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Auction archive: Lot number 223

1924 Alfa Romeo RM Four Wheel Drive Winter Sports Half Track Chassis no. 12023 Engine no. 12023

Estimate
CHF350,000 - CHF450,000
ca. US$307,372 - US$395,192
Price realised:
n. a.
Auction archive: Lot number 223

1924 Alfa Romeo RM Four Wheel Drive Winter Sports Half Track Chassis no. 12023 Engine no. 12023

Estimate
CHF350,000 - CHF450,000
ca. US$307,372 - US$395,192
Price realised:
n. a.
Beschreibung:

One of the great marques of Italy, Alfa Romeo survived turbulent early years to emerge as a major player in Grand Prix racing between the wars and go on to establish itself as a leading volume-producer after WW2. Alfa Romeo SpA had been formed in 1918 following industrialist Nicola Romeo’s acquisition of the ailing ALFA concern three years previously. ALFA already possessed a not inconsiderable asset in the person of its Chief Designer Giuseppe Merosi, late of Bianchi, and under his direction the new company embarked on an ambitious competitions programme that would see the red cars with their quadrifoglio emblems become the dominant force on Europe’s racetracks. The fledgling company’s breakthrough came in the 1923 Targa Florio, when Ugo Sivocci brought his RL-based sports car home in first place with Alberto Ascari second. There would be further victories in sports car racing, but it was not until the arrival of designer Vittorio Jano from FIAT that Alfa first tasted success in Grands Prix. Jano’s first creation for his new masters was the legendary ‘P2’, a 2.0-litre supercharged straight-eight, which claimed the World Championship in its first full year of competition in 1925. Jano followed up with a series of highly successful sports cars, including the immortal ‘1750’ that won the Mille Miglia in 1929 and 1930. By this time the works Alfas were entered by Scuderia Ferrari, which was charged with managing the Milanese manufacturer’s return to Grand Prix racing in 1932. Although Alfa once again succeeded in humbling the best that the world could pit against it, these racetrack successes had not been matched by showroom sales and the firm was in dire financial trouble. Rescued by the Italian government, Alfa found itself no longer competitive at Grand Prix level where it faced increasingly stiff competition from Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union, although it continued to clean up in international sports car racing, winning the Mille Miglia in 1936 and again in 1937. Alfa’s Grand Prix disappointments were mitigated by the success in the voiturette class of the Tipo 158 Alfetta, which dominated the 1938 and 1939 seasons. When racing resumed post-war, the formula adopted for Grands Prix permitted 1.5-litre supercharged cars to compete against 4.5-litre normally aspirated types. The new formula seemed tailor-made for the Alfetta and so it proved; Alfa did not contest Grands Prix in 1949, but in the six years from 1946 to the end of 1951 won almost every race it entered, an unprecedented achievement. It would be another 25 years before Alfa Romeo re-entered Formula 1, firstly as an engine supplier and latterly in its own right, but those glorious past successes would prove unrepeatable. Alfa’s first ‘modern’ F1 engines had been developed originally for its sports car racing programme, a highly successful venture that had seen the blood-red T33 dominate the 2-litre class of the World Championship of Makes and the successor 33TT12 win the Championship outright in 1975. At the same time, the firm actively campaigned its production models in GT and saloon car racing, where the supremely adaptable Giulia Sprint carved its name indelibly in the record books. In more recent decades Alfa Romeo’s motor sports programme has concentrated on touring car racing, with its direct link to showroom models and greater marketing potential, bringing ever more championships back to Milan. Of all the volume car producers, none has a competition record that can compare with that of Alfa Romeo, whose magnificent sporting heritage has always influenced the design of its production models. One of Alfa’s lesser known - indeed, unique - sports models from the past is the extraordinary ‘time warp’ half-track offered here. Complete and original in all known respects, it is believed to be the sole surviving four-wheel-drive Alfa Romeo half-track in the world. The vehicle has spent nearly all its life in the New England area in the USA and was understood to have bee

Auction archive: Lot number 223
Auction:
Datum:
19 Dec 2007
Auction house:
Bonhams London
Geneva
Beschreibung:

One of the great marques of Italy, Alfa Romeo survived turbulent early years to emerge as a major player in Grand Prix racing between the wars and go on to establish itself as a leading volume-producer after WW2. Alfa Romeo SpA had been formed in 1918 following industrialist Nicola Romeo’s acquisition of the ailing ALFA concern three years previously. ALFA already possessed a not inconsiderable asset in the person of its Chief Designer Giuseppe Merosi, late of Bianchi, and under his direction the new company embarked on an ambitious competitions programme that would see the red cars with their quadrifoglio emblems become the dominant force on Europe’s racetracks. The fledgling company’s breakthrough came in the 1923 Targa Florio, when Ugo Sivocci brought his RL-based sports car home in first place with Alberto Ascari second. There would be further victories in sports car racing, but it was not until the arrival of designer Vittorio Jano from FIAT that Alfa first tasted success in Grands Prix. Jano’s first creation for his new masters was the legendary ‘P2’, a 2.0-litre supercharged straight-eight, which claimed the World Championship in its first full year of competition in 1925. Jano followed up with a series of highly successful sports cars, including the immortal ‘1750’ that won the Mille Miglia in 1929 and 1930. By this time the works Alfas were entered by Scuderia Ferrari, which was charged with managing the Milanese manufacturer’s return to Grand Prix racing in 1932. Although Alfa once again succeeded in humbling the best that the world could pit against it, these racetrack successes had not been matched by showroom sales and the firm was in dire financial trouble. Rescued by the Italian government, Alfa found itself no longer competitive at Grand Prix level where it faced increasingly stiff competition from Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union, although it continued to clean up in international sports car racing, winning the Mille Miglia in 1936 and again in 1937. Alfa’s Grand Prix disappointments were mitigated by the success in the voiturette class of the Tipo 158 Alfetta, which dominated the 1938 and 1939 seasons. When racing resumed post-war, the formula adopted for Grands Prix permitted 1.5-litre supercharged cars to compete against 4.5-litre normally aspirated types. The new formula seemed tailor-made for the Alfetta and so it proved; Alfa did not contest Grands Prix in 1949, but in the six years from 1946 to the end of 1951 won almost every race it entered, an unprecedented achievement. It would be another 25 years before Alfa Romeo re-entered Formula 1, firstly as an engine supplier and latterly in its own right, but those glorious past successes would prove unrepeatable. Alfa’s first ‘modern’ F1 engines had been developed originally for its sports car racing programme, a highly successful venture that had seen the blood-red T33 dominate the 2-litre class of the World Championship of Makes and the successor 33TT12 win the Championship outright in 1975. At the same time, the firm actively campaigned its production models in GT and saloon car racing, where the supremely adaptable Giulia Sprint carved its name indelibly in the record books. In more recent decades Alfa Romeo’s motor sports programme has concentrated on touring car racing, with its direct link to showroom models and greater marketing potential, bringing ever more championships back to Milan. Of all the volume car producers, none has a competition record that can compare with that of Alfa Romeo, whose magnificent sporting heritage has always influenced the design of its production models. One of Alfa’s lesser known - indeed, unique - sports models from the past is the extraordinary ‘time warp’ half-track offered here. Complete and original in all known respects, it is believed to be the sole surviving four-wheel-drive Alfa Romeo half-track in the world. The vehicle has spent nearly all its life in the New England area in the USA and was understood to have bee

Auction archive: Lot number 223
Auction:
Datum:
19 Dec 2007
Auction house:
Bonhams London
Geneva
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