Pub quiz whiz, car fan or just a general know-it-all? You might get a kick out of our Quick Car Pub Facts series.
This time we’ve got a rapid-fire run down of some of the most interesting and wackiest facts about the famous Italian car brand Alfa Romeo – makers of some of the most beautiful sports cars and race cars in the world. Amaze or annoy your mates down the boozer with these nuggets of information.
Alfa Romeo has some French origins
Alfa Romeo is of course an Italian car brand based in Turin, but the manufacturer first came into existence thanks to a French businessman named Alexandre Darracq.
He owned an automobile firm under his own name and decided to create an Italian division, which he did in 1906 with the help of Italian investors.
Originally called Società Anonima Italiana Darracq (SAID), the car division struggled for sales from early on and stopped production in 1909. One of the investors, Ugo Stella, became chairman of SAID the same year.
With the aid of the other investors, Stella moved the firm away from Darracq’s direction and was renamed ALFA (Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili) and production also moved from Naples to Milan.
In 1915, ‘Romeo’ was added to the name when the car maker was taken over by Italian entrepreneur Nicola Romeo. And that’s how we ended up with the name Alfa Romeo that’s so famous nowadays.
The Alfa Romeo badge depicts a snake devouring a man
You probably have at least some familiarity with the Alfa Romeo logo. If someone showed you a picture of it, you probably know enough about the basic shape and details to identify it’s the Alfa badge. But how closely have you examined the details included?
Included on the Alfa Romeo badge (which has barely changed since the original was launched) is the peculiar sight of a large green serpent devouring a man. This symbol references the Visconti family, which ruled the city of Milan between 1277 and 1447. There are a lot of legends about the origins of the House of Visconti symbol, and it’s not entirely clear if the creature is meant to be a dragon or snake, though most believe it’s the latter.
The red cross with a white background found to the left of the Alfa badge is the official symbol of the city Milan where Alfa is based.
Ferrari race cars started out under the Alfa Romeo name
Before Ferrari became a world-famous manufacturer of sports cars and race cars, it’s founder, Enzo Ferrari, got his big break in motor sport with Alfa Romeo’s help.
Enzo was offered opportunities to race for Alfa Romeo during his personal racing career, and he also got involved in the company’s management and development of factory cars, Ferrari’s first race cars therefore ran under the Alfa name.
In 1932, Enzo eventually his own race team called Scuderia Ferrari, which was initially run under partnership with Alfa Romeo. The Ferrari brand has of course become famous in its own right, but relations between Ferrari and Alfa Romeo have always remained close to some extent.
The first Formula 1 world champion won in an Alfa Romeo
The first Formula 1 drivers’ world championship took place in the year 1950 and it was won by Italian racer Giuseppe Farina.
The car he won the title in was an Alfa Romeo. The Italian manufacturer already had decades of grand prix racing experience before F1 made its debut and that experience paid off handsomely during the early days of the championship. Alfa Romeo remained involved in F1 as either a constructor or engine supplier until 1988.
Before the Stelvio, Alfa Romeo’s first true SUV was made back in 1952
The Stelvio, Alfa Romeo’s long awaited entry into the luxury crossover SUV segment, launches this year and it has been hyped up as Alfa’s first proper SUV model.
While it is the first mass-produced Alfa of this type, the manufacturer has actually make a true SUV before in a limited production run – the 1900 M from 1952, which became known as the “Mad Alfa”.
