In 2023, Alfa Romeo is commemorating many milestones, including the 125th anniversary of the company's founding, the 150th anniversary of the debut of the iconic Giulia Sprint GT, the 200th anniversary of the birth of legendary engine designer Giuseppe Busso, and the 100th anniversary of the company's first victory in the German Touring Car Championship (DTM). The Museo Alfa Romeo, located in the Milan neighborhood of Arese, hosts regular events dedicated to them. The factory museum has hosted these "backstage" talks for brand aficionados for the past four years to shed light on the company's inner workings and history.
Each year begins in January with Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione Day. At the 1997 Frankfurt Motor Show, Alfa Romeo unveiled this super sports car to the world twenty years ago. The Alfa Romeo 33, one of the company's best-selling models, turns 40 in February, and that's cause for celebration.
Automobile racing season begins in the spring. The Museo Alfa Romeo hosts Autodelta's 60th birthday party. Carlo Chiti established the company in Udine in March 1963; it later relocated to Settimo Milanese and served as Alfa Romeo's official racing division. One of Alfa Romeo's most influential engine designers, Giuseppe Busso, was born 110 years ago. Busso created many iconic engine designs, including the twin-camshaft four-cylinder in the Alfa Romeo Giulia and the V6 in the Alfetta. Numerous European Touring Car Championship titles were won by Alfa Romeo using both engines. In 1993, Alfa Romeo won the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) with the 155 V6 Ti, whose engine is likewise based on the Busso design.
The four-leaf clover, or quadrifoglio in Italian, is the distinctive badge of all racing vehicles and especially sporty production versions of the brand. Every July, the Museo Alfa Romeo celebrates this enduring symbol. In 1923, Ugo Sivocci won the Targa Florio endurance race on the Mediterranean island of Sicily in a works racing car that bore this now-hundred-year-old sign of Alfa Romeo's sporty ethos.
The heavy-duty trucks and the manufacture in Brazil will be discussed during the events in July and August. The Alfa Romeo Montreal, a V8-powered sports grand tourer, is all the rage this September.
Discussion is on the October collaboration between Alfa Romeo and Carrozzeria Zagato, which produced such vehicles as the TZ sports car in 1963. Likewise, the debut of the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT in November 1963 is a cause for celebration. The coupe often referred to as a "Bertone" after its creator, is the progenitor of a storied family tree of Alfa Romeos. Alfa Romeo's World War II experience, when production was relocated from the Milan suburb of Portello to many temporary sites, will be the focus of the final month of 2023's exhibition.
Past workers, historians, journalists, racing drivers, members of brand clubs, and automotive professionals share their insights and experiences from more than a century of Alfa Romeo's existence to enrich these excursions. Since 2019, the Museo Alfa Romeo has been bustling with activity thanks to the participation of hundreds of production and racing vehicles, prototypes, and displays from the factory archive, as well as the participation of roughly 80 of these professionals at 44 behind-the-scenes seminars.
The events feature a free public program that includes automobile parades on the museum's test track. Dates and further details can be found online at www.museoalfaromeo.com.
