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In 1937, the car was exported by an English
officer, Arthur Webb, to Tripoli where in
1958 it was sold by him to a Captain
Henderson. |
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Elio Scampini competed in the Mille Miglia on
13/14th April 1929 with co-driver Bogani
(competitor number ‘71’) finishing 17th
overall and 3rd in class. |
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Bonhams
return to Monaco this month for the 20th year in a row
to conduct their exclusive annual auction in the
Principality and one of the most prized lots will be a
1928 Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 MM Speciale, just three of the 24
that were built survive today and of this trio only two
that were supercharged (out of 10 supercharged versions)
remain.
Sold expressly as a competition car, the
Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 Mille Miglia Speciale was
only built for the 1928 season, during which
time just 24 were completed: ten with
supercharger and 14 without. For the MMS,
the engine was set 20 cm further back in the
chassis and the fuel tank was relocated
immediately behind the driver, as opposed to
the rear of the chassis, to improve weight
distribution. Coachwork was lightweight,
mainly by Zagato, but examples were also
bodied by Farina and other coachbuilders. The body was of
an advanced design, a lightweight steel
framework being employed instead of the
traditional timber construction.
Chassis number ‘0231325’ was sold new to Ugo
de Giovanni and registered to him in Torino
on 3rd July 1928. Giovanni competed in the
Mille Miglia that year (competitor number
‘36’ with co-driver G Boris) and finished
39th overall. His car was described as a ‘6C
1500 Sport’ and on 29th April 1928 he drove
an Alfa Romeo in a sports car race at Alessandria,
finishing 17th overall and 4th in class.
The MMS was sold to Elio Scampini on 26th
November 1928 and registered ‘3556 VA’
(Varese) on 30th November that year.
Scampini then competed in the Mille Miglia on
13/14th April 1929 with co-driver Bogani
(running as competitor number ‘71’) finishing 17th
overall and 3rd in class. An identical MMS
took part in 1930 Mille Miglia with driver
Gualtiero Natali (this was the car’s next owner)
carrying competitor number ‘105, finishing
144th overall, although it is not known if
it was this car.
Natali then sold the
Romeo Alfa to Conte Anselmo
Anselmi, of Arcevia (Ancona) where it was
re-registered ‘2285 AN’. Anselmi possibly
competed with the car in the Tolentino-Colle
di Paterno hill climb on 20th July 1930,
finishing 1st in the 1500cc sports car
class. Recorded as still resident in Italy
in 1937, the car subsequently was exported
by an English officer, Arthur Webb, to
Tripoli where in 1958 it was sold by him to
a Captain Henderson. An accompanying
photograph shows the car running at speed on
an airfield in Tripoli, and its Libyan
logbook is in the file also.
Captain Henderson took the Alfa back to the
USA and at some point sold it to a Richard
Henderson, a dentist living in Madison,
Indiana where circa 1969/70 it was purchased
by John Delamater, a sports car dealer.
Delamater immediately sold it to Kirk White
who traded it with Ferrari importer, Luigi
Chinetti for a brand new Ferrari Daytona!
Details of this transaction appear in the
book ‘Cannonball’ by Brock Yates:
‘One bright Tuesday morning I arrived at
Chinetti’s with the best photographs I could
take of the Alfa. After enduring the usual
ritual of actually gaining an interview with
him, I told him I had a treasure beyond
words for him. He stared at me with that
marvellously belligerent look he has,
glanced down and took the photographs from
me. He seemed to study them carefully, then
slipped them into his pocket and turned away
saying, “Go and have lunch, see me this
afternoon.” I knew what was coming: he would
offer to trade all of his remaining Lancia
Aprilia doors and bumpers or some such
nonsense for the Alfa. I treated myself to a
delicious lunch at one of Greenwich’s
waterfront restaurants and returned for
whatever proposal he might have. “I shall
trade you a new Ferrari 365 GTB/4 for this,”
said Luigi, holding the photograph in his
hand. I was thunderstruck. Desperately I
tried to feign deep consideration for the
windfall. Finally, I resignedly accepted his
proposal.’
In 1978 Chinetti sold the Alfa Romeo to dealer Dan Marguiles in the UK, where it was owned by a
Mr Bayliss who took part in a number of
Mille Miglia Retrospectives with the car. It
was subsequently sold via broker/dealer
Martin Chisholm in 2004.
The MMS’s current Italian owner has competed
successfully with the car at the 2005, 2006,
2007 and 2008 editions of the Mille Miglia
Retrospective. While in his possession the
car has been maintained by renowned Italian
specialist Galassi, in whose hands it has
recently undergone a complete mechanical
rebuild costing some €50,000. It has little
use since this work was completed.
The Mille Miglia Speciale is considered the
most enjoyable to drive of all the Alfa
Romeo 6C 1500 variants, as well as being the
rarest. There are believed to be only three
examples of the original 24 remaining and
the caron offer by Bonhams is one of only
two with the supercharger. A
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire a
vintage-era Alfa Romeo racing sports car
with in period Mille Miglia history.
This years sale
is once again at the evocative motoring museum of HSH Prince
Rainier III. For 2009 two collections, one that of a private
French collector and another from a renowned Swiss
enthusiast will be providing the nucleus of the sale, with
sports and racing cars from the 50s through to the 90s by
Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Jaguar and Porsche to name
just a few of the prestigious marques. These stunning and
often extremely low mileage past concours winners or works
racing cars have already been joined by what many consider
one of the prettiest and most enjoyable of pre-war sports
cars, a 1937 BMW 328, quoted on numerous occasions by
connoisseurs as being a pre-war car that performs like if it
were post-war.
Lot 263:
1928 Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 MM Speciale;
Chassis no. 0231325; Engine no. 0211407
Estimate: €700,000 - 800,000
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