Alfa Shines at Palo Alto Concours by Steve Barber
On a sparkling June Sunday, a field of 50 pristine Alfas graced the field at the 36th annual Palo Alto Concours d’Elegance. Neatly configured on the manicured lawn of the Stanford University intramural field, five classes of Alfas impressively fulfilled their mission as the concours’ “Featured European Marque”.
Sponsored by the local Lions Club, proceeds from this concours help support some 40 Bay Area charities. Martin Swig, founder of the California Mille, was this year’s honorary chairman. And our own Pat Braden was chosen to attend as an honorary judge.
Afterward, Pat observed, “I’ve attended Alfa exhibits for about 40 years, but this concours has now become my benchmark for Alfa shows, and I doubt that I will live long enough to see a better one.” What prompted Pat to this laudatory conclusion? It was the significance of the cars themselves and their “utterly astounding” standard of preparation.
Seven pre-war Alfas (6Cs, 8Cs and 1750 Zagatos) were represented, including the Pebble Beach “Best of Show” winning 1938 8C 2900B Spider from the Mozart Collection. Martin Swig honored it with the concours’ “Best of Show” award. There were also three special-bodied 1900s (including a “double-bubble” Zagato), a TZ, SZ, a Sprint Speciale, 2600 Sprint and Spider, two GTCs, two GTA Stradales, two Jr. Zs, a Montreal and a Callaway GTV6 – plus an assortment of less exotic, but lovely, examples of the Milanese marque.
As you’d expect, this collection was a standout among the 360 cars on display in the overall concours. And they were ogled and appreciatively by the thousands of spectators who attended. Some of the more memorable cars are featured in the photos shown here. But only by attending could you have gotten the full, sparkling impact. The cars themselves glittered. And, yes, the Alfa marque did too.
|  |  |  | | Alfa Romeo was this year's featured Marque | A fleet of beautiful Alfas | Another row of fantastic cars |  |  |  | | 1935 Tipo C 8C-35 | Tipo C is Scuderia Ferrari works car #50013 | 8C 2500 and 1900 Super Sport |  |  |  | | Sprint Speciale with 1900 Zagato | 1930 1750 GS Zagato with Tipo C | 1944 Bucci Special 2500S |  |  |  | | 2 8Cs in profile | 1934 8C 2300 rear end | 8c 2300 cockpit |  |  |  | | Stunning 8c 2300 flanks | 1928 6C 1500 Zagato Spider | Larry Frye's 1939 8C 2500 |  |  |  | | 1930 1750 Gran Sport | 1938 8C 2900 Spider | 1900 Pinin Farina |  |  |  | | 1954 1900 Super Sport | 1964 TZ1 | TZ1 interior |  |  |  | | Sprint Speciale | Prototype Callaway TT GTV6 | Pat Braden and Doug Linn with Callaway | |
