Alfa Romeo marks 110 years of success with magical museum
The building on the outskirts off Milan already displays more than 200 cars but now, as the marque celebrates its 110th birthday, a further 150 cars will go on show as well as a special Alfa Romeo
“in uniform” section dedicated to the cars of the carabinieri.
Petrolheads, “Alfisti” or just thosee who love beautiful cars can wanderr around the museum – following current health and safety guidelines – and appreciate some of the iconic designs brought to the road and track by the Italian car maker.
They include a slew of stunning cars such as the Disco Volante, the Giulia TZ, the 8C, the Tipo 33 Stradalee and the 2013 4C.
Alfa design boss Ralph Gilles said:d: “The 4C design is provocative as it stirss the soul like cars costing five times itss price. For me, it is about the presencee of the car – it’s impossible to ignore and not want to applaud its very existence.”
Museum curator Lorenzo Ardizio highlighted tthe GP Tipo P2 from 1925, whwhich won the first world chachampionship with its light and agile features – qualities whwhich Al fa racers st i l l pospossess today.
HHis l ist of favou r ites inclincludes the Tipo 158 Alfetta, whiwhich won 11 victories in 11 raraces, with Giuseppe “Nino” FarinFarina at the wheel. The next year, Juan Manuel Fangio won the titleti in a Tipo 159. IntInterestingly, Al fa’s f irst factorfactory racing team assembled in 1921923 included Ugo Sivocci, GiuGiuseppeuse Campari, Antonio AscAscaricari and a name that made its markk ini the annals of automotive histohistory, Enzio Ferrari.
It wwas at this time that the first QuaQuadrofoglio (four- leaf clover) madmade its appearance – the badge that to this day sits on Alfa’s racing and high-performance cars.
FFor the Targa Florio XIV, the teateam opted to paint a four-leaf cloclover on the bonnets of their carcars to bring them extra luck. SivocciSiv won, followed by Ascari, and GiulioGiu Masetti came fourth.
The brand’sbra distinctive badge pays hhomage to the coat of arms of the Visconti family, which dominated medieval Milan. It has the red cross of
Milan on one side and the Visconti dragon on the other.
The name Alfa comes from 1910 when a group of businessmen set up the Anonima Lombarda Fabbr ica Automobili (ALFA) and the Romeo part was added when engineer and entrepreneur Nicolo Romeo took over the company.
This year, as the firm celebrates its anniversary, it is marking it with a limited edition of the Giulia GTA, based on the legendary 1965 Giulia Sprint GTA. By the end of its career, the Giulia and its derivatives had sold one million models.
The Spider Duetto is arguably the most famous as it was the iconic sports car driven by Dustin Hoffman in 1967 Hollywood film The Graduate.
Just 6325 units of the Spider 1600 were built. The model was replaced by the 1750 Spider Veloce, the Spider 1300 Junior and the 2000 Spider Veloce, manufactured until 1994.
Visitors to the museum will be able to v iew the new SUV Tona l e , a plug- in hybrid, and, like its sibling SUV, the Stelvio, called after one of Italy’s high mountain passes.
Aware that many will have to forego foreign holidays this year, the museum is offering a virtual tour in a series of videos. To access it, go to the Alfa Romeo YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/ channel/UC3p7RSrsiMNiHfZmPJTGSuw.