1960 Alfa Romeo Sprint & 1961 Alfa Romeo Spider

Alfa Romeo was a government-controlled auto manufacturer as were Renault and, in 1951, Volkswagen. In those dim years, Mercedes and BMW were building lackluster versions of their prewar cars. Fiat, the largest automaker in Italy, was doing likewise but was at least readying a new unit-bodied 1400. DKW, all that remained of the prewar Auto Union combine, was building mid-priced two-strokes with baroque styling. Here in the United States, pushrod-operated overhead valve engines were proliferating, but Ford/Chevy/Plymouth were still using versions of prewar power. Ford had recently discovered independent front suspension; Nash was building America’s only unit bodies. Such was the automotive world in the early fifties.

Alfa Romeo had gone back into production of the prewar 2500 — a low volume, high-priced car, but followed it with the 1900. It was Alfa’s first unit-bodied car, its first moderately priced car. It had independent front suspension, a twin cam engine, and a performance level higher than any other similarly sized family sedan. It was just a hint of what was to come.

A couple of years after the 1900 planning started, Alfa started its most ambitious project until the Alfasud 20 years later. The Giulietta prototype was completed in 1953; the production Berlina and Sprint introduced in ’54; the Spider in ’55.

Look back at what constituted a high-volume production car in those days