While corresponding to a December 1942 Super Sport chassis, it is, in my understanding, way beyond the numbering sequence into which you can expect 256's, i.e. 915001 to 915118, where Sport are mixed with 256s.

One could still argue it has been renumbered, but then it has to be substantiated with some evidence.

It is possible I have seen that car around on some show, for sale and needing a full restoration, or is it a sister car?

 

Thanks for the picture, Patrick! I googled for "Scuderia Automobilistica Milan" and found some interesting information: According to this 2005 thread in the Autosport forum, this picture appeared in Auto Italiana 10-Feb-1946. And in this 2007 thread in the Autosport forum, dreceterini wrote about the Scuderia Automobilistica Milan:

The outfit was variously named in entry lists, according to the different country and/or race to which the list referred. Today widely accepted abbreviation of Scuderia Milan will be used throughout the narrative, though it was not the original name. Together with his brother Emilio, Arialdo Ruggeri was the team manager. The Scuderia was founded in January 1946 with the backing of a group of enthusiasts and industrialists from Gallarate, which is an industrial town and the hometown of the Ruggeris. It is located in the outskirts of Milan, but their shop was "downtown Milan" at via Mos?Bianchi.
President of the Scuderia was Arnaldo Mazzucchelli and the technical director was professor Mario Speluzzi of the Milan Polytechnic, an expert in supercharging whose ideas had been put into practice mainly on speedboats.
The Ruggeris had built a 1100cc coupe Special for the 1940 Mille Miglia based on Fiat-SIATA components, and a series of new ones ? Neatly bodied by Bertone in barchetta fashion - was built in 1946 around a Fiat 1100 engine tuned with the help of Speluzzi and of Ing. Egidio Arzani, the designer at Volpini.

The interesting point about both threads is that they point to 1946. The car is also shown from a slightly different angle and without the girl but presumably the same background on p.288 of d'Amico & Tabucchi's book "Le vetture di Produzione" where the caption reads:

Below, a 6C 2500 Super Sport produced by Carrozzeria Bertone of Turin to the design of Mario Revelli de Beaumont. This was the sixteenth Super Sport rolling chassis (No. 915516) completed on the 4th of December, 1942 and delivered to the concessionaire Oresto Peverelli of Como. It is reasonable to suppose that the finished car saw the light of day towards the end of 1943.

 

915.516 at Techno Classica Essen, 2003

(C) Barchetta

 

Thanks. My memory still serves.

 

I'm told the car is currently undergoing restoration in Italy.

 

This is a beautiful one-off car. The car in the color photo is the same in the b&w, but the front air intakes are different. I saw them in another picture. Probably they was modified in 1959, following the new rules of the road, forcing to install the front direction indicator and to remove the side direction indicator levers.
I have no doubt the designer is Mario Revelli di Beaumont (1907-1985). He worked for Farina, Fiat carrozzerie speciali, Pininfarina, Bertone, Ghia, Siata, General Motors, Simca, and others. After the 1967 he worked in education, advising the School of Art and Design in Turin, and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.
The Alfa 915516 is a natural evolution of this 1941 Fiat 6C 1500 coupè, Revelli designed for Bertone.
The vehicle is exhibited at the National Car Museum of Turin.

 

The windscreen wipers have been moved from the top of the windscreen to the bottom if it is the same car as in the B&W picture.

 

There seem to be two (if not three) relatively similar looking cars: The one at Technoclassica in Essen 2003, the car at the National Car Museum of Turin, and this one which claims to have chassis number 915516. The grille and air inlets seem to be different on all three cars. Does anybody know the chassis number(s) of the car(s) in Turin and the car shown in Essen?

 

Er... The Turin Museum car is a Fiat 1500 as written above, and if you don't believe, watch the badge on the grille!

So, as far as Alfas are concerned, they have wiper blades hanging, while the Fiat has them on the bottom.

Now I see that the intakes external cut is indeed different, which was difficult to see with the camera angle, and your pic outside the body shop shows it's not just the extension of the chrome strips, so two sister cars I guess. I fail to understand why the grille shape would have been modified with the 1959 new road rules (which would imply welding material for closing the gaps), and the car under restoration has the extended grill. Or was it modified at the bodyshop for bringing it back to the original shape, if it's implied that the Essen resto project in one and the same as on the other pics, old and current?

 

I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, i already putted a correction on my post. As you said before, it's a Fiat 6C 1500.
I read on a magazine that the Alfa 2500 in Essen was the 915516.
Here is another photo: look around the air intakes, there are signs of some works.

 

To understand better the Bertone style, i want to show you this cabriolet:
it's a Fiat 2800, one-off, delivered in 1943 to Giovanni Lurani Cernuschi, Earl of Calvenzano, engineer, journalist and famous gentleman driver. He was one of the founders of the Scuderia Ambrosiana and he took part to 1000miglia eleven times.

 

A great looking car. Are you implying that the nose/grille of the car shown in Essen possibly is not Bertone style? If so, who else could have designed this nose/grille?

BTW: John de Boer recalled that 915516 was listed in an old 6C 2500 register (thanks, John!). I looked it up and found this description in the Sep-78 newsletter (which seems to be consistent with the car shown in Essen):

 

Absolutely not.
The 915516 is a Bertone designed by Revelli de Beaumont such as the Fiat 2800. IMHO.

 

I saw the car in Essen, didn't search for the Sn. number. There is no question, its a Bertone produced after a Beaumont design.
It is general, for Bertone production from this period, that he used the same design on diff. mechanic/chassis. Only the front reflected the parts that was inside .
I don't think there where produced more the one on 6C2500 mechanic, in this design

 

Former Owner of 6C2500 SS Bertone

As noted in the grainy photo from the old 6C2500 register, I was the owner of that car for about thirty years. Here's a better copy of that photo from 1966.

Robert Moran

 

As noted in the grainy photo from the old 6C2500 register, I was the owner of that car for about thirty years. Here's a better copy of that photo from 1966.

Robert Moran

Fascinating! Thank you for posting the picture and welcome to AlfaBB. It must have been hard to let go of such a stunning looking car.

In your opinion, was your car the same as the black car shown in posts #1 and #2 above (i.e. did you ever see any signs that would indicate the car was repainted from black to gray, that the nose slots were changed and/or that trafficators in the front fenders were removed)?

In case you have more pictures of the car, please post them. I'm sure there would be many people interested in seeing them.

 

Thank you mr. Moran.
Have you collect more photos or news during those years?

 

A bit more recollection

A bit more in response to your queries. I believe it was not only black before but was perhaps a burgundy-like color as well and perhaps others. It was painted so many times that in its last days in my possession the coatings began to flake off in large chunks. Using rubbing compound I was able to see the many layers and tints of it's previous finishes. I sold it to Raoul San Giorgi in May of 2002. He was already the owner of what he referred to as a "sister" car and knowing his previous efforts on other Alfas, if he still has it, it has or is having a complete restoration to very high standards. As to the "nose slots", they had been filled in to give the grille a more contemporary Alfa configuration with them tapering downward toward the outside rather than the large rectangular shapes of the early design. I'd looked for evidence of the trafficators and was never able to find it. The wipers were mounted above the windshield and operated independently from one another making for distracting driving in the wet. Here's a photo of the nose. There were chrome strips on each horizontal bar and tiny aluminum "bumpers" with rubber inserts had been fitted as well.

 

some small observations...

Mr. Moran
Thank you for sharing your pics and memories of your automobile. That is most generous of you.

In studying the initial two pictures of this thread, I've noticed some of the small, similar details shared between them. Using the second photo, I've highlighted these details. One of which may explain the factory correction for the disturbing un-synchronized action of your windshield wipers.
This link appears more clearly in the initial photograph.

The side window visors, likely a transparent acrylic, would be typical of the post-war use of plastics. Not surprising that these failed to survive multiple owners of the car.

 

The side window visors were still mounted when I sold it, the Bertone script-style carrozzeria plaque was also affixed, and there was not only no longer a wiper link but, as best I recall, there were two separate motors.

 

A couple more photos

I forgot I'd scanned these as a group some time ago.

 

I love the simple elegance of this car. It is a piece of art. The cabin looks inviting and comfortable. It is very interesting to follow the discussion about the car, because it started with no-one having seen it and now has the input of Mr Moran. It gives an insight into what happens to old cars over time in terms of parts added, removed or modified and numerous paint jobs. It has always interested me that some people think they are improving a car by painting it a different colour. I am a great believer in keeping the original colour, or at least one of the factory colours offered for that model if you really must change it. In terms of modifying them I think it depends on the age, value and use you are putting it to. I did a lot of modifications to the 1956 Beetle I drove for 30 years, because it was my daily driver and I wanted it to stop, go around corners, perform better and light up the road at night. I kept it in its original red/tan colour though. One of the subsequent owners resprayed it in some horrible green colour for some unknown reason. I haven't seen it since and I don't want to.

 

It was at Pebble Beach last Sunday, it won a prize too.

 

another piece to the puzzle

After purchasing the car in 1966 in Switzerland I wrote to Bertone and attached is his response:

 

Here are some photos of the 6C 2500 from the Milwaukee Masterpiece Concours on Sunday. The 1949 Pininfarina Alfa 6C 2500 is also in the photos. Thats the Calatrava museum in Milwaukee in the background. The Bertone 6C 2500 looks even better in real life. The Bertone 6C's black looks like it has a touch of dark brown in it.

The Milwaukee Materpiece is a very nice concours, bringing in super rare cars every year. They even have a vintage Ferrari class every year.

Tom Tanner/Scale Designs/Ferrari Expo 2011-Chicago April 2011

 

A few more photos:

 

Stunning Thanks for sharing folks