1960 Alfa Romeo 2000 Vignale Coupé
Ask any Alfista what ALFA stands for, and he or she will tell you, “Always Looking for Another.” O. Delmas Greene is such a dedicated Alfista that he has served as the Liaison between the Alfa Romeo Owners Club USA and Alfa Romeo, LLC for 25 years and is the owner of three exceptional Alfa Romeo automobiles—an early 1956 Giulietta Spider—106th Spider built by Pininfarina, a 1973 Montreal and the subject of this article, a very rare 1960 Alfa coupe bodied by Carrozzeria Vignale. Greene’s liaison with Alfa Romeo, LLC began only a few years before his very different kind of liaison – his love affair – with the Vignale Coupé.
A Short History of Alfa’s First 50 Years
A.L.F.A., of course, stands for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili —Lombardy Automobile Manufacturing Company. It was formed, in 1910, by a group of Italians who were unhappy with the slow cars being sold in Italy by Darracq. The Societa Anonoma Italiana Darracq was founded in Portello, outside Milan, in 1906. It was an attempt by the French auto company to build French cars in Italy, but the cars were not well received by Italians. The French home plant sent poor materials, and the single- and twin-engine cars lacked the power and brakes for Italian conditions. Plant manager Ugo Stella saw an opportunity in the poor sales of the Darracq cars and, together with Milanese businessmen, raised funds to buy the plant. In 1910, A.L.F.A. was born. Once in business, Stella hired Giuseppe Merosi to design a proper Italian automobile. Merosi was experienced with touring car design, having worked for Bianchi, but he had also worked for Fiat’s racing division. The first A.L.F.A. not based on a Darracq, was Merosi’s 24 HP Torpedo. The car had a four-cylinder engine of 4084-cc and had a top speed in excess of 60 mph. Two of the 24 HP cars raced in the Targa Florio in 1911. One of them led the first two laps of the three-lap, 277-mile race, but both eventually retired because of the poor road conditions. These were Italian cars!
When the company was founded, its longest lived detail was designed —the Alfa badge. A circular badge with ALFA at the top of the circle and MILANO at the bottom, it was divided in half with a cross on one side and a snake eating a man on the other, both symbols of Milan. The cross is said to represent the Milanese who followed Giovanni of Rho on the Crusades in 1096, but the origin of the snake element is less well defined. One story is that it was used because of the tradition that a snake conferred protection and strength, but that doesn’t explain why the snake is eating a man. The second story is the legend that Ottone Visconti killed a Saracen, who had the snake and man symbol on his shield. Over the years the badge changed—ALFA became Alfa-Romeo, a laurel wreath was added to honor Alfa’s manufacturers championship, Milano was removed when the company opened a plant near Naples in the south of Italy and, finally, It was simply Alfa Romeo—no hyphen—and the laurel leaf disappeared.
The company was enjoying successes in both sales and competition. In 1915, 310 chassis were built, but the start of World War I resulted in 105 of those being put in storage while the company changed to war production. Merosi had designed a generator using an A.L.F.A. engine for the Army, and an engineer and successful mining equipment manufacturer, Nicola Romeo, bought A.L.F.A. in December 1915. Romeo built a portable air compressor that was very popular with the Italian Army, and he was looking to expand his production, so all automobile-related work was stopped. The war was good for Romeo, who bought a series of companies in Portello and created Societa Anonima Italiana Ing. Nicola Romeo in 1918. The company produced a wide range of equipment. At the end of the war, Romeo, an auto enthusiast with 105 unsold cars on his hands, decided to return the company to automobile production, and the company was renamed Alfa Romeo.
Post-war, Merosi designed a new line of Alfas, labelled the G1, and the first dual overhead cam racing engines for the P1. The best years of Alfa Romeo had begun. Enzo Ferrari, then a driver for the factory race team, enticed Vittorio Jano from Fiat. The RL series of cars was produced, the P2 racecar was built, drivers like Tazio Nuvolari joined the race team, and Alfa’s stature soared. Giuseppe Campari won the 1924 French Grand Prix, and Alfa took the World Manufacturers Championship. Another of Alfa’s symbols came about in this era when Ugo Sivocci painted a quadrifoglio (four leaf clover) in a white square on his racecar in an attempt to overcome his run of bad luck. Apparently it worked, because he won the 1923 Targa Florio. The quadrifoglio became a racing symbol for Alfa Romeo—a four leaf clover inside a white triangle. It would appear on both sides of the company’s racecars from then on.
Alfa’s production cars benefitted from the company’s racing successes and became some of the best-performing cars in the world in the 1920s and 1930s. The ultimate road car of the pre-war years—the “Ferrari Enzo” of 1939—was the 8C 2900. The version of that car, bodied by Touring, is among the best looking automobiles of all time. A version of this car also won the Mille Miglia in 1938.
Alfa Romeo’s facilities suffered from Allied bombing in World War II, but Alfa rebuilt and returned to production initially with pre-war products and racecars. In the late 1940s, the Alfa 158 was still competitive in Grand Prix racing and Giuseppe Farina became the first World Champion in 1950 in a 158. Juan Manuel Fangio won his first World Championship in a 159 in 1951. After 1951, Alfa left Grand Prix racing for many years. Eventually, the memories of successes with P1, P2 and 158/159 would draw the company back into Formula One, but that’s a story for another time.
The post-WWII world was a different place for auto manufacturers. Custom coachwork was on the decline because of its cost, and mass production was rising fast. Alfa Romeo first did what it knew, building the limited edition 6C 2500 cars, many of which had custom coachwork, but they were large cars and the company realized that they did not represent its future. The first mass production model from Alfa was the 1900. The car was produced in sedan, coupe and cabriolet forms, and was the first Alfa with a four-cylinder engine since 1923. It was also the first Alfa to use left-hand drive as standard. The coupe was popular with some coachbuilders, including Zagato, whose version is quite satisfying.
company’s shield.
Alfa got fully into mass production in the 1950s with the Giulietta—a range that included wonderful small sedans, coupes and roadsters. A larger engine was installed in the Giulietta and additional upgrades were made to make it the Giulia of the early 1960s. The Giulietta and Giulia were designed to be very sporting automobiles, but Alfa Romeo also needed a comfortable touring car. With the introduction of the 2000 series, it had that car. While Alfa followed the 2000 with a six-cylinder 2600, the 2000 is often considered the prettier of the two models.
Cast Iron 2000
The Tipo 102 Alfa Romeo 2000 was in many ways just a square 1900. It had the same cast iron, four-cylinder, 1975-cc engine with aluminum dual overhead camshafts as the 1900 Super Berlina, and its suspension was the same. The body was unit construction on a separate chassis. Nearly every reference lists three body styles for the 2000, but there were four—an important omission and the reason for this profile.
As usual, Alfa Romeo produced the sedan (Berlina) first in 1958. Its designation was 102.00. The roadster (Spider) came next, also in 1958 and designated 102.04. Both of these models were produced through 1961. The coupe (Sprint) followed the other two models in 1960, carried the designation 102.01, and was produced until 1962. All three models had a five-speed transmission, but the Berlina’s shifter was column mounted. The shifter was moved to the floor for the Spider and Sprint. All used Alfa’s very effective finned drum brakes.
1960 Alfa Romeo 2000 Vignale Coupé
The fourth body style had the designation 102.02 and was a coupe of a shape different than the Sprint. Alfa Romeo may have produced as many as 30 or more of these chassis, but it only produced the chassis. These were intended for coachbuilders. Some of the chassis went to Pinin Farina, Ghia and Bertone, but quite a few went to Vignale, possibly as many as 20.
Carrozzeria Alfredo Vignale
As a teenager, Alfredo Vignale worked for Stagilimenti Farina, managed by Pinin Farina’s brother Giovanni. He received a variety of experience there that would serve him well later. After WWII, Vignale traded a motorbike for a very rusty Fiat Topolino and decided to rebody it in aluminum. Apparently it got quite a bit of attention and led to his opening Carrozzeria Vignale, in Turin, in 1948. The factory was within sight of the Mole Antonelliana, built in the late 1800s as a synagogue, and now serves as the tallest museum in the world. The Mole is a major landmark in Turin, so Vignale incorporated its dome in his company’s crest.
As a coachbuilder, Vignale bodied many expensive, and some not so expensive, automobiles. He designed special bodies for Fiats, Ferraris, Maseratis, Abarths, Aston Martins, Alfas and even Truimphs and Tatras. Two very different Fiats were an 8V Demon Rouge and an 850. At the more exotic end of the automotive spectrum, he designed the Ferrari 195 and the Maserati Indy. Possibly the oddest car was the Tatra T613, and the prettiest Triumph ever built is his version the Italia.
Vignale had aspirations to increase his business by mass producing special-bodied cars for major manufacturers. He had plans for a new factory, but he wasn’t building enough cars to justify the cost of the plant. He had contracts with Lancia and Maserati and built the Sebring for the latter, but he needed more. He approached Alfa Romeo, who had just decided to provide the 102.02 chassis to independent coachbuilders. He received a number of the chassis, but he did not receive a contract.
Chassis 102.02.0019
The car that is the subject of this profile is believed to be the car Vignale had on his stand at the World Auto Show, in Turin, in 1960. An attractive design by Michelotti, Vignale was trying to show what his company could do and to convince Alfa to give him a contract for a run of the cars. The car was seen by Anthony Thomas Wilson, an Air Force officer stationed in Italy. Several months later, Wilson had bought the car. When he completed his tour, he shipped the car home to Miami, where it remained until it was purchased by another Florida resident, Doug Harmon, in 1971.
In an effort to establish a chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club in their part of Florida, Greene and several other Alfisti left flyers in various shops and businesses announcing the chapter’s first meeting in 1974. Harmon showed up in the Vignale coupe and joined. But Harmon’s job as an engineer took him out of the area for a job overseas, and Greene lost contact with him.
Years later, Peter Marshall sent Greene a photo of the Vignale Alfa taken during its time in Miami and asked if Greene knew anything about it. It was the car that Harmon had brought to that first club meeting, so Greene set out to find Harmon. Eventually, Greene found him. He had returned from overseas and retired. For some reason, his interest in Alfas had faded, and he had sold some of his cars. After storing the Vignale and two 2000 roadsters for several years, he decided to move them to save money on storage fees. He put them in what Greene called “a swamp.” Greene approached Harmon about buying the coupe, but Harmon insisted that he buy all three. The deal was done in 1990, and that started a five-year restoration adventure.
Greene and his friend, Jim Smallwood, went together to buy the cars. After hacking their way to the cars and dragging them out, Greene took the Vignale and Smallwood took one of the roadsters. The other roadster would be kept whole to be used as a template during the restorations. Over five years, they did everything together. They stripped the cars and took them to a local bodyshop, where the owner allowed them to do the grunt work while he did the important stuff. They worked together on the various components of the car—rebuilding both transmissions together, for example.
Greene had restored a couple of 2000 roadsters over the years and was quite familiar with the cars. He also had a store of spare parts, but these cars, especially the Vignale, are rare and so are the unique parts. One particularly problematic part was the tires. The original tires were Michelins that went on the odd Euro-sized wheels, and were no longer available. Greene contacted Craig Morningstar, an Alfa Romeo executive with whom Greene liaised for the Alfa club. Together they approached Michelin about doing a run of the tires. Michelin agreed, but the minimum run was 25 tires, which is what Greene and Morningstar got.
As Greene worked on the car, he made some important discoveries. The car was silver when he got it, but when he removed the taillight assembly and the windshield, he found the original Italian green and Magnolia white colors. It was a similar find when he removed the leather from the seats, as it became obvious that they had been dyed black. He found the original lipstick red was still on the back of the door panels, which had also been dyed. Other discoveries included the use of aluminum for the hood and trunk and some smaller parts. Components like the rain gutters and bumpers were hand-formed in brass then chromed. And the chassis number had been stamped on many of the parts, including the seat rails. Finally, measurements showed that the car is asymmetrical—it’s longer on one side than on the other, and the driver’s seat had one more pleat than the passenger seat! Maybe Italian passengers are slimmer than Italian drivers.
A final challenge faced Greene as he finished the restoration. He was missing two badges—crossed flags (Italian and red and white checker)—that are on each of the rear fenders. Greene was going to Italy to see what documentation he could find about the car and decided to visit Ragni Industries, suppliers of cloisonné badges to many auto manufacturers. “I had an interpreter with me, a young woman, but Signore Regni wasn’t sure if he still had the missing badges. He did have the Vignale V with the Mole, scripts, and some badges for my other Alfas. I didn’t have enough Lire on me, so I left the badges and had to come back the next day to pay. When I returned, Regni took me to the basement, past the workers making the cloisonné badges. At the very back of the building was a very old wooden door that opened into a dirt-floored room, with lines of wooden shelves. In a box on the highest shelf were the two flag badges—the last ones! That made the whole trip.”
Once the restoration process was complete, Greene showed the car at most of the significant concours east of the Mississippi. The car has appeared at Amelia Island, Meadowbrook and Hilton Head, and he has won numerous awards. Greene drives his cars. He has even drag raced the Vignale Alfa, although he says “With a cast iron, two-liter, it’s drag racing in slow motion.” The Vignale coupe is faster than the roadster at the drags because it is about 40 pounds lighter than the open car. The car has been very reliable: “I haven’t touched it in 25 years! Not even spark plugs. And it gets 25 to 27 mpg on the road.”
Greene has gathered a lot of information about these Vignale Alfa coupes. He has documented seven or eight of them, including one owned at one time by Angie Dickenson. Every one of them is different—mostly in the details, so the differences are only apparent to those who look closely.
Driving Impressions
“It’s a road car, not a handling car. They’re very slow by today’s standards,” said Greene. I had always heard that the 2000 was a cruiser, so I didn’t expect it to be like my Alfa Giulia Super with its non-stock, two-liter engine, hot cams, and big Dell Orto side draft carbs. I was looking forward to a drive in a nice road car, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Every one of Greene’s Alfas are pristine, but they’re also driven. He often drives his Montreal from Florida to North Carolina. So, I thought the Vignale might show some of the issues that often turn up in Alfas with some miles on them. I was wrong.
My first impression was, “what a comfortable car!” The seats felt good, and I could imagine taking the car for a long drive on an Interstate or, better yet, an Autostrada. The car was already warm, so it started quickly and idled smoothly. I moved the shifter through the gates and found nothing that should concern me. So, off we went. As Greene implied, it’s not a rocket ship, but it’s no slug either. I was able to accelerate nicely into the traffic that was moving along at a brisk pace. Each shift was smooth, and the car responded nicely to the throttle as soon as it was pressed. I was glad that the fall day was cool, since I expect that the car can be pretty hot in the Florida sun. But ventilation was good enough for a comfortable drive on multi-lane suburban streets. I was able to get into fifth gear, and although the revs were a bit low, it still pulled nicely.
The fun began when we got off the main streets and onto the side roads. It was mostly right angle turns, but the car handled the corners smoothly and without too much lean, although you do expect an Alfa to lean in corners. What often surprises people is how well an Alfa corners even with the lean. The Vignale was no exception. It’s not intended for cornering, like a Giulietta Spider of the same era, but its handling was very satisfactory for a road car and much better than most of what was made by Alfa’s competitors, especially of the same era.
Too bad we could not take the car out in the country on some smooth, twisty roads. I expect it would have been great fun. Thank you Delmas, my friend, for allowing me to sample your very rare Alfa Romeo.
