Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS La Serenissima

Vehicle Overview

The Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Riva was built as prototype in 1950 by Ing. Guido Cattaneo in Milan. Cattaneo designed and built a tubular chassis with very sporting characteristics and used a brand new Alfa Romeo 6 cyl. 2500 cc. with other mechanical parts from Alfa Romeo such as suspension, brakes, gearbox, transmission etc. Once the chassis was finished, Cattaneo asked Lurani to design a body for his coupé. Lurani turned to Carrozzeria Riva. The design of the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 “La Serenissima” was very advanced for its time and the streamlining was really efficient and elegant. The car was low, sleek. The original colour was a very nice metalized light blue-grey and the interior was blue Connolly leather. In August of 1950 the car entered in the then-famous Venice Grand Prix of Concours d’Elegance at the famous Lido of Venice. All the top coachbuilders of Italy competed, including Pininfarina, Touring, Bertone, Castagna, Ghia, etc. but it was the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Riva which won the Grand Prix of Elegance! PininFarina came personally to congratulate them for the success! The car was then delivered by Cattaneo to his customer, a young industrialist in Milan. It was soon sold to the U.S.A. at a bargain by its first owner.