By the time the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 with coachbuilding by Touring made its debut in the spring of 1949, actress Rita Hayworth was already in her prime. A bona fide screen siren in the Golden Age of cinema, Hayworth spent the ’40s starring in a number of well-regarded films including “Down to Earth” (1940), “Tales of Manhattan” (1942), “You’ll Never Get Rich” (1941), “Blood and Sand” (1941), “The Lady from Shanghai” (1947), “Cover Girl” (1944), and “Gilda” (1946).
The 6C 2500 Villa d’Este model quickly became regarded as the peak of beauty, just as Hayworth had in the years earlier, gracing soldiers’ walls during World War II.
The Alfa had been created custom, also like Hayworth, who changed her name and appearance in an effort to attract the right type of attention in Hollywood.
Neither the 6C nor Hayworth’s story ends there. Both live on – one on display, the other forever displayed on the screen.
Early years
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Like Hayworth, the 6C 2500 was launched in the 30s. It was produced at the Portello factory, which was run by engineer Ugo Gobbato, a man with a strong background in mechanical engineering who made every effort to improve efficiency. He implemented new standards and methods in the process, even writing two books about the subject.
Gobbato’s efforts focused on retail production, but not mass production. He hired a generation of young engineers, and established a clear heirarchy giving workers precise roles and corresponding salaries.
The 6C 2500 was a direct descendant of the 2300 B, with innovative equipment for its time including a rear torsion bar suspension with telescopic shock absorbers and hydraulic brakes replacing outdated equipment.
Model upgrades
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With the performance upgrades, the the model was able to handle a more invigorating drive than its predecessor. Its Super Sport variant now produced 110 horsepower and it was capable of reaching 105.6 mph.
Hayworth too was a model that upgraded the previous generation. Actress Jean Harlow was the original bottle blonde bombshell, playing what has become known as the typical sex symbol, before the auburn-tinted-haired Hayworth arrived on the scene. Harlow passed away in 1939 and Hayworth picked up the torch, ushering in a new era of Hollywood glamour.
Hayworth was just one of the many smoldering sirens Hollywood propelled to the front. Her contemporaries, including Gene Tierney, Ava Gardner, Lauren Bacall, Hedy Lamarr, and Joan Crawford all fit similar molds with sharp cheekbones, perfectly coifed hair, and sparkling eyes, but had different audiences.
Alfa Romeo was designing the 6C the same way. There were five- and seven-seat versions. Sport and Super Sport wheelbases. Price tags tens of thousands of lire apart. Like it did in Hollywood, the variety worked for audiences.
World War II
While Hayworth’s pictures were being distributed widely by troops during World War II, so were bombs. They rained down upon Alfa Romeo’s Portello factory from 1943 to 1944 damaging it extensively. Other Italian automakers suffered similar fates including Pininfarina and Fiat.
The company rebounded, if ever so slightly, in 1945, producing a handful of versions of the 6C 2500 Sport. The next year was better, with 146 models produced between finished cars and chassis sent to coachbuilders.
One of the chassis models made its way to the Paris Motor Show in 1946, where the famous Battista “Pinin” Farina stunt took place, despite the fact that Italian made cars were banned from attending.
VIP treatment
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American actor Tyrone Power drove his Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 while in Rome. While there he fell in love with another auburn-haired actress, Linda Christian, and married her (pictured above). They were married in Rome and over 8,000 fans turned up to cheer them on outside the church and riot squad was required to hold the crowd back.
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Agentina’s President Juan Peron and his wife Eva “Evita” were driven around in a 6C convertible in 1947 (pictured above) as part of their famed European tour, which was memorialized in the hit Broadway musical “Evita”.
King Farouk of Egypt and Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, who would go on to marry his own Hollywood sex symbol in 1956, Grace Kelly, ordered the model.
On May 27, 1949, Hayworth arrived at the town hall in Cannes to marry Prince Aly Kahn driving a 6C 2500 that she had gotten as a wedding present. The car had a gray body, dark blue hood, and upholstery designed to match Hayworth’s outfit.
6C 2500 SS Coupé Villa d’Este
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The 6C 2500 SS Coupé Villa d’Este was one of the last Alfas to be built with the frame and body separate. Only 36 of them were made, each one unique. This particular model was different than the others crafted by Touring coachbuilders. Designer Bianchi Anderloni gave the headlights new integration, superimposed elongated cooling sockets, integrated the wheel arches into the bodywork, and split and inclined the windscreen. Its rear was low and pronounced.
