Background and development ALFA was born from
Società Italiana Automobili Darracq—Milano (
SIAD), an unlucky attempt by French manufacturer
Darracq and some Italian investors of creating an Italian branch to locally build and sell Darracq cars under license. In Autumn 1909 SIAD
managing director Cavalier
Ugo Stella tasked technical director
Giuseppe Merosi with developing from a blank sheet a new model, designed from the outset for the Italian market—unlike the unsuccessful small Darracqs. Merosi worked on what would become the 24 HP before ALFA was even established: in January the foreign management of the Portello factory was replaced by Italians, and only in June 1910 SIAD changed its denomination to ALFA. Before the Fall of 1910 the first prototype of the 24 HP was completed and tested. Alongside the 24 HP in 1911 Alfa introduced the
12 HP, somewhat simpler in its construction and equipped with a smaller 2,413 cc engine, later evolved into the
15 HP and then into the
15-20 HP.
Racing debut On 14 May 1911 the 24 HP made its racing debut at the 6th
Targa Florio. A pair of special 24 HP
tipo corsa (racing type) were built for the occasion, with 2-seat
baquet bodywork, an additional 30-litre fuel tank behind the seats, two spare tyres, and an engine tuned to . Weighing (as opposed to for a torpedo-bodied standard 24 HP), the car had a top speed of . Both drivers (Nino Franchini and Ugo Ronzoni) had to retire on the third and last lap of the course—the first because of an accident, the second because of physical exhaustion.
Production and evolution The 24 HP was sold solely as bare chassis. It was made in five series, named with letters from A to E. The series E introduced in 1914 showed the most significant revisions, so much that the model was renamed ALFA 20-30 HP.
24 HP A, B, C and D • Series A and B, produced in 1910–11 and 1912 respectively, were of 50 cars each. The engine produced , and these cars could reach . • Series C and D, produced in 1913 and 1914 respectively, were roughly of 100 cars each. These adopted the more powerful engine of the 1911
tipo corsa; output was now and top speed . The
axle tracks were also widened front and rear— instead of the previous
ALFA 20-30 HP The
ALFA 20-30 HP of 1914 and 1915, or ALFA 24 HP series E, was an update of the earlier 24 HP. The in-block camshaft was now chain- instead of gear-driven, the engine produced , and top speed was . Although Italy initially remained neutral until 1915, with the outbreak of
First World War in 1914 international demand for motor cars declined sharply. As Alfa Romeo turned to wartime production, in 1915 frames and parts for almost 100 20-30 HP cars were set aside unused. They were assembled five years later when the company, which by then had been taken over by
Nicola Romeo and renamed
Alfa Romeo, restarted automobile production after the war. 95 examples were built in 1920, becoming the first cars badged Alfa Romeo, together with the
ALFA 15-20 HP assembled the same year, which had followed a similar fate. During 1920 the 20-30 HP was developed into the larger displacement, shorter wheelbase Alfa Romeo 20-30 ES Sport, the first car to be badged Alfa Romeo from its introduction. The 20-30 ES was produced in 1921 and 1922 in 124 examples.
Production numbers : ==Specifications==