Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. It was founded on 24 June 1910 in Milan, Italy, as A.L.F.A., an acronym for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili. The brand is known for sport-oriented vehicles and has been involved in car racing since 1911. Alfa Romeo was owned by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which took over vehicle production until its operations were fully merged with those of the PSA Group to form Stellantis on 16 January 2021.
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Alfa Romeo began with the purchase of the main factory building of French carmaker Darracq in Milan, which was closing up and selling all its assets. Its first car was the 1910 24 HP, designed by Giuseppe Merosi. Alfa ventured into motor racing, with drivers Franchini and Ronzoni competing in the 1911 Targa Florio with two 24-hp models. In August 1915, the company came under the direction of Neapolitan entrepreneur Nicola Romeo, who converted the factory to produce military hardware for the Italian and Allied war efforts. In 1920, the name of the company was changed to Alfa Romeo with the Torpedo 20–30 HP the first car to be so badged.
In 1921, the Banca Italiana di Sconto, which backed the Ing. Nicola Romeo & Co went bankrupt, and the government needed to support the industrial companies involved, of which Alfa Romeo was among, through the “Consorzio per Sovvenzioni sui Valori Industriali”. In 1925, the railway activities were separated from the Romeo company, and in 1928 Nicola Romeo left. In 1933, the state ownership was reorganized under the banner of the Italian state industrial organization Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale (IRI), which then had effective control. The company struggled to return to profitability after World War II and turned to mass-producing small vehicles rather than hand-building luxury models. In 1954, it developed the Alfa Romeo Twin Cam engine, which would remain in production until 1994. The Istituto per la Ricostruzione (IRI), the state conglomerate that controls Finmeccanica sold the marque to the Fiat Group in 1986 due to the marque being unprofitable.
Alfa Romeo has competed successfully in Grand Prix motor racing, Formula One, sportscar racing, touring car racing, and rallies. It has competed both as a constructor and an engine supplier, via works entries (usually under the name Alfa Corse or Autodelta), and private entries. The first racing car was made in 1913, three years after the foundation of the company, and Alfa Romeo won the inaugural world championship for Grand Prix cars in 1925. The race victories gave a sporty image to the marque, and Enzo Ferrari founded the Scuderia Ferrari racing team in 1929 as an Alfa Romeo racing team, before becoming independent in 1939. Ferrari has had the most wins of any marque in the world
“Alfa Romeo History
“The legend started in 1910, when Cavalier Ugo Stella acquired the shares of Società Italiana Automobili Darraq, the Italian plant of a French car maker. The first plant was at number 95 Strada del Portello in the north-west outskirts of Milan and the company was called “Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili” (Lombard Automobile Factory, Public Company), hence the acronym A.L.F.A. The first car – the 24 HP – was made the same year. Designed by Giuseppe Merosi with 4 cylinders of 4 litres, it reached a top speed of 100 Km/h. The first Alfa Romeo badge consisted of two symbols of the city of Milan – the serpent of the Visconti family coat of arms on a blue background and the red cross of the city banner on a white background – all enclosed in a metallic ring with the words “ALFA” and “MILANO” separated by two Savoy knots.
Centenary
100 years of passion
On 24 June 2010, Alfa Romeo was 100 years old. Milan celebrated the occasion by transforming itself into a theatre for an immense city-wide event that took place its in squares, parks, exhibitions and even the ring roads for a symbolic embrace to Alfa Romeo. The event began on 24 June in Arese, with a toast to celebrate 100 years of the brand, and drew to a close in Milan on Sunday 27 June.
The event
The heart of the celebrations was the event at the Fiera di Milano on 26 June, which was attended by more than 5000 Alfisti (80% approximately from abroad) and 3000 Alfa Romeo cars. The trade fair pavilions hosted a lunch while the concourse in front of the Southgate was given over to the unveiling of a sculpture by the artist Bonalumi, inspired by the Alfa 1900 Disco Volante, commissioned by the RIAR and funded with contributions from Club members. The participants were able to get to know one another and share their passion for Alfa Romeo, showing off their much-loved cars and visiting the historical exhibition “Fiera Milano e Alfa Romeo: frammenti d’insieme”, before driving off in a convoy towards the city centre.
Processions and symbolic embraces
The thousands of teams who brought models of all types to Milan, including Alfa cars from the mid-20th century sports cars of the 1960s, racing models and the best-loved road models then drove in a procession to the centre of Milan to their destination, Castello Sforzesco, where the most significant cars in the Brand’s 100 year history took part in an exhibition parade, transforming the square into nothing less than an open-air museum The day ended in Piazza degli Affari with a stage and events organised by the radio broadcaster RTL. Sunday 27 June, on the other hand, was the day of final greeting, sealed by an embrace of the ring road marked by the 3000 Alfa Romeo flags that each car carried stuck on its roof, creating an evocative sight.”
*Information from Alfaromeo.com
**Video published on YouTube by “AutoGuide.com“
