1944 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 S Berlinetta ‘Turinga’

Engine 2443cc straight-six, DOHC, single Weber DCR 36 carburettor

Power 95bhp @ 4600rpm

Transmission Four-speed manual, rear-wheel drive

Steering Worm and roller

Suspension Front: double wishbones, coil springs, hydraulic dampers, anti-roll bar. Rear: swing axles, transverse beam, longitudinal torsion bar, hydraulic dampers

Brakes Drums

Weight 1370kg

Top speed 96mph

You need muscle to operate the steering at lower speeds, but with a bit of pace it’s extremely relaxing. The drum brakes take some getting used to, but they’re effective and strong by the standards of the era. Yes, it would have been a fine ally for that epic drive.

BACK TO 1944. The 6C 2500 was part of an impressive Alfa Romeo portfolio, introduced just before the outbreak of World War Two as an update of the legendary 6C 2300, with the incredible 8C 2900 topping the range. Its sixcylinder engine was one of Vittorio Jano’s masterpieces. Whereas the 8C was basically two four-cylinder blocks lined up, the 6C’s was a single casting that started with a 1.5-litre capacity in 1925. The 6C 1500 was quickly followed by the 6C 1750, in Super Sport and Gran Sport form with Zagato two-seater body, which dominated racing pretty much wherever it showed up. The 6C established Alfa Romeo’s legend in the Mille Miglia, winning three years in a row from 1928 to 1930, and the formula led to commercial success as well.

Alfa Romeo became the leading sporting marque with its race-derived six-cylinder road cars in different trims. The 2300 of 1934 was another technological milestone, bringing full independent suspension to the market. Yet the 6C quickly fell short in the horsepower race that was taking over Europe before war broke out. For racing, Jano’s mighty straight-eight proved effective but, commercially, an update for the six-cylinder engine was needed, especially considering the hefty price Alfa Romeo demanded. And so the 6C 2500 arrived in 1939; it lived on until 1950.

During the war, Alfa updated the Sport chassis in the 6C 2500 with a central crossmember, adding extra stiffness, though only a handful of cars were built while hostilities continued. The Sport version’s Weber 36 DCR carburettor brought the cavalry of the 2443cc engine to an impressive 95bhp, and this car, chassis 915207, received body 2857 at Touring – or Turinga as the badges show. It features the Superleggera building technique that Touring had patented: a network of tiny steel tubes forming the basis on which to fix the aluminium body panels.

Styling-wise, it forms an interesting ‘middle step’ between the pre-war Berlinetta models and the post-war Villa d’Este coupé. The nose of this Turinga car is much straighter than you’ll find on the pre-war Berlinetta; its wheelarches are a step closer to the Villa d’Este’s fully enclosed body-style, and in many ways it looks more elegant than the later 6C

Clockwise from right Traditional Alfa nose intact despite the strange badging; unworn interior a benefit of the car’s near-30-year lay-up, caused by a broken water pump; engine is now in equally fine condition.