Alfa Romeo 6C - World Of Classic Cars - Rank 173

Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport Coupe 1949

The Alfa Romeo 6C name was used on road, race, and sports cars that were made between 1925 and 1954 by Alfa Romeo. 6C refers to a straight 6 engine. Bodies for these cars were made by coachbuilders such as James Young, Zagato, Touring, Castagna, and Pininfarina. Starting from 1933 there was also a 6C version with a factory Alfa body, built in Portello. In the early 1920s Vittorio Jano got a task to create a lightweight, high performance vehicle to replace the Giuseppe Merosi designed RL and RM models. The car was introduced in April 1925 at the Salone dell’ Automobile di Milano as the 6C 1500. It was based on the P2 racing car, using single overhead cam 1,487 cc inline six-cylinder motor producing 44 horsepower, in the 1928 was presented the 1500 Sport which was the first Alfa Romeo road car with double overhead camshafts

6C 1500 (1925–1929)

In the mid-1920s, Alfa's RL was considered too large and heavy, so a new development began. The 2-liter formula that had led to Alfa Romeo winning the World Championship in 1925, changed to 1.5 liter for the 1926 season. The 6C1500 was introduced in 1925 at Milan, production started 1927, with the P2 Grand Prix car as starting point. Engine capacity was now 1487 cc, against the P2's 1987 cc, while supercharging was dropped. First versions were bodied by Young and Touring.

In 1928, a 6C Sport was released, with a dual overhead camshafts engine. Its sport version won many races, including the 1928 Mille Miglia. Total production was 3000 (200 with DOHC engine). Ten copies of a supercharged (compressore, compressor) Super Sport variant were also made.

6C 1750 (1929–1933)

Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS Testa Fissa 1930

The more powerful 6C 1750 (1752 cc actual) was introduced in 1929 in Rome. It was produced in six series between 1929 and 1933. Base model had a single overhead cam; Super Sport and Gran Sport versions had double overhead cam engine (DOHC). Again, a supercharger was available. Most of the cars were sold as rolling chassis and bodied by coachbuilders such as Zagato, Touring and James Young. In 1929, it won every major racing event it was entered, including the Grands Prix of Belgium, Spain, Tunis and Monza, as well as the Mille Miglia was won with Giuseppe Campari and Giulio Ramponi, the Brooklands Double Twelve and the Ulster TT was won also, in 1930 it won again the Mille Miglia and Spa 24 Hours. Total production was 2635.

6C 1900 (1933)

The last derivate of original 1500 version the 6C 1900 with an 1917 cc engine was introduced in 1933, now with an aluminium head for the first time. With 68 brake horsepower this version could achieve top speed of 130 kilometres per hour (81 mph). The 1900 version is very rare as only 197 copies were made before it was replaced by 6C 2300.

6C 2300 (1934–1937)

Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 B Short Chassis Spyder 1937

The 6C 2300 (2309 cc) was designed by Vittorio Jano as a cheaper alternative to the 8C. In 1934 Alfa Romeo had become a state-owned enterprise. This year was presented a new 6C model with a newly designed, larger engine. Chassis technology, however, had been taken from the predecessor. One year later, a revised model, called the 6C 2300 B was presented. In this version the engine was placed in a completely newly designed chassis, with individual front suspension and rear swing axle, and hydraulic brakes. The 6C-2300 was produced in 760 copies with rigid axles and 870 copies of the B-model.

6C 2500 (1938–1952)

Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport Coupé 1948

Introduced in 1938, the 2500 (2443 cc) was the last 6C road car. World War II was coming and car development was stopped, but a few hundred 6C 2500s were built from 1940 to 1945. Postwar, the first new Alfa model was the 1946 6C 2500 Freccia d'Oro (Golden Arrow), of which 680 were built through 1951, with bodies by Alfa. The 2500 had enlarged engine compared to the predecessor model, this Vittorio Jano designed double overhead cam engine was available either one or three Weber carburetors. The triple carburetor version was used in the top of line SS (Super Sport) version. The 2443 cc engine was mounted to a steel ladder frame chassis, which was offered with three wheelbase lengths: 3,250 mm (128.0 in) on the Turismo, 3,000 mm (118.1 in) on the Sport and 2,700 mm (106.3 in) on the Super Sport. Various coachbuilders made their own versions of the 2500, but most of the bodyworks was made by Touring of Milan.

Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Sport Cabriolet 1947

The Tipo 256 was a racing version of 2500 made eight copies between 1939 and 1940 for Mille Miglia and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.[11] It was made as Spider (convertible) and Berlinetta (coupe) Touring bodystyles. With power of 125 bhp (93 kW) it could achieve top speed of 200 kilometres per hour (120 mph).
It was sold to wealthy customers like King Farouk, Alì Khan, Rita Hayworth, Tyrone Power, and Prince Rainier. One was also featured in The Godfather in 1972.

The 2500 was one of the most expensive cars available at its own time. The last 6C was produced in 1952, and was replaced by the 1900.