1955 | Alfa Romeo 1900 C Super Sprint Touring

Model year: 1955
Empty weight: 1.060 kg
GVW: 1.060 kg
Top speed: 170 km/h
Number of keys: 3
Reference number: M0381
Registration number: PM-50-37

Footnotes:
Alfa Romeo 1900C Super Sprint coupé 1955
Carrosserie Chassis number ' is one of some 550 Alfa Romeo 1900C Series 2 Sprints produced between 1954 and 1955. Touring's three-window coupé is acknowledged as the most elegant and attractive of the 1900 series, with restrained, perfectly balanced lines, devoid of any unnecessary decoration. The brightwork is notable for its simplicity while the dashboard is plain and functional.

Its factory devastated by wartime bombing, Alfa Romeo did not resume car production until 1947, the pre-war 2500C standing the Milan marque in good stead until 1952. The firm's first all-new offering of the post-war period arrived in 1950. Designed by Dr Orazio Satta Puliga and intended for volume production, the 1900 was the first Alfa to employ unitary construction and - in keeping with the company's sporting heritage - was powered by a twin-overhead-camshaft engine. A four-cylinder unit, the latter displaced 1,884cc and produced 90bhp, an output sufficient to propel the four-door saloon to 93mph.

Although ostensibly a humble family conveyance, the 1900 was endowed with sporting credentials which extended beyond its type of power unit, owners enjoying the benefits of wishbone and coil spring independent front suspension and an exceptionally well located live rear axle. It should have surprised nobody therefore, when the 1900's potential was realised in the form of two high performance derivatives. Launched in 1951, the 1900C Sprint featured bodywork by Pinin Farina (cabriolet) and Touring (coupé), both models utilising the 100bhp engine of the 1900TI sports saloon. The Touring-bodied Sprint Coupé attracted such public acclaim that it was subsequently adopted as the basis for all future 'aerodynamic' Alfa Romeo coupés. One direct descendant was, of course, the lovely little Giulietta Sprint in which the family resemblance is immediately obvious.

The Sprint Coupé was designed to offer sporting performance together with '2+2' accommodation - guaranteed to appeal to the sports car enthusiast with a family - while the heart-shaped vertical grille with matched horizontal side intakes became an Alfa trademark on later models. In June 1954 the engine was enlarged to 1,975cc on the Sprint Series 2, and the following year the model was re-designated as the Super Sprint. With 115bhp on tap and possessing an excellent power-to-weight ratio courtesy of the aluminium-alloy body, these cars could top 190km/h (118mph). They shone in competitions of all kinds.

This unique example of a landmark model from one of motoring's most charismatic marques was purchased by the vendor's late father in Switzerland in August 1980 from a Mr Jürgen Nagler. The Alfa Romeo Certificato di Origine on file shows that the car was built in December 1955 and delivered early in 1956 to Lugano, Switzerland. Mr Nagler had registered the car with the Alfa Romeo 1900 Register in 1984 (copy data sheet on file). There is also a folder containing invoices and correspondence dating from Mr Nagler's period of ownership in the 1980s together with a copy of a Swiss registration document present showing that in 1977 a Mr Dietrich Festl from Gland was the car's owner. Since 1984 the engine has been changed for a later 1975cc engine. The Alfa has been resident in Germany since its acquisition in August 1990. Restored in 2017, it comes with a TÜV Rhineland illustrated condition/valuation report dated 31st May 2017 and an assortment of spares including carburettors