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1969 Bizzarini 1900 Europa

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Bizzarini is one of those names bandied about that many enthusiasts may have heard of before but few are deeply familiar with. For a few short years in the 1960s, this company produced some of the most wild sports cars to hail from Italy. Founded by Giotto Bizzarini, an Italian engineer famous for his work with Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and involvement with Iso and the Rivolta, which we featured a few days ago. Bizzarini’s designs were low slung and featured both Corvette V8 engines and a V-12 of his own design. The 1900 Europe featured here was designed for Opel and based on the Opel 1900 chassis with their 1.9 liter four cylinder engine. Twenty were said to have been built, with five featuring a 1.5 liter Fiat four cylinder engine.

1969 Bizzarini 1900 Europa

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Bizzarrini 1900 Europa, this particular Bizzarrini is the best exemple of the Bizzarrini Europa. Powered by a Opel 1900 cc, the car have been fully restore and his the best of the best. The car have powered windows, air co, leather. Documented, please call me if interested and you are welcome to test it.

I’ll admit that before viewing this auction, I had no idea of this car’s existence. However, I’m intrigued by it, as I always thought the larger 5300GT was a bit outlandish. This Europa scales down that idea nicely and has a delicate nature about it. A Europa came up for sale at a Coys auction in Padova, Italy and did not sell with a high bid of €90,000 (~ $110,000 USD). Bidding here has already surpassed that mark. Cars this rare are always harder to put a value on but one would guess the smaller engine Bizzarini would bring in less than the bigger engine machines. Or will it?

-Paul

Alfa Romeo

1954 Alfa Romeo 1900 SS Ghia

After World War II, many things changed for Alfa Romeo, the most important of which was the evolving new car marketplace. No longer was there a great demand for large engined grand touring machines. Consumers preferred much smaller, more efficient vehicles as a result of an economy in recovery. Introduced at the Paris Motor Show in 1950, the 1900 was the first Alfa Romeo to carry unit body construction and had a twin cam, four cylinder engine that matched the power of it's six cylinder predecessor, the 6C 2500. The switch to smaller vehicles ensured Alfa Romeo's survival going forward but coachbuilders had a difficult task when it came to modifying a car without a separate chassis. Nevertheless, there were several versions of the 1900 bodied by famed Italian coachbuilders, such as this SS Ghia, which included a slightly larger, higher horsepower engine.

1954 Alfa Romeo 1900 SS Ghia

1954 Alfa Romeo 1900 SS Ghia ID# AR1900C01838. Delivered new to George Walker, then VP of Design at Ford Motor Company and comes with known provenance that includes Miami, Italy, Monte Carlo, Switzerland, and returning to the U.S. in mid 2000. This Alfa was also shown at Florida’s Italia Fest in February and received a 2nd in class award. Pictured and described in Benson’s book as unusual and bearing resemblances to the Bertone BAT cars.

This same car was for sale back in 2006 by the same seller at $350,000. The worldwide economic downturn has affected the classic car market, especially for more obscure classics such as this car. One of the last 1900 Ghia Coupes to sell was in 2009 at Gooding & Company at Pebble Beach. That car sold for $170,500, inclusive of the buyer's premium. Realistically, this car might bring anywhere from $150,000 to $200,000 in this market.

-Paul

Alfa Romeo

1958 Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sedan

The Alfa Romeo 1900 was a series of firsts for Alfa Romeo. In addition to being the first all new postwar vehicle, it was also the first to be built on an assembly line and the first Alfa to employ unibody construction. Marketed as a family car with a racing heritage, the 1900 employed a 1.9 liter, twin cam four cylinder engine which produced 90 horsepower. An impressive figure, considering some American cars of the day were using engines two and three times larger that struggled to produce much more power.

This particular 1900 was bought new in South Africa and brought over to the United States only recently, in the hands of the original owner. This Alfa has an impressive story for such an ordinary car and would be a standout at almost any car show one could think of.

1958 Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sedan

1958 Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sedan, s/n AR1900*19202*, Engine no. AR1306*19685*
Silver Blue Metallic with Grey/Green Interior. The 1900 was Alfa Romeo’s first all new postwar model and featured a number of innovative features including unit chassis, and dual overhead cam inline-4 with hemispherical combustion chambers and an aluminum alloy cylinder head. The majority of 1900’s produced were sedan models as offered here, while a minority of the total production numbers were coachbuilt cars by Touring, Ghia, and Zagato.

This particular car is a charmingly undisturbed, exceptional tight example showing just 53,325 original miles. It was sold new to South Africa, and remained with its first owner until 2008, importing in to the United States (Arizona) when he immigrated. During 2010, in the hands of the current owner, the car successfully completed the California Mille Miglia.

Best described as a largely unrestored, ‘exceptionally nice driver’ example, this car will be particularly appealing to the Italian car enthusiast whom values the coherent feel of a low mileage, unrestored car. Unbelievably cool, and eligible for numerous premier events, this 1900 makes a wonderful diversification for any Italian car collection. $89,500

At first I did a double take over the price of this car. These are surely rare cars in the United States and to find an original, preserved example is near impossible. But closing in on $100,000 for a 1950s four cylinder Alfa Romeo sedan? Even with the most ardent Alfa enthusiasts, I have a hard time seeing a car like this break $40,000 to $50,000, with a price of around $30,000 as a more realistic, yet still optimistic value. Barring that issue, this is a really nice example of where it all started for Alfa-Romeo post World War II.

-Paul