Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Sport Cabriolet

Vehicle Overview

This Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Sport Cabriolet (chassis 915.169) was lent by the owner to Pininfarina for a series of exhibitions, starting with the Geneva Motor Show in September 1947. It was then displayed on the Esplanade de Montebenon, in Lausanne, at the start of October, after which it headed off towards Paris for the Motor Show. However, because of the political situation in 1946, in the aftermath of the war, Italian manufacturers were forbidden from taking part in the Paris Salon. To get round this problem, Pinin Farina and his son Sergio drove the Alfa Romeo and a Lancia Aprilla to the capital and, having carefully cleaned them, they parked both cars right outside the Grand Palais. This adventure caused much amusement amongst the press: “That old devil Farina has opened his own anti-Salon! ” Less than a week later, the Alfa Romeo was on show at the Concours d’Élégance in Turin where it won the ACI trophy for ” the most beautiful open-top car. ” The following year, it was awarded the Grand Prix d’Honneur at the 29th Concours d’Élégance in Monte Carlo. During these public appearances in 1946 and 1947, the cabriolet was the subject of numerous articles in the press. Pinin Farina then bought the car from Guiliana Tortolli and used it himself for about six months. It was then acquired by Leonard Lord in 1948; Mr. Lord was chairman of the Austin Motor Company at the time and by appearance a very dour British gentleman. Hard to imagine him enjoying such an extravagant car but never the less it’s said this design inspired the creation of the Austin A90 Atlantic. Later this Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Sport Cabriolet was bought by American designer Holden Koto and shipped off to the US where it might have inspired the introduction of portholes on the sides of the 1949 Buick models. For a Pininfarina design it’s a very “overstyled” car with lots of chrome and odd details, where generally their designs were tastefully understated. It was also innovative for it’s time, showing the transition to a modern pontoon form with vestigial fender “wings” on the otherwise slab sides.