1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport Cabriolet by Pinin Farina

Description 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C2500 Super Sport Cabriolet Short Wheelbase Pinin Farina Coachwork Chassis No. 915871 Engine No. 928182 Silver with Green Leather Interior Among the most beautiful automobiles ever produced, the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 occupies a unique and special place in the history of coachbuilding and automotive engineering. Having built cars of premier design and competition prowess, Alfa Romeo engaged the finest artisans and craftsmen with the sole objective of building handmade automobiles to an impossibly high level. In 1923, the great Vittorio Jano unveiled the incomparable six and eight-cylinder engines that would become legendary to the Alfa Romeo mystique. With amazing power and reliability, races were won, but at great cost. In 1925, just one year after constructing their first straight eight engine for Alfa Romeo, they won the very first World Championship. Though praise and acclaim were in order, Alfa Romeo was operating at fiscally unsustainable levels of perfection. The foundation of Alfa Romeo as an industrial leader teetered on financial ruin. In 1933, state recovery orders were put in place to save the company, giving the powerful Italian government control over Alfa Romeo. Fueled by national vigor and bolstered by unlimited government funds, Alfa Romeos of this era were opulent, highly refined, and emblems of Italian pride. Vehicles of bespoke construction were now outfitted with the finest in coachbuilt bodies, stunning interior treatments, and luxuriant appointments befitting royalty. The 6C 2300 and 2500 were offered in variations including the Super Sport, the premier offering of the 6C configuration. The dual overhead cam engine was the perfect fit particularly for the sportier short wheelbase configuration and independent suspension package which was light years ahead of the typical sold rear axle platforms of other manufacturers. The combination of sophisticated engineering, reliability, and handmade coachwork offered customers the very best in sport-oriented motoring. Unlike many cars of this era the Alfa Romeo didn’t demand highly skilled drivers or significant physical strength. The 6C 2500 was light, supple on rough roads, and delightfully nimble on a variety of terrains. The triple Weber carburetors and broad powerband delivered a robust 110hp with top speeds well beyond the capability of most skilled drivers. In the hands of top drivers competing in motorsport events, Alfa Romeo campaigned both the 2300 and 2500 to high acclaim achieving an impressive string of top finishes including 1st and 2nd in the 1937 Mille Miglia, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the 1937 6-Hour Targa Abruzzo, Pescara, and pressing on after the war with an overall win at the prestigious 1950 Targa Florio. History of this Alfa Romeo This beautifully restored Alfa Romeo was delivered new to pre-war racing legend and subsequent Alfa Romeo factory racing team member Count Goffredo Zehender of Milan, Italy. According to noted Alfa Romeo expert Angelo Tito Anselmi, chassis number 915871 was built in October 1949. Rare and desirably specified as a short wheelbase the Super Sport chassis was assembled and equipped with engine number 928182. Specially prepared at Pinin Farina, this cabriolet coachwork design is believed to be limited to just three or four examples influenced by Zehander. Count Goffredo Zehender, an accomplished driver, had previously won at Spa driving a Mercedes SS, had been a 1930s era works Alfa Romeo driver, and his private team, Gruppo Scuderia Inter, was among the first Ferrari racing teams to participate in 1947 and 1948. In addition to his racing prowess with Alfa Romeo, Zehander continued to race with Maserati and Mercedes-Benz during the 1930s while participating in the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice. An avid automotive enthusiast and European bon vivant, Count Zehender lived in Nice, France and by all accounts enjoyed an enviable lifestyle often found in the company of wealthy friends and Eastern European Royal families. Owing greatly to his prominence in the European racing community, Zehender’s cars were always finished with special details, either for himself, or for his friends and associated clientele. The details of unique distinction on this short wheelbase Super Sport include a unique front fascia with a lower and sportier hood profile, a lower profile grille (3” lower than standard), dramatically sculpted hood to fender curvature, and a unique grille design, itself composed of 98 pieces, echoing the next generation of Alfa Romeo designs entering the 1950s. Continuing past the cowl, the powerful rear haunches and a license plate cut-out in the trunk lid further add to the special body design for this car. The elegant but sporty 6C short wheelbase Super Sport would become the ideal cabriolet for the man who would ultimately manage the Scuderia Inter racing team, one of the first privateer teams to campaign the earliest Ferrari sports cars to world victories. After Zehander’s ownership, in 1953, a US Army officer purchased the car from the South of France and imported it to California. In March of 1957 it was acquired by Robert Allinger of Saratoga, California. Allinger, an American coachbuilder, was well known for his body designs building record chasing dry-lakes cars. Allinger was also an avid West Coast motorsports enthusiast who entered a Maserati Coupe for John Fox in 1957 at Laguna Seca, and an Osca, also for Fox, the following year. In 1969, Allinger sold the car to Wayne Williams of Mountain View, California, who retained the car in original condition, remaining for decades in dry California storage until 2010 after a remarkable 41 years of ownership, when it was purchased by the next owners who consigned it to Fantasy Junction. The car was sold to the current owner in 2013 who commissioned a comprehensive seven-year restoration of the finest quality employing expert European craftsmen addressing every detail, material, and finish befitting the historic im