The Alfa Romeo Museum, in Arese, Italy, is open by appointment. Visits may be arranged by phone. From the United States (tel. 011 44 11 39 2 93391).
In a suburb of Milan, in northern Italy, is a place where the claim that "Tazio Nuvolari, Juan Manuel Fangio and Giuseppe Farina sat here" can be proven. This place is not a tavern or cafe, or even a racetrack. It is the wonderful Alfa Romeo Museum.
A visit is worth the special arrangements that Alfa requires. Although the museum has scheduled hours, its staff recommends an appointment for guided tours in English.
Dedicated in 1978, the Alfa Romeo Museum devotes 51,666 square feet to the corporate history that dates to 1910 and the founding of A.L.F.A. (Anonima Lomabarda Fabbrica di Automobili), in Portello. Italy. In 1920, Nicola Romeo, a businessman from Naples, took control of the company, which was renamed Alfa Romeo. Fortunately, the museum has preserved the early heritage of the company with an example of Alfa's first model, the 1910 24-horsepower Torpedo. Vintage photography, and large, detailed texts of the histories of specific vehicles, are on display walls accompanying the cars. Some significant cars are set on slightly elevated platforms, but most sit on the floor, with no ropes, which allows for 360-degree access.
Positioned chronologically, key production models are interspersed with important racing cars, such as a P2, Nuvolari's German Grand Prix-winning P3, and the Tipo 159 Alfettas that Farina and Fangio drove. Although visitors tend to dwell on such important racing cars, including several 6C 1750s, 8C 2900s and a pair of brutal, twin-engined Bimotores from the 1930s, the museum gives ample space to the volume cars that kept the company alive. For example, several 6C 2500s are featured along with the 1900, and the Giulietta series that brought the company into the realm of mass production in the 1950s.
Variants of these production models hold spots in the collection; a Disco Volante derived from the 1900 series is included, as well as a Giulietta SZ and SS. Several Giulia spin-offs are on display, including a GTA, a TZ1 and a TZ2. The museum also recognizes thc importance of more recent Alfa Romeos, such as the four-wheel-drive Alfasud and other front-drive models.
The 11 concept cars on the museum's lowest of six levels. including a 1971 Caimano, add spice to the collection. That lower level also has the collection's sole airplane on display, from Alfa's days in the aeronautical industry.
The museum displays more than 100 cars, plus two chassis and 22 engines. And the vehicles are not confined to the museum. During our visit, several cars were on loan for an exhibit in Copenhagen. Generally, when the museum loans out cars, it rearranges the exhibits so that there are no gaping holes.
With plentiful natural light and room to circumnavigate most exhibits, the Alfa Museum is one of the most accommodating auto museums in the world. If you plan to be in northern Italy. a visit to Arese is essential. But, be sure to call ahead to make an appointment. With any luck, thc collection will be virtually deserted and you'll be able to imagine the scream of the blower and the roar of the exhaust as Nuvolari urged the P3 to victory at the Nurburgring way back in 1935.
Arrivederci!