Background:
Alfa Romeo’s 1900 series of automobiles were designed by Ing. Orazio Satta. The were a completely different design and departure from anything Alfa had built previously. The model made it’s debut in the Paris Motor Show in the Fall of 1950 where it was an immediate popular and later for Alfa Romeo, commercial success.
The 1900 was the first series of Alfa Romeos built on a standardized production line and they were also Alfa's first production car without a separate chassis as well as the first Alfas offered with left-hand drive steering configuration.
Both a sporting 2-door Coupe and 4-door Sedan were initially offered featuring an all new 1,884cc, 90 bhp, 4-cylinder, twin cam engine. The design was spacious and simple, yet quick and sporty. The slogan Alfa used when selling the new 1900 was "The family car that wins races", not-so-subtly alluding to the car's success in the Targa Florio, Stella Alpina, Mille Miglia and other races and rallies.
Alfa’s 1900 was destined for competition success from the moment they made their debut. They all had independent front suspension (double wishbones, coil springs (front & rear) and hydraulic telescopic shock absorbers) and one of the very best live rear axle designs seen up to that point.
In 1951 the short wheelbase 1900C ("C" for corto (Italian for short) version was introduced. It had a wheelbase of 2,500mm rather than the standard 2,630mm standard coupe and sedan.
That same year the 1900TI with a more powerful 100bhp engine was introduced. The 1900TI had bigger valves, higher compression ratio and it was equipped with twin-carburetors. Two years later the 1900 Super and 1900TI Super (also 1900SS or Super Sprint) with enlarged 1,975cc engine were introduced
The TI Super with twin carburetors produced 115bhp and featured a 4-speed gearbox with revised ratios but still using the standard final drive ratio.
1900CSS
The ultimate specification of the 1900 line-up was without question the ultra-rare "CSS" variant that featured both the shorter chassis as well as the most developed and best performing engine, gearbox and revised final drive ratios. Brakes were "alfin" double-leading shoe, self-adjusting at all four corners and the fronts featured ducting and scoops for added cooling.
Alfa’s 1900CSS model also incorporated a fantastically well designed and thoroughly sorted 5-speed gearbox with full synchronization on 2nd, 3rd and 4th gear. The ratios were carefully selected to match the torque and rpm curve of the high specification, twin-cam "Tipo 1308" engine. As a result of the performance increase and use of a five rather than four speed gearbox, the standard 4.1:1 final drive ratio was unnecessary. A taller 3.75:1 unit was instead fitted which allowed for far better top-speed as well as far less rpm at speed in any gear.
Alfa had always envisioned making the 1900 a platform for various coachbuilders to express themselves freely. The 1900CSS lent itself to this end quite successfully and Touring, Pinin Farina, Zagato and Ghia produced some strikingly beautiful as well as competitive examples. While those from Touring and Pinin Farina utilized mostly steel bodies with some alloy opening panels, Zagato and Ghia’s examples featured all alloy body construction. The standard production 1900s tipped the scales at 2,400lbs (1,100kgs) while the Zagato and Ghia versions of the 1900CSS were often less than 2,000lbs (900kgs.)
Weight savings obviously translated to better performance on the track and in the tours and rallies that favored these nimble coupes. As such, today, these beautiful "custom coachwork" examples are by any measure the most sought out by both collectors and racers alike.
End of production:
After nearly a decade of production, 1959 would see an end to the 1900 model in any variation. When production ceased in the last week of July, Alfa’s records would indicate that a grand total of more than 21,000 different examples were produced. Clearly the 1900 remained both a popular and commercial success just as it had been nine years earlier when debuted for the first time.
AR1900c *01742*
While 21,000+ different Alfa Romeo 1900s were built, there were a handful that were anything but "production machines for the masses." As already noted, Alfa always envisioned "Custom Coachwork" bodies from various designers being fitted to the 1900 line up. The most popular version chosen by the various coachbuilders was the 1900c due to the shorter and more proportionate wheelbase.
Both Carrozzeria Zagato and Ghia executed a handful of unique 1900 based creations usually based on the ultra-high spec 1900CSS platform. In early Spring of 1954, legendary racer, tuner and builder, Carlo Abarth had done some work with Ghia on a one-off Abarth 2000 Coupe. Ghia was impressed enough to order up initially for their own internal use a 1900CSS chassis (s/n AR1900c *01742*) and with assistance from Abarth again completed one of the most striking and important 1900s ever executed. Much of the design however translated into profitable execution when the State-side order for a new 1900CSS came in from legendary San Francisco restaurateur, Al "Papagayo" Williams. His color, trim and detail requests were a very close match for a car they already intended to build. With their new "patron" footing the bill to the tune of nearly $23,000, those at Carrozzeria Zagato must have been beside themselves with funding and freedom to do their best! There were two unique requests or requirements to the order. Williams insisted that the car have a unique disappearing, rear folding part-time seat for occasional use by the family favorite canine, their Great Dane! The design of the seat was both functional and as proved later when seen in various other vehicles over the next 30+ years immensely practical. The only requirement Carrozzeria Ghia insisted upon was upon completion, the car would make its public debut at the 1955 Los Angeles Motor Show.
This vehicle’s design was revolutionary in a variety of ways with styling cues and features that would appear on numerous other vehicles frequently over the next 30+ years. When first encountered this Alfa looks very much like Ferrari’s 1957 Tour de France models as well as their later 275 GTB series of mid-1960s Berlinettas. Most however see the first generation 1964-66 Ford Mustang "Fastback" in nearly every line and proportion. The interior also lent itself heavily to Ford’s early Mustang program.
Although championed by Lee Iacocca, the Mustang’s design team of Joesep Oros, L. David Ash, Gale Halderman and John Foster made no secret that this particular Alfa Romeo was the main basis of the Mustang design. Several elements were in fact directly copied without change or alteration. The side body cove indentations, ¾ rear fender and sloping roof-line as well as decreasing decorative roof "gills" all appeared on the production Mustang. Much of the grill and nearly the entire interior were also directly copied and only subtly altered. Delicately thin "pencil" bumpers with the smallest of bumperettes were closely fitted front and rear. These two found there way with only subtle changes on the production Mustang built nearly a decade later.
If imitation is the best form of flattery, than the likes of Ferrari, Ford and nearly all of the major Japanese manufacturers of the 1970s and early 1980s certainly owe much to the pioneering design of Ghia’s original masterpiece.
Upon completion in the Late Summer of 1954, this Alfa Romeo 1900CSS was shipped from Genoa to the Port of Oakland, California. Williams delivery was initially delayed as US Customs had a very difficult time understanding how to apply import taxes and fees on a vehicle that cost more than twice that of the most expensive Lincoln Continental or Cadilac Eldorado Biarritz. Williams was however eventually able to obtain a release of the car likely due to a combination of patience and the connections he had a established as one of the Bay Areas most prominent residents.
True to his agreement with Carrozzeria Ghia, this Alfa Romeo was prominently entered and displayed at the Los Angles Motor Show in December of 1954. The car was an absolute show stopper receiving a best in show award which would be the first of many. The Alfa was then returned to Williams home in Tiburon, California were it would be used regularly.
Williams was a society insider going back before World War II. His list of clientele and business associates remains legendary even today. San Francisco’s elite and wealthiest individuals favored an area known as Nob Hill. High on the Hill, Williams and his wife Katharine built and ran for many years their world famous restaurant, the Papagayo Room on the top floor of the Fairmont Hotel from 1945 until its closing in 1961.
Al and Katherine made their home and lived across the bay in Tiburon but together with their Great Dane joining them, the three would drive this Alfa to and from their home to their restaurant on a regular basis. Although the 1900CSS was designed primarily for outright competition and the Ghia alloy coachwork one of the lightest ever fitted, the car was never raced or rallied in period which is likely why it remains to this day remarkably originally being still fitted with its "born with" engine, gearbox, rear axle and all other major minor components as built new.
After the close of the restaurant, Williams sold this Alfa Romeo although it remained in the Bay Area for the next 40+ years. The car was owned and showed regularly by subsequent owners Frank Gabrielli and Paul Forbes before joining a prominent collection on the East Coast.
Today this pristine Alfa Romeo remains ready for outright racing, touring rallying or showing or simply for enthusiastic road use.
