1st Mar, 2007 0:00

The Centaur

 
  Lot 70
 
Lot 70 - 1929 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Super Sport

1929 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Super Sport

Sold for £506,250

(including buyers premium)


Lot details
Registration No: UU 79
Chassis No: 0312909
Mot Expiry: Nov 2007

When Vittorio Jano defected from FIAT to Alfa Romeo at the end of the 1923 season he effectively caused the contemporary Grand Prix formbook to be rewritten. Among the most gifted automobile engineers of the twentieth century, his first Alfa Romeo model - the legendary P2 - comfortably outclassed its Bugatti, Delage and Sunbeam opposition. Winner of both the European and Italian GPs in 1924 (a feat it repeated the following year en route to securing the inaugural AIACR World Championship for Manufacturers), the supercharged two-seater was still collecting silverware some six years later - as witnessed by Achille Varzi's sensational 1930 Targa Florio victory. However, there was far more to Jano's genius than just competition cars.

Introduced at the April 1925 Milan Motor Show but not released to the public for another two years, the Alfa Romeo 'NR' (later rechristened the '6C-1500') boasted an enviable specification. Derived from that of the P2, its channel-section pressed-steel ladder-frame chassis was equipped with all-round semi-elliptic leaf-sprung suspension and four-wheel drum brakes. Notably smooth, flexible and free-revving, the model's 'clean sheet' 1487cc straight-six engine made artful use of aluminium-alloy (crankcase, sump) and cast-iron (cylinder block / head). Initially available in single overhead-camshaft guise only, this 'base' unit was soon augmented by an assortment of normally aspirated and supercharged 'twin-cam' variants as Jano sought to ensure class-leading performance.

Hand-built to exacting standards and often clad with bespoke coachwork, the 6C-1500 was predictably expensive. Keen to boost sales, Alfa Romeo embarked on an active competition campaign. While 1927 witnessed a number of domestic successes, it was not until the supercharged cars came on stream that the 6C-1500 really started to establish an international reputation. As well as being driven to victory on the Mille Miglia by Giuseppe Campari and Giulio Ramponi, 1928 also saw force-fed 6C-1500s scoring wins in the hands of such luminaries as Enzo Ferrari (Circuito di Alessandria, Circuito di Modena) and Constantino Magistri (Giro di Sicilia). Yet by the season's end, the Alfa driver on form was undoubtedly Boris Ivanowsky. Not content with winning the Spa 24-hours, the former Russian Imperial Guardsman also dominated that year's Coupe Georges Boillot and Circuit des Routes Pavées.

Debuting at the February 1929 Rome Motor Show, the 6C-1750 was intended to keep Alfa Romeo one step ahead of the competition. Nigh-on identical to its 6C-1500 sibling (save for an engine capacity increase to 1752cc), the newcomer offered a similar choice of wheelbase lengths and single overhead-camshaft or 'twin-cam' powerplants. Though, from a racing standpoint the 'SS' (or 'Super Sport') remained the most desirable derivative combining as it did the lightest chassis with the most powerful engine. A point reinforced in April 1929 when Campari and Ramponi piloted one to their second successive Mille Miglia victory (indeed blown 6C-1750s took seven out of the top ten places that year).

As head of Alfa Romeo (British Sales) Ltd, F.W. Stiles was understandably eager to raise the marque's UK profile. In addition to running his own team of factory-backed 6C-1500 SS racers during the 1929 season, he offered support services to the 'privateer' 6C-1750 SS racers of Leonard Headlam and Dr. J. Dudley Benjafield. Naturally, Stiles extended the same courtesy to the Hon. Anthony Brunner when the latter purchased chassis number 0312909 in June that year (though, intriguingly there is no record that Alfa Romeo (British Sales) Ltd supplied the car). Road registered as 'UU 79' not long after, the 6C-1750 SS was sparingly bodied in fabric over wood by the Carlton Carriage Co. to contemporary International Sports Car Regulations (which stipulated that all cars over 1.5 litres wore four-seater coachwork). Finished in red with black leather upholstery, 'UU 79' also sported a side-mounted spare wheel, distinctive dual-cowl scuttle, large-bore fuel filler and windscreen bracing wires (to compensate for the stresses imposed by running at high speeds with the hood up - a prerequisite during the opening laps of certain events). While, further clues as to its road / race specification included a reserve oil tank and a lap counting device (both located within easy reach of a riding mechanic).

No doubt encouraged by the strong showing which Leonard Headlam / J. Headlam (2nd O/A, 1st in class) and Dudley Benjafield / Boris Ivanowsky (4th O/A, 2nd in class) had put up in their sister 6C 1750 SS cars at the Brooklands 6-hours race on June 30th 1929, the Hon. Anthony Brunner agreed to enter 'UU 79' under the Stiles banner for the Royal Irish Automobile Club's first International Irish Grand Prix.

Conceived in consultation with Kenelm Lee Guinness, the Irish GP was held over July 12th - 13th 1929 with the first day's Saorstat Cup being open to sports cars of up to 1500cc and the second day's Eireann Cup being contested by sports cars of over 1501cc. The overall winner was to be the car that turned in the best time against handicap and could in theory have come from either day's racing. Having entered three 'works' cars for the Saorstat Cup, Stiles was well placed to act as pit manager to the 6C-1750 SS cars of Headlam, Benjafield and Brunner the following day.

Although, Leonard Headlam and Dudley Benjafield determined to compete in the Eireann Cup themselves, Brunner made a somewhat last minute decision to donate his race seat to Ivanowsky as he later recounted in a letter to the RIAC:

"I bought the car three weeks before the race, intending to drive it myself. When I heard that Monsieur Ivanowsky was free on the second day I engaged him to drive my car as I considered that it had a good chance of winning. The car in question was the 1750 cc Alfa Romeo, chassis and engine number 0312909, which, driven by Ivanowsky won the second day's race and the Class prize."

It is unknown whether Ivanowsky's performance at the Spa 24-hours race the week before (2nd O/A, 1st in class) or his victory in the Saorstat Cup swayed Brunner's mind. Though, the honourable gentleman must have felt that the Russian Ace had a better chance of securing the promised £1,000 prize for winning the Eireann Cup than he did.

Allocated race numbers '18' (Ivanowsky), '19' (Headlam) and '20' (Benjafield), the three 6C-1750 SS cars were the smallest engined entrants to contest the Eireann Cup. Lining up against no fewer than five Bentleys (including the Speed Six 'Old Number One' which had won that year's Le Mans 24-hours and two 4.5 Litre Blowers), three Lagondas, two Bugatti Type 43s and Thistlethwayte's mighty Mercedes-Benz SS, the Alfas were comprehensively outnumbered and outgunned. Yet what they lacked in cubic capacity and horsepower they made up for in balance and cornering speed as Autocar's race report of July 19th 1929 made clear:

"Thrilling as Friday's race had been, not unnaturally the big cars in Saturday's event were even more spectacular; the one thing that was exercising the minds of all responsible for the teams was the tar which had proved so dangerous on the first day.

In a few laps it was apparent that the opening battle was going to be between the Mercedes, the Bentleys and the Alfa Romeos, for on the speed at which the big cars were running, the smaller cars were entirely out of the picture. On the other hand, the loud speakers soon told tales of exciting happenings on the tarred turnings. Lewis skidded right round with the O.M., Kidston slid badly at Mountjoy, Birkin had to work hard to hold on to his Bentley at the Gough turn and on one occasion Thistlethwayte slid with locked wheels right up to the Mountjoy right angle.

At the end of the first hour Ivanowski was once more leading a race, his Alfa Romeo running wonderfully and just at the right speed to be the probable victor at the finish. In second place was Headlam, also with an Alfa Romeo and in third place was Benjafield with the last of the team's cars (Alfa Romeo).

At the end of two and a half hours the Alfa Romeos had the first three positions but already the supercharged Bentley, which had accomplished its set task according to the team strategy, was falling back and the big six was fourth. And still cars slid in all directions on the tar. Once Benjafield's Alfa Romeo slid on nearly a hundred yards beyond the team's position signal and shortly afterwards Headlam's car, suffering from some curious trouble in the steering mechanism, continued to turn instead of straightening out, rammed a grass bank hard and had to retire.

The positions at three hours showed the two litre Alfa Romeo still triumphantly leading and round after round Kidston brought the big six-cylinder Bentley a little closer, while the Team Chief fell to obtuse calculations carried to many places of decimals. Once the great car, no easy machine to handle in the circumstances, slid badly, touched the bank and bent a rear wheel and the change of that rear wheel was one of the best pieces of organised work that has ever been seen in racing.

The chief interest of the event now centred on the fight between the big Bentley and its smaller rival under the handicap and so close was the situation that calculations showed the Italian car would probably just get home by a few seconds in spite of the much greater speed of the Bentley. The trouble was that the full possibilities of the big car could not be shown owing to the condition of the road, which is not to say that the Alfa Romeo did not thoroughly deserve to win. When the two cars refilled, the Bentley organisation won seven seconds from the Italian car and as the time passed the seconds which divided Bentley from Alfa were signalled each lap to Kidston and each lap the figure on the board grew less. Presently the loud speaker began to announce the decrease in time to a thoroughly excited crowd, each announcement being greeted by cheers. It was thirty seconds, then twenty seconds and then the big Bentley skidded badly at the Gough turn and lost a little. The interest in the other cars in the race naturally diminished, for the battle between the giants held the centre of the stage - to such an extent indeed that the official scoring board organisation went to pieces and at the critical moment no man could tell from it how many laps each car had done.

Thus it was that with so little - but so great - a difference as fourteen seconds in hand, Ivanowski magnificently crossed the line, for the second time a winner, ahead of Kidston with the big Bentley".

The top six finishers in the Eireann Cup race were as follows:

(1) Alfa Romeo 6C-1750 SS B. Ivanowsky 3h 40m 54s
(2) Bentley Speed Six G. Kidston 3h 41m 8s
(3) Bentley 4.5 Litre S'charged H. Birkin 3h 46m 26s
(4) Bentley 4.5 Litre B. Harcourt Wood 3h 51m 01s
(5) Bentley 4.5 Litre H. Cook 3h 53m 33s
(6) Alfa Romeo 6C-1750 SS D. Benjafield 3h 55m 44s

That Ivanowsky was able to record a 76.4mph average speed (he could only manage 75.02mph during the Saorstat Cup) is impressive enough, that he was able to do it over the 4 miles 460 yards of Phoenix Park's disintegrating D-shaped circuit with a Speed Six and 4.5 Blower Bentley bearing down on him begs belief.

When the two days' races, the Saorstat Cup and the Eireann Cup, were amalgamated to produce the results of the Irish Grand Prix, Ivanowsky was classified as 1st and 3rd overall (for his win in the smaller capacity). This feat would challenge modern drivers on the podium when spraying champagne! At the prize-giving there was such a mass of gold and silver trophies in front of Stiles and Ivanowsky, that somebody called out "you want an insurance broker" "No", shouted a guest near Stiles, "he wants a pawnbroker".

For whatever reason, Brunner chose to retire 'UU 79' from International competition after the Phoenix Park GP - a decision that goes some way towards explaining its remarkable state of preservation some seventy-eight years later. How or where he then used the 6C-1750 SS remains unclear, but later it appeared being driven by A.T. 'Goldie' Gardner and by 1937 was for sale by London Alfa Romeo specialist Jack Bartlett (whose plaque is still on the car).

A new era started as 'UU 79' was now an 'old' racing car but still very useable by any enthusiast's standards. The new owner, John Bremner, was accompanied by his friend Roy Slater when he collected the car. Together with Luigi Fusi, Slater wrote the 1968 book 'The 6C 1750 Alfa Romeo'. In the book they say:

"UU 79 - Another fabric-bodied 4-seat tourer - the Ivanovsky car, in which he won the Eireann Cup race at Phoenix Park in 1929 and also the Irish Grand Prix of the same year.

Nearly 30 years ago Roy Slater was loaned this car for 3 weeks by the then owner, John Bremner, and he still considers it the fastest 1750 he has ever driven. In those days it still had a lap scoring device on the passenger side.

It was successfully driven in many Vintage events by John Bremner, before and after the war, when it was looked after by Jack Playford".

At about this time the present owners obtained the car from Bugatti enthusiast Charles Lambton with the engine partly dismantled for repair. Replacing the suspect crankshaft and poorly repaired upper crankcase before either could cause any further mischief, the intrepid pair soon had 'UU 79' back on the road. Now in a 2-car team of 1750 Alfa Romeos, the ex-GP winner was regularly driven long distances by both husband and wife to Vintage Sports Car Club race meetings and to Continental events such as Le Mans and the Nurburgring. In due course the couple's three daughters also took their turn at racing 'UU 79', including the 2-driver one-hour races at the Silverstone Festival each summer.

While mechanically the car has been kept in good order, care has been taken not to restore it cosmetically in order to preserve its unique patina. A short time ago the engine was rebuilt with (as a precaution) new Carillo-style con-rods, a new oil pump and a modern oil filter. The front brakes had new linings in 2006, after which 'UU 79' again took part in an Alfa Romeo rally in Sicily and the Vernasca hill climb event in Italy, returning via Le Mans to act as a service car to another competitor.

Specification

Engine: 6 cylinder with 2 overhead camshafts driven by vertical shaft and bevel gears at the rear. Geared-up Roots type supercharger of Alfa Romeo manufacture driven from the front of the crankshaft. Memini dual-choke carburettor. Bosch coil and distributor ignition.
Gearbox: 4 speed and reverse incorporating underneath a compensating mechanism for the rod operated brakes. Torque-tube located rear axle on ½ elliptic springs. 18 inch centre lock wire wheels.

Addendum

The Irish International Grand Prix Trophy was a silver model of the Phoenix monument, originally in the centre of the nearly 2 mile long main straight. Such was the government support for the event that the monument was dismantled and moved to a new site in time for the 1929 race. Many years later it was returned to its original place.

Mrs Angela Cherrett says in a letter to the Auctioneers which is in the history file:
"I was interested in Anthony Brunner's letter to the R.I.A.C. which suggests that Ivanovsky was his first choice as driver, as he had originally requested that Ramponi should drive his car (and then considered Eyston or Don) but perhaps he had forgotten this when he wrote the letter.
Roy Slater recalled that Bremner received 'UU 79' as a 21st birthday present and Edna Slater has told me that it was the loan of 'UU 79' - when John went on a skiing holiday - that was responsible for Roy's passion for Alfa Romeos (he had previously been a Bugatti enthusiast). Presumeably the car was laid up during the war; John Bremner advertised it for sale in the November 1949 issue of Motor Sport:
"Alfa Romeo. Supercharged 1,750 T.T. four-seater. Excellent condition, very reliable, fast. £400 or offer."
I have not got any details of ownership during the early 1950s but Flight Lieutenant Blandford owned it in 1956 and is listed as the owner in our 1960 and 1961 lists. Incidentally, there is a rather nice photograph of Blandford (I think his name was Mike) in UU79 on page 28 of the VSCC Bulletin dated Spring 1958. They were competing in the Heston Driving Trials on 15th December 1957. Major Charles Lambton is listed as the owner from 1962 onwards - I think he sold it in 1969, but you will have the details of Richard's purchase etc."

Acknowledgements:
The auctioneers would like to acknowledge the assistance of Carol Corliss and Gordon Bruce in the preparation of this catalogue description.
The auctioneers would also like to draw your attention to the excellent article that appeared in the March Issue of Octane Magazine written by their Editor Robert Coucher.

PLEASE NOTE: This vehicle comes with an MOT certificate until November 2007.
 

All successful bids must be paid in full by midday the day after the auction at the latest.

You can collect your new pride and joy from our venue until 1pm the day following the sale or our partners are on hand to help arrange safe transportation:

               

Auction: The Centaur, 1st Mar, 2007

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