6C 2500 Sport Ghia

[Alex]

A classified advert appeared in this month's Classic Cars magazine and thought I would share the details for those who are interested. The car is a very rare 6C 2500 Sport with coachwork by Ghia, chassis # 915358, quoted as being one of only four produced.

I seem unable to upload photos directly, but further information can be found here and here. Perhaps someone else would be so kind as to post some photos before the links vanish.

Alex.

[kengta]

Heres a couple I grabbed.

Ken

[Bill S]

The body looks like an unholy union between Mercedes and Studebaker. Still, wouldn't kick it out of my driveway!

[fgsavoia]

I suppose big money for this car....

[PG1964]

Another period pic.

[zedtt]

And very different from this 6c 2500:
https://www.vintagedrivingmachines.c...on=viewlisting

[Zagato_Olaf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex A classified advert appeared in this month's Classic Cars magazine and thought I would share the details for those who are interested. The car is a very rare 6C 2500 Sport with coachwork by Ghia, chassis # 915358, quoted as being one of only four produced. I seem unable to upload photos directly, but further information can be found here and here. Perhaps someone else would be so kind as to post some photos before the links vanish. Alex.

[fgsavoia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zagato_Olaf Hello contributors, I checked the book `Alfa Romeo 6C 2500´ written by Angelo Tito Anselmi, published in 1993 by Editorale Domus. It states: Chassisnumber: #915.358 Enginenumber: #926.175 Date built (chassis): 26th of May 1947 Date of delivery: 9th of June 1947 Body: Ghia Bodystyle: Cabriolet First owner: Mario Paparo in Rome I assume that the delivery date is for the chassis, not the complete car. I do not have proof for that.

[oz3litre]

It is amazing how car designers sometimes come up with a nice looking design like this and then plonk completely wrong headlights on it so that it just looks weird from the front. It is like they forgot about them until the last minute.

[PG1964]

Hello Olaf, some years ago, at the Padoa fair, a guy of the RIAR told me the first owner of the 915.358 was an Alfa Romeo dealer of Rome. Was Paparo that dealer? I assume the 2 Paparo were brothers...

[Zagato_Olaf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PG1964 Hello Olaf, some years ago, at the Padoa fair, a guy of the RIAR told me the first owner of the 915.358 was an Alfa Romeo dealer of Rome. Was Paparo that dealer? I assume the 2 Paparo were brothers...

[PG1964]

Thanks Olaf, we need to check in a period magazine to know better.

[iicarJohn]

Olaf ("Zagato_Olaf") has made a very good guess as to the meaning of the various dates associated with this chassis. We don't get to know some things with certainty without getting some additional information from primary sources.

The information I share here is not "cast in stone" but is based in large part on a varied cross-section of "what is possible" (or even probable) based on a large cross-section of data collected on a large number of cars, not just Alfa Romeo. The difficulty with this sort of extrapolation is that there are those who are all too willing to believe that a mere possibility or even probablility is somehow "fact" when there is no proof whatsoever.

26 May 1947 is the date recorded by Alfa Romeo as the origin for the completed chassis.
9 June 1947 is the date recorded by Alfa Romeo for a purchase by Mario Paparo of Rome. A sale could be made and recorded for a chassis or for a completed car. Odds are high that Mario and Raffaele Paparo (both in Rome) were related ... or might even be the same person. Then again, we cannot know this at this stage. A Raffaele Paparo had purchased chassis 915343, a chassis that was also bodied by Ghia. The way in which this car was completed and then registered may or may not be significant to the story of 915358. It seems that Paparo may have been acting as a dealer or agent in both of these instances? "Paparo" does not appear in any of the data that I've recorded for more than 20,000 additional cars "made in Italy" ... which may simply indicate that I've not collected enough data!

My guess is that Paparo purchased each of these chassis from Alfa Romeo and arranged to have them bodied by Ghia. So, the completed product was never entirely Alfa Romeo, which is also true of a large percentage of cars from this time period ... and earlier.

A "Certificato di Origine" was issued 25 October 1947 for this car. It is easy to assume that this means that the car was already completed as of this date ... but this is not always the case. This is a date that is required by italian law before a car can be sold legally and registered for the road. Sometimes the date gets assigned very near the actual date of the completion of the car and sometimes the date can be a bit "early" or "late". There were rules as to when this sort of declaration was supposed to be made ... but those rules were not always adhered to. Plans changed. Completion of some cars was delayed. Obviously, when a car is built by more than one entity, there is the acknowledgement that any origin date might actually be a collection of dates... or might be arrived at independently of those dates. So, the date could reflect a date derived from some legal act when a chassis was sold ... or a body sold ... or an engine sold ... or the date could be declared by a dealer or manufacturer based on a need to sell and register the car. There are many additional justifications for assigning a "Cd'O" date that might seem "early" or "late" for any specific car. It happened that some cars were used on dealer plates for a time, allowing the initial Cd'O date to expire from a legal standpoint. Penalties might have to be paid. It happened that a car built "on spec" for a dealer could not be sold in a reasonable time period. A later Cd'O date was sometimes assigned so as to avoid penalties because a car was not registered "in time" to meet the letter of the law.

This car was first registered January 1949 to Clara Trina who had previously owned a Cisitalia 202. It is a similar case where the Cd'O date might not relate precisely to the completion date of the car. Maybe the reasons were generally the same and maybe not. At least three cars may give us clues as to what may have happened in this instance. Then again, this instance may be unique? More can always be learned with patience, tenacity and perhaps a bit of luck.

And, more can already be shared with those who are truly interested.

I do not have all of the answers. I have many questions and only a limited amount of time to spend to try to answer specific questions about specific cars. But, some of the data we get does not really answer the questions we might assume that they answer. It is important to recognize when there is a reasonable chance that we may be learning less than the full truth even when the documentation "feels good" or "looks good".

John de Boer
The Italian Car Registry

[PG1964]

Thank you John!

[iicarJohn]

Perhaps I should have mentioned that 915343 appears to have been completed and registered quite some time later than 915358. I've not yet researched the Roma plate to learn the specific history but this could be done. I don't recall how I have the Roma plate recorded.

Ben Hendricks apparently discovered 915343 (or it found him?) and it was last known to be in Japan some years ago. My notes say to see Het Klaverblaadge #57 but I don't have that with me at the moment ... if it is even in my library.

The "RIAR" reference in the listing (referred to earlier) alongside 915358 is an indication that a listing was shared 1990 with me by the Registro Italiano Alfa Romeo that acknowledged this chassis number as belonging to a member (or former member?) of that organization.