But let’s go back a decade. When the 6C 2500 was launched in 1939, the Portello factory had already been run for six years by engineer Ugo Gobbato, who brought wide-ranging industrial experience to Alfa Romeo. 

Gobbato’s background included a Degree in Germany, periods directing the Marelli works and the revolutionary Lingotto factory in Turin, and experience as one of the main creators of the “green fields” project for building the first huge ball-bearing factory in the Soviet Union.

A down-to-earth man who was at home in the workshops, Gobbato often chatted with his teams and always stubbornly tried to understand how to improve efficiency. From his arrival, his first focus was on studying things that were sub-standard: faulty machinery, “a factory lacking harmony” with too much “false movement of materials.” Based on this analytic diagnosis, Gobbato launched his cure. He expounded his methods in two manuals published in 1932, with the title “The organisation of production factors”. He devoted himself to theorising and implementing a combination of modern manufacturing systems and the tradition of artisan precision that had characterised Alfa Romeo until then. 

“Rational production but not mass production” was the aim, mostly achieved through the hiring of a new generation of young engineers. And with them, implementing a series of new rules and modern methods. These included a more clearly established hierarchy, precise responsibilities and proportional salaries.

In 1946 production rose to 146 units, between finished cars and chassis sent to coachbuilders. One of the latter was made into a convertible and transported to the Paris Motor Show. But as a defeated country, Italy was excluded from the event. Undaunted, the enterprising coachbuilder parked his car in front of the entrance to the Gran Palais, and every evening took it to the Place de L’Opéra. It was enough to ensure the success of the car and its creator, Battista “Pinin” Farina. 

Also in 1946, the Alfa Romeo-styled Freccia d’Oro was built on a Sport frame in Portello. It featured a short and rounded rear that reflected the latest developments in aerodynamics. Pinin Farina created an elegant coupe with groundbreaking lines, while Achille Castoldi, the powerboat champion, bought a Touring coupe and used the same tactic at the Geneva Motor Show as Farina had done in Paris. 

The Villa d’Este perfectly encapsulated the most beautiful elements of car design. It was one of the last Alfa Romeo models to be built with a chassis separate from the bodywork. Only 36 were made, each of them unique in some measure to reflect their individual owners and the inspiration of its coachbuilders. 

Departing from the 6C 2500 SS Coupé, built by his own Touring coachbuilding company, Bianchi Anderloni introduced major changes: the front was redesigned, with the four headlights better integrated with the bodywork, and two superimposed elongated cooling vents added. The fenders were integrated with the side profile, but clearly visible. The windshield was split in two parts and more steeply raked, while the back was very low and pronounced, with two small, elegant round taillights clearly visible.

A masterpiece of twentieth-century motorcar art was born. In 1949, this car won the public vote to be awarded the Grand Prix at the Concorso Villa d’Este, forever marrying its name with the event that consecrated it.