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1,752cc DOHC Supercharged Inline 6-Cylinder Engine
Single Dual-Throat Memini Carburetor
85bhp at 4,500rpm
4-Speed Manual Transmission
4-Wheel Semi-Elliptic Leaf Spring Suspension with Solid Front and Live Rear Axle
4-Wheel Drum Brakes


*Campaigned by both Luigi Scafiotti and Scuderia Ferrari
*Excellent authenticity with original engine and driveline
*Two-time entrant to the Mille Miglia, in 1930 and 1931
*A thoroughly researched and well known example


THE CAR OFFERED

In motor racing legend, few names rank higher than that of Enzo Ferrari, the former racing driver and mechanic who, after establishing himself as sole dealer for the Alfa Romeo marque in the Emilia-Romagna and Marche regions of Italy, at the end of 1929 joined with three wealthy motor racing enthusiasts, plus Alfa Romeo and Pirelli, to establish a racing stable "to buy, race and perhaps someday build, high-performance cars". The first race in which the Scuderia Ferrari competed was the 1930 Mille Miglia, the fourth running of the classic endurance event, for which a team of three Alfa Romeos was entered, driven by Ferrari's partners Alfredo Caniato and Mario Tadini and the political activist and amateur racing driver Luigi Scarfiotti, at the wheel of the car offered here, 6C1750 GS chassis 8513033.

Scarfiotti, a Deputy in the Italian parliament, had, it seems, wanted a car that was distinctive, elegant and sporty, and could be used not only for racing but also driven in local political parades.

His choice fell on the new supercharged twin-cam GS (Gran Sport) version of the 1750cc version of the Fourth Series of the 6C Alfa Romeo designed by the gifted Vittorio Jano, which had been launched at the 1929 Rome Automobile Show. It was the latest iteration of Jano's 6C series first seen in prototype (and much tamer) single-cam form at the 1925 Salone di Milano.

For 1930 the 6C1750 was available in three versions, according to Alfa Romeo production figures quoted in Angela Cherrett's authoritative book Alfa Romeo Tipo 6C; the naturally-aspirated 3rd series Turismo with a single overhead camshaft, the 2nd and 3rd series twin-cam Super Sport available with or without a supercharger and the 4th series supercharged Gran Sport. Both supercharged models had Alfa-built twin-lobe Roots-type blowers, the main difference between the Super Sport and the Gran Sport being the supercharger installation: the Super Sport had a smaller, geared-up supercharger, while that on the Gran Sport was driven at engine speed, which eliminated the high-pitched supercharger whine emitted by the SS. Power output of the GS was quoted as 102hp at 5000rpm, and the car was built on the short 1.745m/ 9ft wheelbase, with the engine set back some 15 inches in the frame and a distinctive sloping radiator.

Alfa Romeo production figures quoted by Angela Cherrett give a total of between 206 and 213 cars for the combined production of the 4th and 5th Series 6C1500 and 6C1750 Gran Sport, for both the SS and the GS were produced in the smaller capacity for specific racing classes.


Supplied by Enzo Ferrari's agency, Luigi Scarfiotti's car – first registered on April ,1 1930 with the local Macerata provincial index "MC 2012" – still carries the "Concessionaria Emilia Romagna-Marche – Cav. Enzo Ferrari - Scuderia Ferrari" plaque on its dashboard. Its declared value at registration was the significant sum of Lire 70,000 – approximately $4200 at the then rate of exchange – and its two-seater body was built by Zagato.

Recalled Scarfiotti 40 years later: "I confirm that the body is by Zagato; as Scuderia Ferrari, we asked him for a lightweight body for the Mille Miglia."

And, indeed, the image of the Madonna of Loreto on the badge on this car's steering wheel might well be a subtle reference to Ugo Zagato's old nickname of "el gagà de Loret" ("the dandy from Loreto") from the days when, as a young man, he lived near the Piazzale Loreto in Milan and dressed in the latest of fashions.

Ugo Zagato, who had learned his trade in the old-established "Varesina" coachworks of Cesare Belli in Milan, had set up on his own account after the Great war, using the skills that he had acquired while building fighter aircraft for the Italian Air Force to create automobile bodies that were as light as they were beautiful. Among his appreciative customers was the newly-elected leader of Italy, Benito Mussolini, who expressed his "highest compliments" for the "magnificent motor with the very best coachwork" on a telegram to Ugo Zagato.

His attention to detail was legendary; his bodies were costly, and when a wealthy Milanese family took Zagato to court on the grounds that their son had been "mad" to order a "shockingly expensive" Zagato-bodied 8C2300 Alfa, the judge rejected their claim on the grounds that "the search for beauty is a most normal thing in a man".

Zagato's painstaking approach was highly appreciated by the top drivers of the day, and his circle of friends included Giuseppe Campari, Baconin Borzacchini, Giulio Ramponi... and Enzo Ferrari.

The majority of Zagato's output in the 1920s and '30s was built on Alfa Romeo chassis, and Enzo Ferrari recalled in after years "the first ultralight structures that [Ugo Zagato] realized with speed at the last moment in the old coachworks at 10 Viale Brianza in Milan in 1927, and think of how much motoring history was made in those Zagato spiders, first on the RL, then on the 1500 and 1750. It was a glorious series, the fruit of an avant-garde mechanism and a brilliant improvisation that lasted for years and brought so many victories."

Ferrari's connection with Alfa Romeo went back to the 1920 Targa Florio, in which he had competed at the wheel of a 6.2-liter 40/60 Alfa and finished second; he was a works driver until setting up his agency in Modena in 1929 and racing quasi works cars under the Scuderia Ferrari name. He had also acted as go-between in the negotiations that lured the brilliant engineer Vittorio Jano away from Fiat to join Alfa Romeo in 1923. And when Jano created the six-cylinder Alfa Romeo 6C1500, Enzo Ferrari drove an early 6C1500 S to victory in the 360km Circuit of Modena – the new car's racing debut – at an average of 107.6km/h. So his links with the Alfa Romeo company went far deeper than the normal agent-manufacturer relationship.

Scarfiotti's car was an apt choice for a man in his position, for Italy's leader and the head of his party, Benito Mussolini, was the proud owner of a Zagato-bodied 6C1750SS.

Less than two weeks after he had taken delivery of his new car, Scarfiotti drove it in the Mille Miglia (1000 Mile) road race as one of the Scuderia Ferrari team; his co-driver and mechanic was the Scuderia Ferrari's Guglielmo Carraroli, who had been Enzo Ferrari's riding mechanic as far back as 1920, when the duo raced a mighty 1914 7.2-liter Isotta Fraschini in local events.

Sadly, though 6C1750 Alfas swept the board in the Mille Miglia, with Nuvolari finishing first and averaging over 60mph, and the 1500cc version won its class, none of the Scuderia Ferrari cars finished, Scarfiotti being eliminated by a broken leaf spring. Years later, Luigi Scarfiotti recalled his "friendly battles with Cavalieri Ferrari, because he was not pleased with the result!"

Scarfiotti continued to campaign his Alfa during 1930, coming second overall and winning his class at the Colle di Paterno in July, and competing in the Circuito di Senigallia the following month (he failed to finish). The Alfa finished fifth overall in the Coppa Gran Sasso, came fourth in the 12-mile Teramo-Civitella del Tronto hillclimb and was fourth overall in the Coppa Pierazzi.

With those events under his belt, in 1931 Scarfiotti was ready to make another attempt at the Mille Miglia with this car, again running as part of the Scuderia Ferrari team; his co-driver/mechanic was Piero Bucci. This time, there was no mistake, and the Alfa finished sixth overall, in the excellent time of 17 hr 27 min 36 sec, coming in 1 hr 17 minutes behind the winning SSK Mercedes driven by Rudi Caracciola. A further measure of the excellent performance of Scarfiotti's 6C1750 GS was that it finished three places and 21 minutes ahead of the highly favored new 8C2300 driven by Tazio Nuvolari.

We are informed that a scrutineer's lead seal that comes with the car had "finally fallen off fairly recently" – apparently from the steering column – and has the numbers "1931" and "117" stamped on both sides, indicating that it was applied during the 1931 Mille Miglia, in which Scarfiotti's Alfa ran as No 117, nevertheless there are photographs of this on file.

That sixth place was a convincing enough result for Scarfiotti to be invited to co-drive one of the Scuderia Ferrari's cycle-winged Alfa Romeo 6C1750 racing cars in the 1932 Mille Miglia, partnered by Guido d'Ippolito: they finished third overall.

That same year, Scarfiotti sold his 6C1750 GS back to Alfa Romeo, possibly in part-payment for the spectacular new Alfa Romeo 8C2300 "Corto" Zagato-bodied streamlined coupé that was first registered by him on 6 February, but was mysteriously re-registered "as new" two months later to the Scuderia Ferrari with two-seat spider bodywork. "8513033" was registered to the Alfa Romeo company in Milan on 18 May that year, but its subsequent history is unclear. It seems certain, however, that its competition career was over, and its subsequent history is unclear until it was discovered "in 1960 in Modena by an Italian gentleman who rescued it".

We are informed that its rescuer, Giuseppe Bruni, took the car to a restoration shop in Florence for recommissioning. In 1973 he wrote to Luigi Scarfiotti at his home in the seaside town of Porto Recanati in the Marche region.

"I remember the car very well, because it gave me a lot of satisfaction, both in races and private life," replied Scarfiotti, whose interest in motor sport had died with his son, the highly respected racing driver Ludovico, who, like his father, had driven with success in the Mille Miglia, but been killed in practice for a mountain championship climb in Germany in the summer of 1968.

The car remained in the Bruni family for many years and it is believed that additional restoration was completed by Autofficina Faralli, near Pisa, Italy, in 1999. The car came to the United States in 2005 and had then been part of a collection in Texas. Sold to Europe in 2008 the car was brokered to the current owner in 2010. Unfounded rumours of the car's originality, due to a similar car sporting the same chassis number in Germany, prompted a series of investigations by different marque specialists, including Siegfried Otto Hepp in Germany, Paul Loveridge and Detlef Krukenkamp (both members of the FIA technical commission) and Alfa Romeo connoisseur Raoul San Giorgi. In addition metal testing and stamping comparisons were made by Marc Werring of Rennsport as well as a study by RWT in Germany. In conclusion came a letter from John De Boer of the Italian Car Registry from November 2018 confirming a correct and original Alfa Romeo period chassis together with all correct original drive train parts making up a correct rolling chassis for this car. Obviously and as clearly stated the body is non original dating most probably from the mid-1960s but to the correct period Zagato design.

In conclusion "8513033" retains its original engine, gearbox, back axle, front axle, steering box and period correct chassis. These parts were found to be number correct and matching, with identical numbers stamped on mating faces to show that they had always been together. This is confirmed by a report, correspondence and photographs in the large file that accompanies the car. The car currently has a valid 2017 FIVA pass clearly indicating its history from new.


Having successfully commissioned the research to clarify the history and provenance, the car competed and finished the 2018 edition of the Mille Miglia, the current owner having now decided that after 13 years of custodianship, it is time to find a new home for the Alfa Romeo due to lack of use, the preference going to exercising the numerous Bugattis in his impressive private collection.