Alfa Romeo 1900C SS Americano

The Alfa Romeo 1900C Americano by Ghia was a limited-production variant of the Alfa Romeo 1900 series, designed and built by Carrozzeria Ghia between 1954 and 1955. Based on the 1900C platform, the Americano represented Ghia’s effort to adapt Italian coachbuilding to American stylistic preferences. A total of twenty-one 1900C chassis were bodied by Ghia during this period: seven as Supergioiello models, fifteen in Super Sprint configuration with the 1975 cc engine, and three on the longer-wheelbase 1900L chassis. The Americano was among the most distinctive of these designs, created under the direction of Gian Paolo Boano in collaboration with Giovanni Savonuzzi. It was characterized by variations in headlight and bumper treatments, rear design, and interior layouts, with each car individually specified. Only two examples of the Americano were produced, one of them commissioned by an American client and constructed on the higher-performance 1900C Super Sprint chassis. Parallel to the Americano, Ghia also produced one-off commissions on the 1900C Super Sprint platform. A notable example is the 1954 Alfa Romeo 1900 CSS Ghia Berlinetta, built for Al Williams, a San Francisco restaurateur. This car, chassis AR1900-01742, was constructed with an alloy body and incorporated a folding rear seat and hatchback entry to accommodate Williams’ Great Dane. It was finished in metallic gray with a white leather interior featuring red piping and monogrammed “AW.” Mechanically, it employed the standard 1900C SS powertrain with a dual overhead camshaft engine rated at 115 hp and a maximum speed of 118 mph. After its completion in 1954, the car was photographed for publicity at the Medieval Castle in Turin and later exhibited at the International Motor Review in Los Angeles. It appeared at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 1955 and returned there in 1998. Both the Americano and the Berlinetta illustrate the bespoke nature of Ghia’s work with the Alfa Romeo 1900 series, combining the engineering of Alfa Romeo with the individual styling practices of mid-twentieth-century Italian coachbuilders. Their low production numbers and unique specifications have contributed to their status as rare collector automobiles.