Alfa Romeo nella seconda guerra mondiale(V8,V12,V16)........

[Guest T a u r u s]

Alfa's wartime leaders, President Ugo Gobatto and chief engineer Wifredo Ricart, were committed to fascism beyond apology. There is some evidence that both were approved by Mussolini himself. Il Duce's personal admiration for Alfa Romeo (he called the company a "national jewel") kept the company alive during the immediate pre-war years. In 1933, the Agnellis had recommended that Alfa Romeo either be shut down completely or turned over to Fiat. Instead, Alfa became part of IRI and Gobatto was made its president. He was fluent in German and collaborated closely with the Nazis. For his enthusiasm, he was assassinated by partisans on April 28, 1945. Ricart's conservatism in pre-war Spain made him politically acceptable as Alfa's chief engineer and he returned to Franco's Spain in 1945 at the end of his contract with Alfa.

Production at Portello shifted to aero engines, and the entire Alfa design team moved to a rural area near Lake Orta. The grand prix cars were put in hiding nearby at a wealthy patron's villa. The Portello factory was first bombed by the allies on October 24, 1942. On the following Valentine's day, the factory was targeted again, then was completely leveled by a heavy bombing on October 20, 1944. Workers were incensed by the final destruction, feeling that the factory had already been appropriately chastised almost a year and a half earlier.

At Orta, work was frequently interrupted by German, fascist and partisan raids, none of the raiders being quite sure what was going on in the offices. In spite of the confusion, forward planning proceeded and several models for the mid-1940s were under development.

In Ricart's racing department, there was a lot of mix-and-match activity in preparation for events which were never held. The chassis of the 8C2900A received an unsupercharged 4.5-liter V12 engine to become the Type 412 sport car. I believe this car ended up in the hands of Argentinean Clemar Bucci after the war. The Type 163 sport car prototype was an aerodynamic, mid-engined two-place coupe with a Ricart-designed, normally aspirated 3-liter, 135-degree V-16 engine. This prototype was broken up for parts. Its engine went into the prototype supercharged Type 162 grand prix car while the chassis became the basis of the 1.5-liter flat-12 mid-engined 512, also designed by Ricart.

Alfa passenger cars were the domain of Bruno Trevisan, and he planned two new series of passenger cars for 1941 introduction, by which time, one presumes, they believed the axis would have proved victorious. Both cars would have returned Alfa to the prestige of the 8C2300 and 8C2900B. The S11 had a 2.2 liter SOHC V-8 engine and the S-10 was equipped with a 60-degree 3.5 liter SOHC V12. Both featured fully-independent suspensions with aerodynamic bodywork, the S-11 being the more aerodynamic of the two. Two of each prototype were constructed but did not survive. Super Sport versions of both models were planned with dual overhead camshafts: three S10 SS cars were planned for the 1941 Mille Miglia but never built.

The most provocative of all these stillborn works, the 6C2000 prototype, was developed under Trevisan at Arimeno, near Orta, and then, after that facility was overrun by partisans, back in the rubble of the Portello factory in Milan. The Gazelle, as it was called, had a 2-liter 6-cylinder aluminum engine with twin overhead camshafts. The rear-mounted 4-speed transmission was shifted hydraulically, with the gear change lever mounted on the steering column. Fully-independent suspension used torsion bars and hydraulic shock absorbers.

The Gazelle was clearly a revolutionary concept, and a vision far beyond the grasp of a defeated Italy. Those who drove the prototype felt it was a truly engaging vehicle that would have sold very well. But because of the need for additional development work and the shortage of machine tools immediately after the war, the 6C2000 was abandoned for a face-lifted 6C2500. The Gazelle might possibly be one of those unrestored cars in the museum collection.

All these prototype cars, and the incredible struggle which produced them, came to virtually nothing. Had Italy emerged victorious, the prototypes give us a glimpse of what might have been: top-of-the-line fascists of the late-1940s would have been driven around in Alfa Romeo V-8 and V-12 luxury cars of great sophistication, with a technically-brilliant Gazelle the car of choice for the less affluent functionaries. Yet, the seeds for Alfa's future were indeed nurtured during the war years. Wifredo Ricart was responsible for hiring the aeronautical engineer, Orazio Satta Puglia, from the Politecnico di Torino, then assigning Giuseppe Busso as his assistant. The pair would create both the 1900 and Giulietta, but that is getting ahead of the story.

[Imothep]

Hi Taurus,

Thanks for these meticulous and accurate comments.

Regards,

Imothep

[Guest T a u r u s]

S10 3560 cm3 V12 60° Sohc 140cv@4700rpm*

S10 SS 3560 cm3 V12 60° Dohc 165cv@4700rpm*,**

S11 2260cm3 V8 60° Sohc 94cv@5000rpm*

S11 SS 2260cm3 V8 60° Dohc 135cv@6000rpm*

6C 2000 Gazzella 1954 cm3 L6 Sohc 85cv@5500rpm(1943 il motore era derivato dalla 6C 2500)

6C 3000 2955cm3 L6 Sohc 120cv@4800rpm(prototipo fatto nel 1948 per sostituire la 6C 2500 mai prodotta...)

*originariamente previste come eredi 6C 2300/2500 e 8C 2300/2600/2900....sperimentazione iniziata nel 1938(1940 per le SS)...interotta dalla guerra...esistevano quattro prototipi........

**originariamente prevista la partecipazione di tre esemplari alla mille miglia di 1941.....

p.s. tra l'altro nel stesso periodo Alfa Romeo ha sperimentato per le competizioni una vettura con motore 4.5lt V12 60° Dohc aspirato anteriore detta 412 per sostituire le 8C2900 competizione,la 163 una coupe biposto competizione con motore centrale 3litri V16 135 ° Dohc,la tipo 162 grand prix con il motore V16 della 163 sovralimentato(vettura che avrebbe dovuto riportare Alfa al vertice dei Grand prix...),La 512 vettura grandprix con motore 1.5lt Boxer12...........da cui deriva anche la 158 con motore 8cilindri sovralimentato di 1,5litri che ha vinto il primo campionato F1 nel 1950 11 anni dopo la sua prima presentazione e la sua evoluzione 159 ha trionfato anche nel 1951..............

[Imothep]

Hi Taurus,

Thanks for these explanations. We can clearly see how glorious Alfa Romeo's past is.

Regards,

Imothep

[Martin Venator]

Tiro su questo vecchissmo topic per informare chi non lo sapesse che nel primo volume di "Alfa Romeo. Tutti i modelli del Novecento", iniziativa di Quattroruote e Ruoteclassiche in edicola dal 10 ottobre (ci saranno anche le edizioni Lancia e Fiat nei prossimi due mesi), c'è un disegno della S11 della quale si parla qui sopra (pag. 95). Per me si tratta di una novità assoluta, anche se sono sicuro che i più "smaliziati" del foro già la conoscevano.

Modificato 16 Ottobre 2010 da Martin Venator