double devastation wreaked by Allied bombers and the retreating Wehrmacht.
 
The 6C 2500 employed a single dual choke carburetor and 7.5:1 compression to produce 95 brake horsepower, driving through a single plate clutch and four-speed gearbox to the torsion bar independent rear suspension. Front suspension was independent with coil springs.
 
The best known and most prolific coachbuilder for Alfa during this period was Carrozzeria Touring. The late Thirties saw substantial evolution in automobile body aerodynamics, and Touring was a leader. It was able to develop its designs in its own wind tunnel and tried a number of approaches. One of them was called Torpedino Brescia, an interim step between the traditional separate fender coachwork exemplified by the 8C 2900B race cars and the full envelope bodies which would appear in 1941 on the Mille Miglia-Brescia GP BMW 328s. The Torpedino Brescia had individually defined fenders blended into the bodywork but carried low through the door area. The most famous example of this style is the 1940 Auto-Avio-Costruzioni 815 of Enzo Ferrari but it translated well to larger four-seat cabriolets.
 
One of these beautiful and rare interim bodied Alfa Romeo 6C 2500s is the example offered here. Chassis number 915.128 was completed in June 1942. Alfa's chassis records show it being delivered in April 1943 but Touring records indicate its cabriolet body was completed nearly a year
earlier, as noted in Angelo Tito Anselmi's authoritative reference on the 6C 2500 model. It was delivered to General Von Carnap in Berlin who
was listed as the consignee of several Alfa Romeo C6 2500 Touring Cabriolets during the period, suggesting that he was probably acquiring Alfas for ranking German officers, many of whom favored the powerful, relatively light weight, comfortable Alfa Romeos with Touring cabriolet coachwork.
 
Its subsequent history is not known until it was purchased in Texas in 1960 by Donald Vesley. Vesley owned it until 1974 when it was acquired by Lew Lazarus, later passing to Dale Finstrom, back to Lazarus again and then to John Siebert in Uxbridge, Ontario, in the early '80s. After
completion of restoration Siebert sold it to Paul Myers in 1989 who kept it until it was bought in 1997 through dealer Cole Motorcars by Lawrence Smith from whom the present owner acquired it earlier this year. It has an extensive show history including appearances at  a CCCA Senior National First Prize where it was judged 100 points, Meadow Brook Blue Ribbon, Most Elegant Sports Car at Amelia Island in 2005, a best-in-class win at Greenwich, Connecticut. Its appeal and quality has earned it invitations to The Quail Motorsports Gathering.

According to Anselmi's 6C 2500 book it is believed to be one of only three bodied in this style by Touring. Of the two that survive this is the only one with its original engine. It is unusually attractive, with a full width windshield inside a body colored frame, a distinctive narrow Alfa Romeo shield style radiator grille, headlights recessed into the front fender catwalks, wire wheels, and the sleekly rounded fenders faired into the body sides. Presented in bright red with tan leather interior and matching cloth top, this Touring Cabriolet bodied Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 is exceptionally attractive and distinctive.
 
A number of factors attest to its attractiveness and desirability. First and foremost is its survival, as collectors recognized its desirability even when it was just an old car. That desirability has been further endorsed since it was discovered in 1960, with only four long term owners who owned it for fourteen, nine, eight, and eleven years each. Finally there is its long show history and continuing attraction to Concours organizers. It promises to be exceptionally satisfying and rewarding to its next owner, a combination of quality Alfa Romeo driveline and chassis and beautiful, refined Touring superleggera cabriolet coachwork, and a rare opportunity for a collector to experience such a rare and satisfying classic Alfa Romeo with invitations to two of the most desirable events in the year's collector car calendar.