Alfa Romeo Alfa 6 Pininfarina

The Alfa Romeo Alfa 6 Pininfarina proposal was one of the alternative designs developed during the early stages of Alfa Romeo’s Tipo 118 project, the programme that eventually led to the production Alfa 6. Development of the Tipo 118 began in 1968. The project was initially directed by Giuseppe Scarnati, with later involvement from Ermanno Cressoni and Carlo Bianchi Anderloni, head of Alfa Romeo’s bodywork department. The new car was intended to become Alfa Romeo’s flagship saloon and was originally scheduled for introduction during the first half of the 1970s. Alongside the proposals developed internally by Centro Stile Alfa Romeo, Pininfarina was invited to submit an alternative design. Its 1969 proposal adopted a fastback body with a large glazed passenger compartment and a sloping rear profile. The design followed themes already explored by Pininfarina on the BMC 1800 Berlina Aerodinamica, designed under Leonardo Fioravanti. A distinctive feature was the side-window graphic, whose shape was repeated in the upper section of the doors. The first Tipo 118 programme was rejected in 1971. Alfa Romeo subsequently developed another proposal designed to accommodate the company’s new V6 engine. This version was also abandoned, partly because its styling was considered too close to the Fiat 130. Development of Alfa Romeo’s new flagship was further delayed by changes within the company and by the 1973 oil crisis, which reduced the commercial prospects for large-displacement luxury saloons. Many of the surviving drawings for the original Tipo 118 programme were produced in 1971 by Domenico Nardiello. A third phase of the project began in 1974, eventually receiving the internal designation Tipo 119. Its design was approved in 1976 after further revisions, including intervention by Marcello Gandini of Bertone, who was consulted after Alfa Romeo management considered the proposed body too similar to the Alfetta. The production Alfa 6 finally appeared in 1979, approximately six years after its originally intended launch.