Le Salon Rétromobile 2020 - O Romeo, O Romeo.......

1969 ex-Autodelta Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/3 Chassis 105.80.023.  It raced in 1970 at the Targa Florio and Le Mans 24 Hours in the hands of Toine Hezemans, Masten Gregory, Nanni Galli and Rolf Stommelen.  The car appears in the Steve McQueen film Le Mans and in recent years has been raced by Emanuele Pirro.

My second post from the 2020 Retromobile is inspired by my love of Alfa Romeos.

So why 'O Romeo, O Romeo...'?     First there were so many Alfa Romeos at Retromobile that caused me a 'wow!' moment.     You can see many of these above and below.

Second, and perhaps, best of all, there was the Alfa Bimotore created by Scuderia Ferrari in the thirties.  I am definitely in love with that car!

Third, there was the cartoon like aero engined monster created by the Argentinian company Pur Sang Automobiles   They call the car Nicola Romeo 'El Nandu', which I believe means the Rhea and which is a large flightless South American bird.  I really am not sure what to make of that, but it deserves some place in this world.

A view of the 1935 Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo SF48 Bimotore.  You can clearly see the two Tipo B motors, one in the front and one in the back, each of over 3 litres!   In Tazio Nuvolai's hands it once topped 208mph in a record attempt.   It was a bit unwieldy in racing on circuits and Nuvolari and Louis Chiron achieved just fourth and fifth places in the 1935 Tripoli GP driving these beasts and Chiron came second at the Avusrennen.    Both of these were high speed circuits.  It was later sold to Austin Dobson who raced it at Brooklands and elsewhere.

Another view of the Alfa Romeo Bimotore.

The 14.7 Litre Nicola Romeo aero engined creation 'El Nandu' by Pur Sang.   Not a car that ever existed until 2017 even if it looks vintage.  

When you look at El Nandu from the rear it is especially cartoon like!

1934 Alfa Romeo 8C 2600 Scuderia Ferrari SF32 coachwork by Brianza .   This car was driven in 1934 by Louis Chiron into third place in his first Mille Miglia.

1932 Alfa Romeo Tipo B P3 First series 5006.   This car had many victories driven by Achille Varzi and Georges Comotti during 1934.   A truly wonderful car that has been raced over many ears by many owners.

A rare 1939 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Sport Cabriolet Touring

The French Alfa Romeo club was on hand as usual with this rare fifties 1900 Coupé Pininfarina.

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1972 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 TT3.  The fourth placed car from the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans driven by Nino Vaccarella and Andrea de Adamich.