Alfa Romeo

History

Alfa Romeo was founded in 1910 in Milan as A.L.F.A. (Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili). The first car, the 24 HP, was designed by Giuseppe Merosi and won its first race in 1911. Enzo Ferrari drove for Alfa Romeo in the 1920s before founding his own team.

The company established a racing division that dominated Grand Prix racing in the 1920s and 1930s. The P2 won the first World Manufacturers Championship in 1925, and the 158/159 Alfetta won the first two Formula One World Championships in 1950 and 1951.

Alfa Romeo road cars have been defined by their sporting character and distinctive Italian design. The Giulietta (1954) and Giulia (1962) set benchmarks for compact performance sedans, while the Spider has remained a classic of open-top motoring through multiple generations. Ownership has passed through the state holding company IRI, then Fiat (now Stellantis), with the brand positioned as a sporty alternative within the group.

Innovations

The Alfa Romeo 158/159 Alfetta (1938) was one of the most successful racing engines ever built, winning 47 of 54 Grands Prix entered across two decades. The Quadrifoglio Verde (Green Cloverleaf) badge, introduced in 1923, has been used for over a century to denote Alfa Romeo high-performance models, one of the longest-running performance sub-brands in automotive history.

The 105/115 Series Giulia (1962) introduced a lightweight twin-cam engine that remained in production in various forms for over three decades.

The 33 Stradale (1967) was one of the first production cars with a mid-engine V8 layout and butterfly doors, a design that forecasted the supercar segment decades before it existed.

Alfa Romeo has consistently used advanced materials and manufacturing techniques in its engines, including light-alloy blocks, twin overhead camshafts, and dry-sump lubrication, often before these became common on production cars.