Five Things Only a Real Alfa Romeo Appassionato Knows

The famous Italian automaker’s success goes beyond its beautiful designs and high-performance vehicles. Alfa Romeo has been an iconic luxury brand for over 110 years and has produced some of the world’s finest vehicles. A true Alfa Romeo fan knows that more than just beauty and great performance make up the Italian brand. 
 

For years, Alfa Romeo has created a number of the world’s most highly coveted luxury vehicles. The brand has gained a solid reputation in the world of Motorsports for over a century. The Italian carmaker has several unknown facts that only true gearheads are aware of. Let’s take a look at five interesting facts about Alfa Romeo. 
 

Enzo Ferrari’s Dreams Began With Alfa Romeo 
 

One of Alfa Romeo’s fascinating unknown facts is that the brand had ties to Enzo Ferrari. Enzo Ferrari, the man responsible for creating the iconic automaker brand, Ferrari, oversaw Alfa Romeo’s racing team for approximately 10 years before leaving to start his own business. Ferrari’s dreams began with Alfa Romeo. Before he created one of the most recognizable car brands, he sharpened his racing skills with Alfa Romeo. In 1920, Ferrari joined Alfa Romeo to work and compete as a racer. He began his run as an Alfa driver and touted many achievements, including fifth place at the Targa Florio and second at Mugello. After years of racing for Alfa, Ferrari left the brand in 1939 under the condition he could not use the Ferrari name in racing for the next four years. Who knew?
 

An Alfa Autobus

Most people only know Alfa Romeo creating beautiful sports cars and coupes, but little did you know, buses and trucks were once a part of the product line. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Italian brand began producing larger, more durable vehicles for the Italian army during World War II. Alfa Romeo also designed trolley buses and vans that were mostly used as public transportation and were considered to be very comfortable vehicles for that time period. 
 

From Bottom to Top
 

The Italian brand has come a long way in producing some of the fastest cars ever made. The very first Alfa-branded vehicle was 24HP. The 24HP was designed by Giuseppe Merosi, who was the brand’s lead engineer and technical director at the time. The Alfa Romeo 24 HP was a 4.1-liter four-cylinder passenger car, that was capable of a top speed of 62 miles per hour. The 24HP, fast for its time, was quickly identified as a contender in the motor racing circuit. It was selected as the Italian Army’s top command preferred vehicle during World War I.