This 1948 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 is said to be the first of approximately 16 examples built between 1948 and 1950 with Touring “Aerlux” coupe coachwork featuring a plexiglass roof panel. Chassis 915649 was completed in late 1948 for delivery on December 30 to El Morocco nightclub proprietor John Perona, who brought it to the US and retained it until the late 1950s. It was then purchased by a New Jersey owner who disassembled it for a refurbishment that went unrealized as the car and parts were instead placed in storage, where they remained after being gifted to the owner’s son-in-law in 1982. In 2013, the project was purchased by a Slovakian owner who commissioned a multiyear refurbishment that included repairs to the Superleggera bodywork, a repaint in blue, a re-trim of the interior in gray leather, and an overhaul of the Super Sport 2,443cc DOHC inline-six. Following completion of the refurbishment, the car was purchased by its current owner in Czechia and was imported to the US by the selling dealer in 2023. Additional features include triple Weber carburetors, a column-shifted four-speed manual transmission, chrome 18” wire wheels, finned drum brakes, four-wheel independent suspension, and an Aster radio. This Super Sport Aerlux is now offered on dealer consignment in San Diego, California, with photos from the refurbishment and a Montana title.
Produced between 1938 and 1952, the 6C 2500 was the final descendant in the progression of six-cylinder cars that Alfa Romeo started in 1928, and it was offered with bodywork from a variety of Italian coachbuilders over a steel ladder-tube frame in one of three lengths. Touring’s range of Superleggera designs became the staple for the Sport and top-of-range Super Sport variants, and in 1948 the Milan carrozzeria introduced an adaptation of its berlinetta with a plexiglass Aerlux, or “air light” panel that flexed open at its leading edge.
This example’s aluminum body and steel framework were separated and stripped to bare metal before undergoing welding repairs during the refurbishment performed by Retromotive in Slovakia in the 2010s. The car was repainted in its current shade of blue during the project, which also included the fabrication of a replacement plexiglass roof panel. Design features include a narrow scudetto grille flanked by quadruple Marchal headlights of staggered diameter, double body-color bumpers with white rubber trim strips, a centrally hinged hood, a V-shaped windshield, trafficators, pivot-out door handles, a locking fuel filler door, teardrop-shaped taillights, and a rectangular exhaust tip.
Chrome wire wheels are secured by two-eared knock-offs and are wrapped in Michelin Cable Confort SS tires measuring 6.00/6.50-18, as is a matching spare housed in the trunk. Stopping is handled by four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes.
The right-hand-drive cabin is trimmed in gray leather over two-place bucket seats with matching upholstery over the door panels. Additional features include color-keyed carpeting, rope-chain-style pull straps and handles, bright sill plates, roll-up windows with wind wings, tinted visors, a heater, dual dash-mounted ashtrays, and an Aster radio under a transparent speaker grille.
The banjo-spoke steering wheel is trimmed in gray leather and sits ahead of a body-color dash housing a Veglia 200-km/h speedometer and 6k-rpm tachometer accented by bright rope-style bezels. The five-digit odometer shows 10 kilometers (~6 miles), and true mileage is unknown. Inset instruments include a clock and gauges monitoring fuel level, oil temperature, and oil pressure. Switchgear is concealed behind hinged doors on each side of the dash.
The 2,443cc inline-six is a wider-bore evolution of the Vittorio Jano-designed powerplant used in earlier 6C variants and features an aluminum cylinder head with dual-overhead camshafts and hemispherical combustion chambers. With induction through triple Weber 36 DO2 carburetors, the Super Sport variant was factory rated at 110 horsepower. The engine was overhauled during the refurbishment, and fluid and filter changes were performed in preparation for the sale.
Engine number 923749 is shown stamped on the cylinder head above, matching the number listed in a letter from Marco Fazio of Automobilismo Storica Alfa Romeo Centro Documentazione. The number is also shown stamped on the block among gallery photos from the refurbishment.
Power is sent to the rear wheels via a four-speed manual transmission. Independent suspension incorporates twin trailing arms with coil springs and hydraulic shock absorbers in cylindrical housings up front and a swing-axle rear end utilizing torsion bars and quadruple telescopic shock absorbers.
Photos from the refurbishment are included in the gallery below, as are images of the car prior to the initiation of the project.
A 2013 letter from Marco Fazio notes that the chassis was completed on April 30, 1948, and sold on October 21, 1948, in Ivrea, Turin.