'Passione per il design Italiano.'

[Ferry_vO]

Or 'Passion for Italian design', the name of the second special exhibition at the Louwman museum in The Hague. Fifteen very special Alfa Romeo's with bodies designed by the big Italian studios. The cars all come from private collectors or from the Alfa Romeo museum, and for the past weekend onlty the new 4C was also present, so a good reason to drive to The Hague again!

Outside the mseum was a nice suprise, as a group of Alfa's (Mainly 6C2500 models!) was doing a tour that ended with a visit to the museum so taking photos started outside already:





One of my favourites:







Different but interesting body:



Very nice and somewhat bold red and blue combination:





And an older Alfa Romeo; this is a 1931 6C1750GS:

 

[Ferry_vO]

Time to go inside to see the special exhibit, and the first car I see is this 1965 TZ2:





The second car is also a Zagato design, and this 1954 1900SSZ was found recently after having spend 40 years in a garage:



Another Zagato design is this 1963 2600SZ prototype (The first of four) which shares the 'coda tronca' rear end with the TZ2; no surprise as both were designed by Ercole Spada:



Alfa Romeo also brought this 8C convertible, the most beautiful Alfa Romeo of the last years:



But one of the best looking Alfa's of all time is this Tipo 33/2 Stradale by Scaglioni:

 

[Ferry_vO]

Next up is the new 4C; I have to say it is a good looking car! Short but wide and quite low.











On the other side is the Carabo, designed by Marcello Gandini for Bertone in 1968. It is based on the Tipo 33 race car and has doors similar to the Lamborghini Countach from the same designer:







It is accompagnied by Bertone's 1976 Navajo Concept:

 

[Ferry_vO]

This is a 6C2500SS built by Bertone with a body designed by Count Revelli in 1942:





Another 6C2500SS, this one's called the 'Villa D'Este':



A third 6C2500SS, with a body by Carrozzeria Touring, made for race car driver Carlo Trossi in 1946:



Another Carrozzeria Touring design is one of the most beautiful cars to ever race at Le Mans: This 1938 8C2900B Speciale Tipo 'Le Mans':

 

[Ferry_vO]

Alfa's 'Flying Saucer' from 1952, the 1900C52 'Disco Volante' Coupe by Touring. Despite its aerodynamic shape it wasn't that succesful as the shape of the body made the rear very unstable due to lift at high speed:





This 1947 6C2500S has a body designed by Michelotti:





This 6C2500S has a body by Castagna, and a very special engine because the current owner replaced the 2.5 liter 6 cylinder (Hence 6C2500) with a prototype S10SS engine, which is a 3.5 liter V12 designed by Colombo, the men later responsible for a lot of Ferrari V12 engines!



More down to earth is this 1952 1900L Ti, one of two made by Pininfarina:


Another Pininfarina design is this 1968 33 Coupe prototipo speciale (Or P33), based on the Ferrari P5 study from the previous year. This car is also based on a Tipo 33/2 chassis.





The last car of this Alfa Romeo special is another 6C2500SS, now with a one-off Pininfarina body which apparently was the inspiration for the Lancia Aurelia:

 

[Ferry_vO]

On display in the museum are a few more Alfa Romeo's, like this 1941 8C2900B Spider Corsa Sperimentale 'Balena' (Whale) with engine and body designed by Colombo (OF of the dew bodies he designed.):



1968 Tipo 33/2 Daytona Coupe: 2 liter 8 cylinder engine with 250 hp:



1972 Tipo 33/TT/3; 3 liter 8 Cylinder with 440 hp:



1976 Tipo 33/SC/12 with a 3 liter flat V12 (Designed for Formula 1) with 520 HP:

 

[Ferry_vO]

Totally unrelated to Italian design, but once I got back outside another club had joined the Alfa's outside with a large group of German Borgward cars, most of the type 'Isabella':



Beautiful coupe design:



Loved this Burgundy and white car with matching interior:



So it was a busy day, but in and outside the museum!:

 

[Lionheart]

Some awesome cars! Great photos, Ferry. Goodness.

That P33 is beautiful. So is the Carabo, (one of my faves). What a massive amount of work that factory has done.



Bill

 

[grunau_baby]

Well not being an "Alfa-Male" at all I am impressed. Just spotted a few shots of the occasion on the web, but your photos are

The last car of this Alfa Romeo special is another 6C2500SS, now with a one-off Pininfarina body which apparently was the inspiration for the Lancia Aurelia:

Ouch, I didn´t know Pininfarina crossed the wonderfull Aurelia B20 with an early Saab

Moreover I like the new 4C, that´s exactly what a modern sports car has to be: lightweight-construction, perfect weight balance, crisp steering and enough but not excessively ridiculous HP to be a true little rocket. And a great plus: it looks great, lean, mean and fast. And it´s still "affordable" (not for me off course...but...)

Tipo 33/2 Stradale by Scaglioni: What a car, seen it a few years back on a classic event, can´t top this one!!!

Alfa´s 1963 2600SZ prototype from Zagato: Do I see a lot of similarities with the Lancia Fulvia Zagato Sport? Yes, it seems like a transition between the Flaminia and the Fulvia Zagato versions. Cool, didn´t know that;-)
View attachment 88173-->>=Alfa-->>View attachment 88172

Great shots, Ferry!!!

Best wishes
Alex

PS: I do even like those Borgwards, they belong to an era when german carmakers at least tried to build beautiful, good looking cars and not overexpensive, heavy, square boxes with supposedly reliable, but overhauled technique all wrapped up in truly great marketing and brand-image. Where´s all the "passione" gone these days?

 

[Ferry_vO]

Well not being an "Alfa-Male" at all I am impressed. Just spotted a few shots of the occasion on the web, but your photos are

Thanks Alex!

Moreover I like the new 4C, that´s exactly what a modern sports car has to be: lightweight-construction, perfect weight balance, crisp steering and enough but not excessively ridiculous HP to be a true little rocket. And a great plus: it looks great, lean, mean and fast. And it´s still "affordable" (not for me off course...but...)

Well, at least I get to own a few parts of the 4C.... The rear view mirrors are the same as on the Fiat 500 and Punto.. ;-)

Tipo 33/2 Stradale by Scaglioni: What a car, seen it a few years back on a classic event, can´t top this one!!!

Still can't believe how tiny it is! The 4C is by no means a big car, but it still dwarfs the 33/2... Only 18 ever built, but some chassis' have been used for prototypes like the Carabo and P33 so even fewer 'Stradale' cars built.

 

[aeronca1]

Beautiful shots!! I have always loved Alfas. My personal favourite was the Montreal. Looking at the Carabo, if I hadn't known it was an alfa and had to guess, Lotus would have come to mind. Maybe the colour, I don't know.

 

[Ferry_vO]

That's the great thing about coach builders and design studios, Matt; sometimes they go their own way, influence the design of a brand or create something that might make it into production under a different name. The Alfa Romeo Carabo definitely shares elements with the Lamborghini Countach for example, as both came from the same designer.

BTW the Lotus Esprit had an Italian designer too, but that was Giugiaro, not Gandini