Coys Auction - Automoto D‘Epoca
Padova Fiera
Padova, Italy

Italy

Saturday 25th October 2008

Admission by catalogue only - admits two.

Until the 1950s cars formed a relatively small part of Alfa Romeo’s business, the company’s main interest being the manufacture of aero engines. Beginning in the late 1920s, however, and largely thanks to the genius of Vittorio Jano, Alfa Romeo won dozens of Grand Prix, ten of the twelve pre-war Mille Miglia races, took Le Mans 24 Hours races four years in a row and the Targa Florio six times consecutively. Alfa Romeo was the outstanding marque of the inter-war period. Post-war, it concentrated on becoming a volume producer, yet it still managed to field its 1938/39 Tipo 158 single seaters and, after a hiccup on their first outing in 1946, they won every Grand Prix they entered until mid-1951, a period of domination without parallel in the history of the sport. Indeed, it was typical of the spiri