Vittorio Jano labored with Fiat and its race crew for 12 years, however in 1923, Enzo Ferrari inspired him to depart for Alfa Romeo. After some persuasion, the Hungarian-born Jano left Fiat to hitch the younger Ferrari on the budding marque.
It was there that Jano made a few of his biggest contributions to the automotive world. Amongst them was the 1929 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750.
The 6C traces its roots again to the 1927 6C 1500—the latter determine signifying the engine’s displacement. Energy got here from a 1.5-liter inline-6 engine derived from the legendary P2 Grand Prix race automotive’s inline-8. Jano’s job wasn’t simply to assist Alfa Romeo win on the monitor, but in addition to port that success into the highway vehicles.
1929 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Tremendous Sport Supercharged Spider — Picture through Bonhams
Together with his mission assigned, Jano reworked the P2’s engine for road-car use. Following the 6C 1500, he oversaw the introduction of the 6C 1750 in 1929. This time, the engine swelled to displace 1.75 liters and will speed up to a significantly quick-for-the-time high pace of 95 mph.
The attractive bodywork got here from a handful of coachbuilders, with Zagato, Carrozzeria Touring, and James Younger being the preferred.
The engine arrived in two flavors: a single-cam model within the Turismo and a dual-overhead-cam variant within the Sport and later the Gran Turismo. Maybe probably the most notable model of the automotive to return from Jano and Alfa Romeo in 1929 was the Tremendous Sport, or SS, later referred to as the Gran Sport.
The elegant Italian machine was obtainable with a Roots supercharger and targeted particularly on beginner racers and their wants.
With the highway automotive unleashed, Jano and Alfa Romeo might merely look on and see what they’d created. It turned out to be a profitable machine. Within the 1929 Mille Miglia, 26 6C 1750s competed and 25 of them completed, six of which positioned within the high 10, together with a first-place end. Alfa Romeo noticed a repeat end in 1930. Alfa Romeo dominated 1929 with wins on the 24 Hours of Spa Francorchamps, Grand Prix of Eire, and the 12 Hours of San Sebastian. Every time, a 6C 1750 crossed the checkered flag first.
The 6C title would go on to grace quite a few different race vehicles and stylish manufacturing vehicles, however as for the 6C 1750, there would by no means be one other one prefer it.