Ugo Stella was tired of just completing Darracq chassis. He wanted to be more than just the capacity expansion of the French. Instead, it should be their own vehicles. Race car. Fast, beautiful and successful.
So he founded with his wealthy friends 1910 the Società Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili, short ALFA in Milan. As a designer, they used the ingenious Giuseppe Merosi, whose 24HP was then allowed to race at the Targa Florio.
But the reason why Alfa Romeo is for many the epitome of love for the automobile, is much more due to the tragedy of the brand. Already 1915 put the team around Stella already a fine bankruptcy. You did not think economically, but an ALFA should be the measure of all things. The best or nothing. And with Milan, the factory was at the center of Italian art. The best engineers, mechanics and artists - they all poured into the metropolis of the north and found their inclusion in Alfa.
In the first bankruptcy, the number of employees was no longer proportional to the units sold. The state had to come to the rescue. The state-run Banco Italiana di Sconto bought the majority of the shares and sold the young brand directly to the armaments contractor Nicola Romeo, whose Accomandita Ing. Nicola Romeo & Co urgently needed the factory in Milan to manufacture aircraft engines and ammunition. Under him, the workforce grew to over 4000 during the First World War.
After the war, Alfa then built again vehicles - now for the first time under the name Alfa Romeo. Fantastic, such as the 6C in all its variants and with all its finesse. They became 1925's first world champion in automotive racing. And they went bankrupt, once again. Already 1926 had experience of bankruptcy and again it was the state that jumped Alfa Romeo aside. Benito Mussolini personally made sure that Alfa was not shrunk healthy or economically put on a reasonable basis, no. Instead, he gave a clear mission: to build the best cars in the world. Alfa Romeo was to become the figurehead of the Italian industry, only the best of the best was good enough.
So names like Enzo Ferrari crossed the way of Alfa Romeo. Il commendatore began his career as a test and works driver for the Milanese. 1933, at the absolute technological peak, Alfa Romeo was then completely nationalized under the leadership of the Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale IRI. It followed the desire to drive the production of commercial vehicles and so ran next to the sports cars now also buses, trucks and industrial engines from the tapes. At the beginning of the war armor material was again delivered.
After the war, the heavily damaged work was rebuilt and a new era began. The highly complex and therefore expensive individual pieces, with which one was so successful in the 30ern, lost almost all demand. Alfa Romeo had to reposition itself and so began the production of small, lighter and more affordable vehicles. With the Giulietta, but especially the 105 series to Giulia, Sprint GT and Spider, the brand was immortal.
The myth of these models still lives today. Their sound, their integration, their driving pleasure and, above all, their affordability. But at some point it was really downhill. There was no justification for the state to continue to burn money. The model range was confusing, one had never heard of identical parts and the factories in the south did not do anything sensible except strikes. Certainly no solid bodies.
With the entry of Fiat 1986 came the moment of rationalization. Alfa Romeo had to be economical. And in spite of great throws like the 155, which dominated in the DTM, or the 164, which shared the development with its platform brothers and gave them the splendid V6 engine - or the 156, the first production car with common Rail injection was: Alfa sank in the perception of buyers. They did not take place anymore.
Til today. Reflecting on driving pleasure, on gorgeous shapes, rear wheel drive and the integration of the driver as a central point of development, the modern Alfa Romeo have managed to rekindle the fire.