Cool Car Find: 1952 Alfa Romeo 1900C

This 1952 Alfa Romeo 1900C is a rare treasure from an era that delicately balanced breakthrough innovation with simple, elegant style.  

“The Family Car That Wins Races”

Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo is best known for its sport-oriented vehicles and dominance over the early days of car racing. With involvement as early as 1911, Alfa Romeo won the first two Formula 1 World Championships and then left the highest category of motor racing undefeated.

This wasn’t the end for the champion, though, as the automaker concentrated its efforts on manufacturing a new car marketed to the middle class as a modern, functional, and affordable car. Thus emerged the Alfa Romeo 1900, designed by Orazio Satta and first introduced at the 1950 Paris Auto Show. It’s acclaimed slogan, “The family car that wins races,” referred to its triumphs in the Targa Florio, Stella Alpina, and other races.

Today’s Cool Car Find is a 1952 Alfa Romeo 1900C Cabriolet, an ultra-rare example from this new era for the automaker and one of the most sought-after classic Alfa Romeo models on the market. Let’s take a look at what makes this sporty saloon worthy of a car enthusiast’s next restoration project.

A Car of Firsts 

Alfa Romeo marked a lot of firsts with the production of its 1900. The Portello plant was completely restructured for industrial-scale production and the 1900 was its first vehicle to be made on an assembly line. It was also Alfa Romeo’s first production car without a separate chassis, and the first to be offered with left-hand drive.

Fast and Innovative 

Offered in two- and four-door models, the 1900 was powered by a new 4-cylinder 1,884 cc engine equipped with an aluminum cylinder head with two chain-driven camshafts fed by a single carburetor and developed 80 hp. Though simple, this model was spacious, sporty, quick, and well received.

In 1951 the 1900C was introduced featuring a shorter wheelbase of 98.4 inches (C is for corto, which in Italian means short). It was also equipped with an upgraded 100 hp engine, had bigger valves, a higher compression ratio, and a double carburetor.

The Alfa Romeo 1900C became a favorite among enthusiasts competing in road and track races. It was on the lighter side, thanks to an innovative construction technique in which the bodyshell was one piece with the chassis. This allowed independent coachbuilders to rebody the cars.

Coachbuilders Unite 

Iginio Alessio, Alfa Romeo’s GM, worried about the survival of Italy’s independent coachbuilding sector. The introduction of the unibody chassis design was threatening to put coachbuilders out of business. To remedy this, Alfa Romeo built five different 1900 unibody chassis from 1951-1958 specifically for independent coachbuilders to rebody. Official contracts were given to Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera (Alessio was a personal friend of co-owner Gaetano Ponzoni) to build the sporty 1900 Sprint coupé and to Pinin Farina to build a four seat Cabriolet and Coupé.

The outside of the 1900 was simple but elegant which was characteristic of the Italian trend of the time. Its soft curves and a chrome-plated grille featured Alfa Romeo’s hallmark three-lobed motif. The inside could easily accommodate six people with a single front seat bench and steering-mounted gear shift.

Our Cool Car Find Example 

Production of the 1900 continued at Alfa Romeo’s Milan plant until 1959. A total of 21,304 1900s were built, and of those only 88 were Cabriolet models like our cool car find example. A great project car, this 1952 Alfa Romeo 1900C Cabriolet has matching numbers and a rich history that began with a US Army Sergeant stationed in Germany.

This gem has been with its current owner in the United States for 55 years, and although it is in need of a comprehensive restoration, the unique Pinin Farina bodywork remains largely intact with most of its important components and trim in place. We’ve got you covered when it comes to removing rust and finding rare vintage parts, but the bones are good on this 1900 living up to Alfa Romeo’s reputation of a quality build with fine detailing.

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