Beschreibung:

THE EX COUNT JOHNNY LURANI 1931 ALFA ROMEO 6C-1750 SUPERCHARGED GRAND SPORT TESTA FISSA Chassis No. 10814346 Engine No. 10814346 Engine: six cylinder, twin overhead camshaft, fixed head, 8 main bearing crankshaft, supercharged, 1,750cc, c.102bhp at 5,000 rpm; Gearbox: four speed manual; Brakes: four wheel mechanical drum; Suspension: semi-elliptic leaf springs front and rear. Right hand drive. The 6C series had been founded as early as 1924 when Alfa Romeo engineer Vittorio Jano, perhaps the greatest automotive engineer of his era, was detailed 'to develop a medium capacity light car with brilliant performance'. The great engineer chose the balance and pick-up characteristics of an in-line six cylinder engine and combined them with what was, by the standards of the time, a very lightweight and nimble handling chassis design. Much experience gained in development of his AIACR World Championship-winning Alfa Romeo P2 Grand Prix car of 1924-30 was built into this production series. The prototype, initially known as the model 'NR' but subsequently renamed '6C-1500' was unveiled at the Salone dell'Automobile Milano in April 1925, and then reappeared at both the Paris Salon and the London Motor Shows. Deliveries to customers of the original single-camshaft version commenced in 1927, and the general reception was so enthusiastic that a second series of twin-cam varients followed. Many 6C-1500s were employed in competition, with the supercharged varients doing particularly well in sports category events in 1928 and 1929. The subsequent enlargement of a similar basic engine configuration to 6C-1750 model form involved increases in both bore and stroke from the 1500's 62mm x 82mm to the 1750's 65mm x 88mm, displacing 1,752cc. These engines were offered with or without supercharging, delivering respectively approximately 85bhp or 76bhp in both cases at a quoted 4,500 rpm. Perhaps more significantly, the supercharged 1750 engine developed considerably more mid range torque than the unblown unit which made it a most effective weapon for racing and hill-climbing, while also doubling as a genuinely high performance sporting road car. As competition success was all important to sales, the factory produced a very limited number of special high performance race engines for the works entries. This engine was of a fixed head or Testa Fissa design. This design obviously eliminated any cylinder head gasket problems during long races. It is thought around six cars were fitted with this engine in 1929/30 on the 1,500 cc model and using larger valves the horsepower rose by 9bhp over the standard detachable head blown Super Sport. However for the 1929/30/31 seasons a further very small batch of cars were also fitted with the 1,750 cc Testa Fissa engines. These engines were developed further than the 1½ litre cars and employed larger valves, and a wide 100 degree instead of 90 degree valve angle and instead of the standard five bearing crankshaft they had re-designed crankshafts running in eight main bearings. In addition, a higher compression ratio was used as well as reinforcement to the upper bevels of the timing gear train and special connecting rods of white metal cast directly on to the big-ends, instead of white metal in bronze shells. These developments raised the horsepower from 85bhp in the standard 1750, to 102bhp at 5,000rpm in the Testa Fissas. This enabled the 1931 cars to reach a top speed in excess of 105mph. The Testa Fissa engined works cars had numerous victories in many of the major races of the late 1920s and early 1930s. This special run of cars was used by the works and Scuderia Ferrari, and provided seats for most of the famous Italian pilots such as Campari, Nuvolari and Varzi. Even Enzo Ferrari proclaimed the Testa Fissa Grand Sport his favorite among all the varied cars, his own and others of his experience. This particular chassis number 10814346 is one of the very last 1750 Testa Fissa cars produced (with the introduc