Alfa Romeo

Italy, 1910 to date

(1) A.L.F.A. (Anonima Lombardo Fabbrica Automobili), Milan, 1910 – 1914

(2) SA Italiana Ing. Nicola Romeo & C, Milan, 1914 – 1930

(3) SA Alfa Romeo, Milan, 1930 – 1942

(4) Alfa Romeo SpA, Milan, 1942 to date

(5) Alfa Romeo SpA, Pomigliano d’Arco, Naples, 1971 to date

A.L.F.A. (Anonima Lombardo Fabbrica Automobili) was founded in 1909 by Cav. Ugo Stella, formerly managing director of the Società Italiana Automobili Darracq, to manufacture a completely new range of Italian cars at Portello on the outskirts of Milan where, since 1906, small French Darracq cars had been assembled.

By 1910 the last Darracq had left the factory, and production commenced of a sturdy range of Alfa cars designed from scratch by Cav. Giuseppe Merosi, a native of Piacenza, who had been Chief Technician with Bianchi in Milan.

The first Alfas were a 24hp 4.1-litre car, later known as the 20/30hp, and a 12hp, 2.4-litre, which became the 15/20hp. Both were well made, with side-valve 4-cylinder monobloc engines and shaft drive. In 1913 the sports 6.1-litre 40/60hp appeared with push-rod overhead valves operated by two camshafts in the crankcase. A one-off 4½-litre Grand Prix car was built in 1914 with a 4-cylinder twin ohc engine, but it never ran in international races.

In 1915 the factory was taken over by the industrialist Nicola Romeo, and after World War 1 the pre-war models were marketed as Alfa Romeos. The 20/30 ES Sport of 1921-22 was successful in Italian races, as was a special racing 40/60 driven by Campari, which scored the firm’s first victory at Mugello in 1920. A 6-cylinder luxury side-valve car called the G1 was not a success, but Merosi’s best remembered designs followed it; the 3-litre 6-cylinder push-rod ohv touring, sports and racing RL series cars which first appeared in 1921 and went into production in 1922. A racing version won the 1923 Targa Florio. The similar 4-cylinder 2-litre type RM was marketed in 1923-26, but the pointed radiator sports 22/90hp RLSS and the touring 21/70hp RLT, which had a flat radiator, were sold until 1927.

In 1924 Alfa Romeo won the very first Grande Epreuve they ever entered, an unparalleled achievement, when Campari was victorious in the 1924 French Grand Prix at Lyons in the new straight-eight supercharged P2 car, designed by Vittorio Jano, who came from Fiat. In 1925 Alfa Romeo were declared World Champions. 

Jano took over from Merosi in 1926 and his first touring and sports car designs soon became world famous, these having single and twin overhead camshaft 6-cylinder engines, first in 1.500cc and then in 1.750cc form. When supercharged, these cars won all the great sports car races in the period 1928-1930, with the exception of Le Mans.

The latter omission was rectified from 1931 to 1934 when victory at Le Mans each year went to Jano’s next sports car design, which had a 2.3-litre straight-eight supercharged engine with a central drive to the overhead camshafts. This engine also powered the successful Grand Prix Alfa Romeo of 1931, known as the Alfa Romeo‘Monza’ model and raced for the factory by Scuderia Ferrari. In 1932 this engine, in 2.65-litre form, powered the Alfa Romeo Type B P3 Monoposte G.P. car, which proved virtually unbeatable and bore affinities with the Alfa Romeo Type A racing car of 1931 powered by two 1.750cc engines side by side. In 1933 Alfa Romeo came under State ownership and the Alfa Romeo Monopostos were withdrawn from racing until right at the end of the season. Ferrari continued F.O. racing with Alfa Romeo Monzas enlarged to 2.6 litres.

The Alfa Romeo Monopostos in 2.9-litre form were not powerful enough against the Mercedes and Auto Unions, although Chiron won the 1934 French G.P. for Alfa Romeo, whilst Nuvolari quite unexpectedly won the 1935 German G.P. in an Alfa Romeo 3.8-litre Monoposto fitted with Dubonnet independent front suspension. From 1936 to 1939 Alfa Romeo fielded independently sprung straight-eight, V-12, and V-16 cars in G.P. racing, but against the German cars only isolated victories in smaller races were attained, usually through the skill of Nuvolari. In 1935 Ferrari built two big bi-motore racing cars, with one Alfa Romeo P3 engine under the bonnet and another in the tail.

Some 2.9 P3 engines were put into all-independently sprung chassis in 1937-1939 to make expensive but exceedingly fast prestige sports cars. In sportscar racing Alfa Romeos won every Mille Miglia from 1928 to 1938 inclusive, except in 1931. 

In 1934 Jano’s unsupercharged 6-cylinder twin ohc 2.3-litre car replaced the 1750 and 8C 2300, and, developed by Bruno Treviso, it later became the 2500 of 1939 and the early post-war years. It was recplaced in 1950 by the 4-cylinder 1900. This marked an important change in Alfa Romeo policy. Previously the touring Alfas had been expensive and semi-bespoke machines, whereas the 1900 and its successors were unitary construction saloons whose production has risen to about 30.000 units per annum at the present time. In 1954 was introduced the famous 1300ccc Giuletta, designed by Orazio Satta. From it were derived the successful 1600 Giulia and the 6-cylinder 2600, introduces in 1962. For 1968 the 1600s were replaced by the 1750 series, actually 1.779cc, available as a saloon(Berlina), coupé (1750 GT Veloce) or open sports (1750 Spider Veloce).

The remarkable Colombo-designed supercharged 1½-litre 8-cylinder Monoposto known as the Alfa Romeo ‘158’ was introduces in 1938 for voiturette racing. After the war it was eligible for the Grand Prix formula, and by remaining unbeaten in Grandes Epreuves in 1946-1948 and 1950 until mid-1951, it set up a record unequalled by any other G.P. design. In 1946 Alfa Romeo took the first three places in the G.P. des Nations at Geneva, and repeated this finishing order in 1947 in the Italian G.P., the G.P. d’Europe at Spa and the Swiss G.P.. The most successful drivers during these years were Jean-Pierre Wimille, Achille Varzi and Count Felice Trossi, but the deaths of all three took place before the 1949 season and Alfa Romeo withdrew from racing as they had done in 1933. The Alfa Romeo 158s returned to the tracks in 1950 with Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio as their star drivers, and after victories in every race the cars ran in, Farina was declared World Champion. In 1951 Fangio was World Champion on the 400bhp Alfa Romeo Type 159, though the cars had to concede their first defeat, by and unblown 4½-litre Ferrari. 

At the end of the season Alfa Romeo withdrew from G.P. racing, and although the works Disco Volante sports racing 2½- and 3-litre cars of 1952-1953 were generally unlucky in racing, the Alfa Romeo Giulias have had G.T. successes in recent years.

Competition activities were resumed in 1967 with the Alfa Romeo T33, a rear-engined 2-litre 4ohc V8 with hemispherical combustion chambers, fuel injection, alternator ignition, and a 6-speed all-synchromesh gearbox. Until 1969 a tubular trellis frame was used, replaced for 1970 by an orthodox platform, and the disc brakes were mounted inboard. This Alfa Romeo T33 was catalogued at 9.750.000 lire but was primarily used by the Autodelta racing team; later cars had 2½-litre and 3-litre engines. In 1971 Alfa Romeos won the BOAC 1.000 Kilometers, the Targa Florio and the Watkins Glen 6 hours, but in 1972 they were powerless against the all-conquering Ferraris. In the touring-car range, the six disappeared in 1969, and in 1970 the fuel-injected dry-sump 2.6-litre V8 engine was applied to a conventional front-engined coupé, the Alfa Romeo Montreal.

Other new 1972 models were the Alfa Romeo 2000, an updated 1750, and the 1.750cc Alfa Romeo Alfetta saloon with 122bhp engine, a 5-speed De Dion transaxle, double wishbone independent front suspension, and inboard disc brakes. It was the angular rear-end treatment of Alfa Romeo’s new economy saloon. The Alfasud, made in the Naples factory opened during 1971. This car had a 1.186cc flat-4 engine with cogged-belt drive for its twin overhead camshafts, hypoid bevel drive to the front wheel, all-disc brakes, and four forward speeds.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; PMAH

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com

De Dion Bouton

France, 1883 – 1932

(1) De Dion Bouton et Trépardoux, Paris, 1883 – 1894

(2) De Dion Bouton et Cie, Paris, 1894 – 1897

(3) De Dion Bouton et Cie, Puteaux, Seine, 1897 – 1932

Charles Trépardoux left the company De Dion Bouton et Trepardoux he had originally launched with his brother-in-law, Georges Bouton in December 1893, entering a partnership with F. Mérelle, the distributor of De Dion Bouton et Trepardoux cars who had been largely responsible for marketing the early De Dion Bouton steam-driven tricycles and quadricycles his company had produced. From 1894, the focus of the efforts of the remaining partners, the Count de Dion and Bouton, was on the production of petrol-fuelled internal combustion engines. In fact, several years previously, in 1889, the Count had established a working partnership with an engineer named Delalande, based at 103 Rue Saint-Maurin, Paris, with the intention of developing an internal combustion engine. The result was two engines of radial design, for which patents were sought, and which looked remarkably similar to those engines used in early aircraft: the cylinders were laid out like the spokes of a wheel and rotated around a fixed crankshaft. There is no indication that these engines were progressed beyond the development stage and installed in any vehicles. Trépardoux did, however, have an influence on the first tricycles and the voiturettes in that he had conducted the early work on the front and rear axles, wheel bearings, and transmissions, which made these early De Dion Bouton et Trepardoux vehicles so distinctive and successful.  

The first De Dion Bouton tricycles were produced in 1895, equipped with engines of modest output of ½hp and with frames that were very similar to those of the conventional De Dion Bouton pedal tricycles. Between that time and early 1897, the power output on De Dion Bouton cars was considerably increased, the frame was strengthened, electric ignition replaced the original hot tube version, and a mode of transport evolved that served the racing fraternity as well as those who could afford this desirable and fashionable accessory on their De Dion Bouton. At this time, De Dion Bouton developed its approach to engine manufacture that was to be a constant for the bulk of the next decade, where it sold ‘loose’ De Dion Bouton engines to individuals and companies alike, and in so doing, gave momentum to the early motor industry. Between 1895 and 1902, it has been estimated that the De Dion Bouton company produced some 50,000 De Dion Bouton engines, for a multiple of purposes including marine use as well as for stationairy machines.  As the power output steadily increased, so the number of uses for the De Dion Bouton engines also escalated; by the turn of the last century, there were De Dion Bouton 2.75hp and 3.5hp engines available.

In the first few years of the twentieth century the level of technical progress in the construction of motor-cars was remarkable, and this is self-evident from a cursory review of the output from the Puteaux works of De Dion Bouton. In September 1899, the De Dion Bouton company produced its first rear-engined, four-wheeled, twin speed vehicle with a single cylinder engine, an unsprung back axle, no rear brakes, and very limited accommodation. Five years later, in December 1904, a De Dion Bouton four-cylinder, four forward speed vehicle, fully sprung and capable of carrying limousine coachwork and a full complement of passengers in appreciable comfort over long distances, was available. In the five years that lapsed, the constant flow of technical innovation on De Dion Bouton motorcars, and the adoption of individual new components on a continuous basis, led to the presentation of sixteen individual passenger vehicle submissions of De Dion Bouton, in single, twin and four-cylinder configuration, to the Service des Mines for approval. 

The initial production voiturette was a 3.5hp rear-engined model, known as the De Dion Bouton Type ‘D’, which was replaced in 1900 by an upgraded De Dion Bouton Type ‘E’ version, albeit with the same engine.  In November 1900, the De Dion Bouton Type ‘G1’ appeared with a 4.5hp engine, followed in 1901 by a variant known as the De Dion Bouton Type ‘G2’.  The last rear-engined model was the De Dion Bouton Type ‘L’, which had an identical chassis to the De Dion Bouton Type ‘G’ Type, but was equipped with the more powerful 6hp De Dion Bouton engine that the company had initially installed in its front-engined models from November 1901.

The De Dion Bouton voiturette provided comfort in convivial style for two or more passengers that a tricycle or a quadricycle could not, and it was perfectly capable of long journeys by night or day, added to which it also offered advantages in cost, operation and maintenance for owner/drivers that vehicles produced by other manufacturers than De Dion Bouton did not. The presence of a light, high-speed petrol engine in a relatively lightweight body influenced many other manufacturers who adopted similar designs for their own vehicles.

By mid-1903 the De Dion Bouton Company was firmly established as a manufacturer of high quality engines and motor vehicles in Europe.  The success of the motor tricycle followed by the launch of the De Dion Bouton voiturette, prepared the way for the first of the front-engined vehicles that appeared in 1901. Numerous other manufacturers, like Renault, had installed engines bought from De Dion Bouton into their own vehicles, and so De Dion Bouton had played a pivotal role in supporting the nascent car industry.  In May 1903, the single cylinder De Dion Bouton vehicles were joined by the first twin cylinder offerings. This particular development had not been without its challenges, especially in connection with ignition and engine lubrication, but when the revised De Dion Bouton twin-cylinder vehicle was launched in December 1903, it was a triumph, attracting considerable positive comment for De Dion Bouton and appreciation from the burgeoning motoring public throughout 1904.

The technical lessons learned in 1903 were to serve the De Dion Bouton company well because the range and pace of technical development was set to dramatically accelerate from the end of 1904.  In part this was due to the changing competitive environment in Europe: the days of De Dion Bouton hegemony were drawing to a close, as American manufacturers, were demonstrating both their manufacturing prowess and their ability to attract customers with keen prices.  The Americans overtook the French in the value of their automobile production in 1905 and never looked back. The scale of production in Britain was also growing. In the Europe of 1906, however, French manufacturing still dominated, with 400 French cars being sold in Britain per month, in contrast to the monthly average of two British vehicles sold in France. At the end of 1913 the annual production in Britain was 25,000 cars, whilst in France the output was 45,000 vehicles.  By this time Peugeot, Renault, Darracq and Berliet were all producing more passenger vehicles than De Dion Bouton. Many of De Dion Bouton’s innovations with engine design, ignition systems, suspension and speed change mechanisms were well established, reliable and effective, but they were no longer ‘cutting edge’, and the De Dion Bouton company was acutely aware of the need to demonstrate a willingness to change, difficult, expensive, and perhaps sometime unnecessary, as that might be. The De Dion Bouton customer base was changing too; the well-heeled clientele was still a substantial component of the demand, but many municipal authorities were interested in petrol driven vehicles, including the omnibus, and businessmen of all persuasions were keen to capitalize on the commercial opportunities and increased productivity through the usage of motorised trucks.

There were additional challenges facing De Dion Bouton, and every other vehicle manufacturer in France, at the end of 1904; should the focus be on petrol, steam, or electric vehicles, and which option would be best suited to each customer segment? The bulk of the factory’s output comprised of petrol engines, but electric vehicles had been offered since 1900, and by 1903 both the motors and the batteries were being manufactured in Puteaux, whilst steam was the favoured power source for the early trucks.  The Marquis de Dion (following the death of his father in 1901) had finely tuned instincts for new opportunities in the marketplace but each one required investment in factory accommodation, people, expertise, machinery, raw materials and time. 

Concerns around the logistic elements of De Dion Bouton car production and supplier management led De Dion Bouton towards self-sufficiency.  The De Dion Bouton company employed 3,000 staff in 1903, and this number had grown to 4,500 by 1909 as De Dion Bouton continued to expand the range of components it made in-house. In addition to the De Dion Bouton engines, De Dion Bouton gearboxes, De Dion Bouton chassis and suspension, it made its own De Dion Bouton magnetos, wheels and bodies, and a workforce of 100 women was employed in making De Dion Bouton spark plugs. Apart from the usual design and construction facilities, the De Dion Bouton factory had its own chemical laboratory, microscope test-room, tensile and hardness-testing machinery, wood mills, paint shops, trimming department, and foundries.

The De Dion Bouton enterprise in Puteaux was vast, complex and extraordinarily expensive to maintain.  Whilst the Marquis de Dion was convinced in 1904 that the future prosperity of De Dion Bouton lay in small vehicles and trucks, it did not prevent the De Dion Bouton company from launching a range of motor buses that became familiar on the streets of Paris, London and New York from 1906; De Dion Bouton taxicabs were produced from 1908, and 1909 witnessed the launch of a range of De Dion Bouton bicycles and the large De Dion Bouton V8 engine, along with 11 other passenger models.

The health of the De Dion Bouton Company was never as robust after the conflict of 1914-1918 as it had been in the years before hostilities commenced. The impact of those four years was catastrophic for many manufacturing businesses like De Dion Bouton, especially in France, and they never recovered.  There can be little doubt that in the years leading up to 1914, development and construction of De Dion Bouton in Puteaux were taking place at a feverish pace, not just on passenger vehicles, but on trucks, buses, marine and standing engines. The De Dion Bouton management team was required to have a critical awareness of the diverse geographical markets they served, understand the competitive environment, deliver products to market, maintain the local technical infrastructure and secure the various resources necessary, demonstrate good judgement on De Dion Bouton product development, strengthen the De Dion Bouton brand and, critically, ensure the capital was in place to fund growth. For any company with an autocratic leader the potential for a poor decision was always high, as was its likely impact. The achievements of the De Dion Bouton Company in this period were considerable, and whilst market share in France, a maturing market, inevitably declined, its overall output, global presence and reputation, were significantly enhanced, underscoring the performance, resilience and fortitude of the Marquis de Dion and Georges Bouton.

The decline in the De Dion Bouton company’s fortunes were connected to decisions taken many years previously. Some writers have raised the decision to launch a De Dion Bouton V-8 engine, an initiative that no other European manufacturer emulated at the time, as a major distraction. This was obviously an expensive undertaking for De Dion Bouton but there were synergistic benefits in connection with aircraft engine production, and very few De Dion Bouton v-8s vehicles were actually made.  Perhaps the more significant question to be raised is that connected with the decision to reduce the focus on the smaller De Dion Bouton engined (single and twin cylinder) car production, initially by suspending twin cylinder De Dion Bouton production in 1908, and then by terminating single cylinder De Dion Bouton car production entirely in 1912, at a time when their key competitors, Renault in particular, were redoubling their efforts with twin cylinder vehicles for passenger, commercial, and especially taxi usage. 

The departure of De Dion Bouton from single cylinder cars certainly removed the De Dion Bouton Company from the competitive melee of that particular sector, but by 1911/12 the four-cylinder market had its own pressures. American manufacturers typically produced vehicles that provided high torque at low speed, good acceleration and hill-climbing ability, smooth and quiet running, and general docility in traffic.  Further, they sold ready-to-drive cars complete with coachwork, tyres, hood, windscreen and lamps, and their scale of production along with their European distribution network,  ensured that pricing was always aggressive.

In short, De Dion Bouton had exited a market sector it knew well, where it had an enviable international reputation for its De Dion Bouton products, and where its competitors were of comparable size, and it chose to focus on the De Dion Bouton four-cylinder market where others had the advantages of economies of scale, deep pockets, increasing technical proficiency, sophisticated production methods, and global reach. Coupled to this, the combination of an accident-prone twin bearing crankshaft, poor power output and expensive coachwork, encouraged De Dion Bouton customers to look elsewhere from 1912. From 1915 the resources of De Dion Bouton were focused on the war effort, and the French (like the British) government took steps to ensure that American motor car manufacturers did not seize the opportunity to flood the market with their products and disadvantage the long-term position of local producers. From the very start of hostilities in the Autumn of 1914 the De Dion Bouton Puteaux works and its resources were substantially dedicated to the French Artillery Construction Department and its role in supporting the war effort, although permission was granted for the De Dion Bouton company to supply a limited number of De Dion Bouton vehicles to the public. In December 1914, the De Dion Bouton company released an information sheet with details of the revised production schedule. They were to be five four-cylinder De Dion Bouton models with live back axles and three De Dion Bouton V-8s with cardan shafts. Only small variations were proposed on the 1914 De Dion Bouton designs, although Warland dual rims were to be adopted for all De Dion Bouton models. The De Dion Bouton company expected to be able to launch a new 12hp De Dion Bouton model early in 1915 and a De Dion Bouton 20hp special speed model for light two-seater and four-seater bodies. The intention was to fit the 10hp De Dion Bouton model with a revised, pointed radiator and upgrade the rear suspension, but all other De Dion Bouton Types were to remain substantially the same.

During the course of 1915, the French government rescinded this permission, and the De Dion Bouton factory was entirely devoted to the production of war material. It is no coincidence that for the first eighteen months of the war, significant numbers of completed De Dion Bouton vehicles were shipped to both the United States of America and Australia in order to maintain some commercial momentum. The management of De Dion Bouton in Puteaux had a clear perspective on the differing requirements of these two geographical regions: the number of extant four cylinder De Dion Bouton vehicles in Australia attests to the scale of export to that region, whilst the De Dion Bouton brochures produced for the US market are overwhelmingly dedicated to the eight cylinder De Dion Bouton vehicles, with power outputs ranging from 20hp to 100hp. 

When the French War Ministry returned the production facilities in Puteaux to De Dion Bouton in 1919, the two stalwarts who had dedicated so much of their lives to the launch of the popular motor car and the establishment of the industry in France, must have realised that their historic achievements would count for little as they confronted the challenges of the new competitive landscape. Early in 1919, the De Dion Bouton factory was ready to resume vehicle production and a card was sent to faithful customers, suppliers and sales agents, informing them that four new De Dion Bouton types would be available, two with four cylinder De Dion Bouton engines, and two with eight-cylinder De Dion Bouton power units; each engine was a new bore and stroke configuration. There was stubborn resistance to reviving any of the smaller-engined pre-war vehicles, and only one Type, the De Dion Bouton IC, had an engine of less than three litres capacity. The De Dion Bouton company had been buoyed by the success of its eight-cylinder engines during the conflict, when they had performed admirably as staff cars and for the basis of armoured vehicles.

The De Dion Bouton company struggled during the 1920’s to maintain a strong foothold in any sector of the French market, as potential purchasers had the option to buy any number of ‘built to a price’ models or, at the other extreme, lavish concoctions from various carrossiers. De Dion Bouton models were well built and relatively expensive, especially when compared with American imports, buth they did not have the cache of the prominent manufacturers either. Production on any scale in Puteaux of De Dion Bouton had ceased by the end of 1931.

Source: De Dion Bouton club UK 

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com