Italian Sports Cars #3: Alfa Romeo, from a Milan Workshop to the World Championship
Artistic depiction of an early automobile in a Milan factory yard; not a photograph.
In the first chapter of our Italian Sports Cars series, we followed Enzo Ferrari from Modena; in the second, we visited Lamborghini’s home in Sant’Agata Bolognese. Now the story turns to Milan and Alfa Romeo, the marque where a young Enzo Ferrari drove long before he built a car of his own.
A new company takes shape in Portello
The story begins before the Alfa Romeo name. In 1906, the Società Italiana Automobili Darracq was established, first in Naples and soon afterward in Milan’s Portello district. When a severe economic crisis arrived in 1909, managing director Cavalier Ugo Stella pushed for a new company to improve the factory’s fortunes.
On 24 June 1910, A.L.F.A., short for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili, was officially registered in Milan. A group of entrepreneurs and businessmen had taken over the Darracq Italian branch and its Portello workshops. Giuseppe Merosi had already designed the 24 HP, which became the first car to carry the new badge. Its advanced engineering, performance and driving pleasure announced the character of the young marque.
The badge itself tells a story rooted in the city. Stella asked Merosi to draw a coat of arms for the grille. Romano Cattaneo, a young draughtsman, told Merosi about the Visconti Biscione serpent he had seen on the Torre della Filarete in Piazza Castello while waiting for the number 14 tram one morning. Merosi sketched a design combining the serpent with Milan’s red cross on a white background. A blue roundel bearing A.L.F.A. and MILANO in gold, separated by two Savoy knots, completed the emblem. Stella approved the sketch, and Cattaneo was given the final design. MILANO remained on the badge from 1910 to 1972.
Artistic depiction of a draughtsman sketching a serpent motif by lamplight; not a photograph.
Nicola Romeo, and a racing thread that leads to Ferrari
In December 1915, the company passed under the control of Neapolitan engineer and entrepreneur Nicola Romeo, and his name joined the marque. The Portello plant expanded and shifted to war production, making engine compressors, ammunition, aircraft engines and, from 1917, trains. Car production resumed after the war.
Alfa Romeo’s racing history soon became a defining part of its identity. At the 1923 Targa Florio, the company prepared a racing version of Merosi’s RL, made lighter, shorter and more powerful. Among the drivers summoned were Antonio Ascari, Giuseppe Campari, Giulio Masetti, Enzo Ferrari and Ugo Sivocci. Sivocci and Ferrari drove a more aggressive version, with displacement raised to 3154 cc and 95 hp.
The team painted a green four-leaf clover on the bonnets as a lucky charm. Sivocci won, with the clover on his car set against a white diamond; Ascari finished second and Masetti fourth. It was Alfa Romeo’s first of ten Targa Florio wins, and the race helped establish the Quadrifoglio as the emblem of its racing cars, later appearing on its most powerful road models.
For our series, this is the point where the stories of Alfa Romeo and Ferrari meet. Before building a car of his own, a young Enzo Ferrari drove for Alfa Romeo. Later, Scuderia Ferrari raced Alfa Romeo cars. In the late 1920s, the Quadrifoglio distinguished Alfa Romeo cars on the track from Scuderia Ferrari cars, which used a prancing horse as their emblem. That connection is part of Alfa Romeo’s history, but the racing record belongs to the Milanese marque at the heart of this chapter.
Artistic depiction of a 1920s race on a Sicilian mountain road; not a photograph.
From a Targa Florio victory to the first world title
In 1925, Alfa Romeo’s P2 won the first Automobile World Championship at Monza, the first of the company’s five world titles. A laurel wreath was added around the badge to mark the achievement.
Merosi gave way to Vittorio Jano, the technical creator of a remarkable run of Alfas. His work included the P2, then the 6C 1500 in 1928, the 6C 1750 in 1930, the 8C 2300 in 1931 and the Gran Premio Tipo B, also known as the P3, in 1932. Jano was responsible for the legendary supercharged eight-cylinder in-line 8C engine.
The drivers included Antonio Ascari, Gastone Brilli Peri, Giuseppe Campari, Enzo Ferrari, Tazio Nuvolari and Achille Varzi. Alfa Romeo recorded eleven Mille Miglia wins, an undefeated record, and four consecutive wins at the Le Mans 24 Hours, alongside victories at the Targa Florio and many Grands Prix. Just as importantly, technical lessons from racing were transferred to production models. You can explore more of this competition history through the Museo Alfa Romeo’s racing history.
Rebuilding, then bringing racing back
After the 1929 crash, Alfa Romeo was taken over by IRI in 1933. Managing director Ugo Gobbato reorganized production around aircraft engines, industrial vehicles, and touring and racing cars. The company withdrew from motorsport, and its 8C 2300B cars were given to Scuderia Ferrari.
World War II brought devastation to the Portello plant. After it was damaged on 20 October 1944, operations ceased entirely; work resumed the following April. With workshops damaged and components unavailable, the 8,000 workers made electric cookers, metal furniture, doors, windows and shutters, practical goods needed by a country rebuilding from war.
Car manufacturing resumed in 1946 with pre-war 6C 2500s, and 158s salvaged from the war debris returned to racing. In 1950, Alfa Romeo introduced the 1900, designed by Orazio Satta Puliga. It was the company’s first car with a monocoque bodyshell, and the first assembly line opened at Portello. That same year, Nino Farina won the Formula One World Championship in the 158. Juan Manuel Fangio followed with the second championship the next year in the 159, with 425 hp and a top speed of over 300 km/h. Alfa Romeo then stepped back from Grand Prix racing.
An Alfa Romeo for more people
The 1954 Giulietta Sprint, followed by a Spider and a berlina in 1955, brought the marque’s appeal to a wider audience. Alfa Romeo describes the Giulietta as the first mass-production car with a twin overhead camshaft engine made entirely of aluminium. For the first time, the dream of owning an Alfa Romeo felt accessible to more people.
Artistic depiction of a 1950s Italian coupé and family in a Milan courtyard; not a photograph.
The Giulia opened a new chapter in 1962, developing the Giulietta’s philosophy with new proportions. Demand led to an expanded shop floor, a new plant at Arese near Milan, and a prototype test track at Balocco. The Giulia and its derivatives, including the Giulia Sprint GT, the 1600 Spider Duetto and the 1750, reached one million units produced.
Racing continued through Autodelta. Alfa Romeo won with the Giulia TZ, TZ 2, Giulia GTA and 33. The connection between road cars and competition remained close: engineering developed on the track continued to inform cars made for everyday driving.
The name carries on
Fiat Group acquired Alfa Romeo in 1986, and the 164 arrived the following year. The 156 launched in 1997 and was named Car of the Year in 1998. The 147 replaced the 145 in 2000 and was also named Car of the Year. The 8C Competizione arrived in 2006, with 500 units produced.
On 24 June 2015, a new evolution of the badge was unveiled during the launch of the Giulia at the Alfa Romeo Museum. Alfa Romeo is now part of Stellantis, formed in 2021. In Arese, north of Milan, the Museo Alfa Romeo keeps the archive and cars that help tell this story.
Alfa Romeo’s story is a reminder of how a workshop on the edge of one city can shape an international legacy, a theme that resonates with the Italian American Chicago community. Whether you’re looking for a Chicago Italian American club or a welcoming professional community, CIAP brings Italian-American professionals, entrepreneurs and businesses together across Chicagoland.
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CIAP welcomes Italian-American professionals across Chicagoland. Our monthly breakfast meetings resume in January 2027, and our weekly Italian wine features continue. You’re invited to explore the CIAP Business Directory and learn about membership.
Have a question or want to connect? Email Salvatore. We’d be happy to hear from you. And stay in touch as we look ahead to the next chapter of our Italian Sports Cars series.