This silver Alfa-Romeo is pretty sneaky: dirty = dollars!

Being filthy dirty and in barn-find condition actually may have doubled the sale price of $1.02-million. That and the cars only-recent discovery and arrival on the market. Or its racing pedigree and Zagato coachwork.

Or all of the above.  The 1955 1900C SS Zagato Coupe earned a whopping million-dollar sale price at Gooding & Co.’s Pebble Beach auctions in August.

That is almost $200,000 more than this fantasy 1929 6C SS Spider brought in…!

1929 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 SS Spider

 

1955 Alfa Romeo 1900C SS Coupe By Zagato

GOODING & Co.

Pebble Beach 2014

1955 Alfa Romeo 1900C SS Coupe

Coachwork by Zagato

Chassis: AR1900C*01947
*Please note that this car is equipped with a Tipo 1306 engine and is accompanied by two additional Tipo 1306 spare engines, and does not feature a correct Tipo 1308 engine as specified in the catalogue.

• CAR HIGHLIGHTS

• Retained by One Owner for 57 Years

• One of Just 40 Zagato-Bodied 1900C SS Coupes

• Unseen in Public for Decades

• Complete with Irreplaceable Parts, Spares, and More

• One of the Most Important Alfa Romeo Finds in Recent Memory

 1955 Alfa Romeo 1900C SS Coupe By Zagato

THIS CAR

Brilliantly engineered by Orazio Satta Puliga, Alfa Romeo’s 1900 series debuted to great acclaim at the 1950 Paris Motor Show and quickly achieved commercial success. As Alfa Romeo’s first model built on a standardized production line with unitized construction and available left-hand drive, the 1900 swiftly evolved into the short-wheelbase 1900C – with the “C” denoting “corto” or “short” – and the more-powerful 1900TI of 1951 was followed in 1953 by the 1900 Super and 1900TI Super, also known as the “1900SS” or Super Sprint, with enlarged 1,975 cc engines.

The ultra-rare “C SS” combined the short chassis with a racing-specification engine, gearbox, and revised final-drive ratios, plus air-cooled “Alfin” self-adjusting brakes. The excellent five-speed manual gearbox featured synchronized second, third, and fourth gears, with carefully selected ratios matching the power curve of the twin-cam Tipo 1308 engine. The 1900 series basked in competition success and particularly that of the 1900C SS, with the 1900’s racing credentials earned at the major races and rallies of the era, including the Targa Florio, Stella Alpina, and Mille Miglia.

 

1929 Alfa Romeo 6C SS Spider

http://www.goodingco.com/vehicle/1929-alfa-romeo-6c-1750-spider/#prettyPhoto

 

http://www.goodingco.com/vehicle/1955-alfa-romeo-1900c-ss-coupe/