1938 ALFA ROMEO 6C 2300 B

PURE ELEGANCE

Excellence

It all started when Garry Boyce was a 15-year-old apprentice fitter and turner and became involved in the local classic car fraternity. In the ensuing years, his career expanded into all types of engineering positions, before he moved into managerial roles within the industry. It was during this period that Garry gained an attitude towards excellence in everything he did.

It was obvious to him that, at this point, excellence in cars was represented by the Mercedes-benz marque, and he vowed that one day he would own one.

It wasn’t until the late 1980s that Garry purchased his first Mercedes, but the real highlight was 1994, when he bought his first real ‘collector’ car, which was the starting point of his collection. He soon realized that his ultimate dream was to have a 300 SL Gullwing sitting in his garage. That was utterly and completely out of the question at the time, so he concentrated his thoughts and efforts on the next best thing, a 300 SL Roadster, as he had always admired the sensuous, voluptuous lines and the superb performance and handling characteristics of the car, though he felt that the only way he could ever achieve his dream was to trawl the world for a restoration project.

Finally, after many years of difficult searching — mainly because most had already been restored — Garry finally found a 300 SL Roadster in a somewhat distressed state in the Netherlands in 2001.

The 1957 300 SL Roadster, number 154 off the production line — referred to by Garry’s wife as piles of junk in cardboard boxes — received a full nut-andbolt restoration and went on to win not only the coveted Masters Class award at the 2009 Ellerslie Classic Car Show, with the highest ever score at the time, but also international recognition in the US, when the car was shipped to Sonoma, California, to partake in the Mercedes 300 SL Roadster and Gullwing Convention held in September 2008, where it won Best Show 300 SL Roadster.

Since then, Garry certainly hasn’t let the grass grow under his feet, as he has completed a few more awardwinning restorations, notably his magnificent 1956 Mercedes-benz 300 SL Gullwing, which he also entered in the prestigious Masters Class competition alongside four other contenders. After judging, Garry’s 300 SL coupé won the Masters Class, scoring 564 points out of a possible 590 points — the third-highest score achieved at this event in its 42-year history.

Sculptured art form

At this point, you’re probably looking at these photographs of one of Garry’s more recent acquisitions and wondering why such a staunch Mercedes-benz aficionado chose an Alfa Romeo — but the answer is quite logical.

After many years of visiting the world’s leading concours events and being exposed to the best private and public classic and vintage car collections, Garry gained more of an appreciation for the automobile as an art form. He had also grown a liking for pre-war cars with what is known as ‘starlight’ front windscreens — flat glass windscreens without any coachwork along the top, providing a clean uninterrupted feature.

So, when the time came for Garry to add another collectable classic to his collection, he focused on automobiles that present as a sculptured art form, the epitome of which hail from the individual carrozzeria of European pre-war body builders such as Carrozzeria Touring, Zagato, and Figoni et Falaschi — which is why he now has in his collection bodies built by Sindelfingen and Gangloff, as well as Touring.

Due to his interest in such cars, he is constantly updated with information from auctioneers, brokers, and other contacts from around the world about vehicles coming up for sale. Continued on page 14 ...

Garry had certainly done his homework and had compiled a detailed dossier on this Alfa before physically viewing it at Techno Classica in Essen, Germany, in 2016. After further research and due diligence, he decided that it would be the perfect car to complement his Mercedes-benz collection, especially as the Alfa had won Best Cabriolet in Show at the event.

Garry describes the car as a piece of rolling sculpture, with an Alfa Romeo chassis and a body from Touring.

Pure elegance

This 1938 Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 B Pescara Mille Miglia Cabriolet — Superleggera body by Touring was the original exhibition car for the London Motor Show in 1938. From the 17 Pescara Mille Miglia short chassis produced, only seven were sent to Carrozzeria Touring — and this car is the only cabriolet from Touring on a Pescara Mille Miglia chassis.

This sensational pre-war Alfa Romeo was created with cutting-edge construction, striking design, and unrivalled competition lineage. Its chassis was clothed by Carrozzeria Touring of Milan, which employed its up-to-the-minute Superleggera technique to create one of the most elegant and well-proportioned automotive bodies ever.

After the London Motor Show, the Touring Superleggera Cabriolet remained in England for a further 80 years. Its first owner was Mike Carter, who sold it to Edward Perry in Belgium. After a full restoration, Edward Perry competed in it at the Mille Miglia in 1984.

In 2007, a seven-year restoration commenced to bring the car back to its original body configuration. This work was carried out in Italy by a recognized and reputable Alfa Romeo specialist, supervised by Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera, while the mechanical rebuild was carried out by Motorsport Gilianico, and the entire project managed by Marburt SLR Turin.

This extremely elegant Alfa Romeo is in absolute concours condition and was recently exhibited in the Mille Miglia Museum in Brescia, Italy. Last year, the car was awarded the Best Cabriolet at Techno Classica in Essen, Germany.