One of the most beautiful cars of the late 1940s, the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 was among the first Italian sports cars to go into production after World War II. The superbly styled coachwork by Pinin Farina earned the 6C 2500 dual honors: it was one of the last cars to be recognized by the CCCA (Classic Car Club of America) and one of the first to be honored by the Milestone Car Society as a postwar collectible.
Subtle in its design, most Alfa Romeo 6C 2500s, such as this award-winning example from the Jerry McAlevy Collection, had only minor exterior embellishments. Even the
bumpers, as on this 1947 example, were little more than metal strips. Equipped with a four-wheel fully independent suspension and four-wheel hydraulic brakes, the 6C 2500 Sport and Super Sport models were powered by a race-proven, 2443-cc, six-cylinder dual overhead-camshaft engine with hemispheric combustion chambers. Sport models had a single two-barrel carburetor and 7:1 compression ratio, and developed 90 horsepower.
The car’s striking shape was actually narrower at the rear than the front, which led to the unusual three-passenger front bench seat. Alfa owners had to be well coordinated since the cars were right-hand drive with a four-speed shifter mounted on the left side of the steering column. The interiors were superbly appointed with jewel-like instruments, faux yellow-ivory control knobs and luxurious upholstery of glove-soft leather. Such fine detail was a hallmark of these last hand-built Alfa Romeo tourers.
{analysis} This car sold for $108,000, including buyer’s premium, on January 20, 2001, at the Barrett-Jackson auction held in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Jano’s fabulous 6C 1750, 8C 2300 and 2900 were world-class performance cars, but they were also prohibitively expensive for the depressed 1930s economy. To broaden its market, Alfa needed a cheaper car. The 6C 2300, introduced in 1934, offered the same displacement as Jano’s 8-cylinder supercharged passenger cars, but with natural aspiration, two fewer cylinders, about half the horsepower and none of the sophistication (or fabulous castings) of those benchmark cars.
The 6C 2300 was still not a cheap car by any standard, though. Chassis were individually
assembled by hand, and often shipped off to the body builder of the owner’s choice, even though “factory” bodies were available. Initially introduced in 1934 with independent front suspension but a solid rear axle, the car received fully independent suspension as the 6C 2300 B in 1935. After Jano was fired, Bruno Trevisan enlarged its engine to 2.5 liters in 1939. Even though this is the Super Sport version of a 2.5-liter engine, it only develops 110 horsepower and is capable of only 100 mph. By carefully picking its venues, Alfa was able to record some victories for the 6C 2500, but the description of the engine as being “race-derived” is more hyperbole than fact. In spite of its twin-cam configuration and triple carburetors, the 6C 2500 SS was mildly tuned. Brake mean effective pressure for the Super Sport engine was only 7.26 kg/cm2, compared to 8.55 kg/cm2 in Colombo’s development for the notorious 6C 3000 C50 coupe, and 10.62 kg/cm2 for the more modern Giulia Super.
In 1946, Alfa’s Portello factory, especially its foundry, was nothing more than rubble. Alfa had moved its huge inventory of cars and parts out of the factory before it was bombed, and cached them away in a number of caves north of Milan. As soon as the Germans were driven out of Italy, the horde of parts was rescued and assembly of cars recommenced. Three single-carburetor Sport models were assembled in 1945 and the number of cars for 1946 soared to 162. In the following year 281 6Cs were built, 71 of which were Super Sports. Thus, a majority of the parts in this 1947 car are actually pre-war, and ex-cave.
The 6C 2500 is probably the most comfortable long-distance tourer Alfa ever built. A fully independent suspension combines rear torsion bars, front coil springs and a long wheelbase to give a luxurious ride. The bodywork by Pinin Farina, Touring and others on this chassis unquestionably set the direction of post-war automotive design. This model was also a favorite of Middle Eastern royalty and Hollywood movie stars. Furthering its desirability, this was the last of the hand-built Alfas, as the succeeding 1900 series was assembled on a production line. Notwithstanding, this model Alfa is the least appreciated of all the coachbuilt series, and the sportier models have always attracted more interest.
Beautifully restored some years ago, this particular car is starting to age once again. Paint bubbles are beginning to appear in vulnerable areas and a fabricated rear bumper detracts from its back view. The dash is superbly detailed with correct instruments, knobs and steering wheel, and it’s hard to fault the leather interior. The fact that this presentable Alfa sold for less than SCM’s Price Guide range of $125,000-$175,000 tells us that either the market for these large, comfortable cars is as soft as their ride, or else the muscle car fanatics in the Barrett-Jackson audience just didn’t know what to make of this right-drive, left-shift car. Personally, I suspect a little of both.—Pat Braden{/analysis}