Alfa Romeo 6C
The Alfa Romeo 6C was a line of sports, racing and luxury cars produced from 1927-1954 by manufacturer Alfa Romeo. The name ‘6C’ derives from the series’ characteristic straight-six engines.
History of the Alfa Romeo 6C
Alfa Romeo was founded in 1910 and within its first four years achieved success both commercially and in motor racing. The outbreak of the war in 1914 took its toll on the company, but Alfa Romeo eventually rebounded in 1926 with the Alfa Romeo RL: its first post-war sports car that won the Automobile World Championship in 1925. The company then sought to improve upon the RL’s design, and this gave rise to the Alfa Romeo 6C 1500, which was released in 1927 and featured a 1487cc engine. A sport version with a dual overhead camshaft engine was released a year later. The famous engineer Vittorio Jano, who had been persuaded to join Alfa Romeo from Fiat, designed his first 6C car in the form of the 6C 1750. The 1750 featured a 1750cc engine and a top speed of 95mph. It was powerful, reliable, and thought to be a masterpiece of engineering. In total, 2635 were produced. Jano next developed the 6C 2300, which featured a 2309cc engine, and for the updated B model, a newly designed chassis, hydraulic brakes and individual front suspension. Production ran from 1934-1937. 1938 saw the unveiling of the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500, which was to be the last road car in the 6C line. The 2500 had a larger double overhead camshaft engine sporting 2443ccs. Despite being interrupted by WWII, its production reached close to 1000 units during the period 1938-1951. The 2500 was one of the most expensive cars on the market at the time, and was notably owned by famous actors, kings and princes.
Racing success of the Alfa Romeo 6C
The 6C line of cars undoubtedly brought Alfa Romeo much success in the world of motorsport. The sport version of the early 6C 1500 won many races, most notably the 1928 endurance event, the Mille Miglia. Its successor, the 6C 1750, won the Grand Prix of Belgium, Spain, Tunis and Monza, and also won the Mille Miglia twice. One of the most remarkable racing cars of the 6C line, the Aerodinamica Spider was built around the Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 Turismo engine. Designed by the brothers Oscar and Gino Jankovitz of Hungary, the car was mid-engined with a central driving position. It had an innovative, low, sleek build designed to provide low drag that was heavily inspired by breakthroughs in the science of aerodynamics at the time. Not surprisingly, the 6C line ended not with a road car but with one designed solely for the racetrack: the 6C 3000. The 6C 3000 featured a 3 litre engine with a capacity of 3495cc, and a power output 205kW. The 6C 3000 had three upgraded versions: the 50, CM and PR. This ultimately proved to be the last Alfa Romeo car to be branded with the 6C name.