ALFA ROMEO RL SPORT – year 1922

Manufacturer: SA Alfa Romeo, Milan, Italy.

W 1915 r. after the takeover of the car factory A. L. F. A. by industrialist Nicole Romeo, not only the name of the company has changed, but most of all it started to prosper. The new name Alfa Romeo has become a symbol of successful sports cars.

Immediately after the end of World War I, the factory began to take part in car races, which are then a guarantee of the best advertising. Thanks to the excellent constructions of Giuseppe Merosi and Vittorio Jano and outstanding players, such as: Ascari, Campari, Nuvolari, Chiron or Varzi, cars of this brand have achieved many successes in racing.

One of the oldest sports models is the Alfa Romeo RL. 6-cylinder in-line engine with displacement 2994 cm3 and initial power 45 kW (61 KM) gradually attained power to 61 kW (83 KM). Its creator was the surveyor Giuseppe Merosi. This was another example, when great constructions were made by non-engineers, like: F. Porsche, V. Jano or Alec Issigonis. Alfa Romeo RL was released immediately in a travel and sports version. Cars 1 i 2 of the series had brakes on the rear wheels only. Only in 1923 r. 3 the series received brakes on all wheels. The traveling variant of the Alfa Romeo RL developed maximum speed 115 km/h. In the racing version, the type of RL was achieved by sport 150 km/h. Between 1923 and 1927, the model won ninety victories in the GT category. W 1929 r. already produced 6 series, marked RL Super-Sport. To year 1934 total produced 2579 copies of this model. The RL sport model shown in the picture was body made by the renowned Castagna company.

From 1924 r. the company sent cars with supercharged engines to races, The experience gained enabled it to integrate compressors also into serial 6-cylinder cars. A great model 1750 and successful 2300 they were the transition to the thirties, when the Alfa Romeo brand has completely mastered the racing routes.

W 1933 r. the factory withdrew from participation in the competition for financial reasons. She put the new models at the disposal of her former competitor E. Let's go, who founded the famous Scuderia Ferrari in Modena shortly thereafter.