Carrozzeria Italian Design Houses

Bertone, Pinin Farina & Zagato

As the owner of an Alfa Romeo you own a piece of motoring history, one of the most evocative marque's ever, however, to have the badge of Zagato, Pinin Farina or Bertone on the flanks of your car gives you a degree of exclusivity, that extra touch of Italian style, that magic that sets you apart from the rest. Over the long years of Alfa Romeo's history, many Carrozzeria have worked with Alfa, Touring, Ital Design, Zagato, Ghia, Pinin Farina, Bertone, Vandeplas and Castagna come to mind and they have been involved with all aspects of styling, design and production. Some of the most incredible car designs ever created are the responsibility of the Carrozzeria these include such cars as the Alfa SZ of the 90's,the BAT cars,the 8C 2900 B lungo, all through history they have inexorably pushed forward the frontiers of car design. just in Alfa Romeo's recent history the GT is styled by Bertone and the Brera is by Ital design.

Bertone

Bertone was founded in November 1912 when Giovanni Bertone aged 28 and three workers opened a repair shop for horse-drawn carriages, the shop was briefly closed in the First World War but after the war, the firm takes off, now based at 119 via Monginevro they have a workforce of 20 a and commission to build Torpedo on a SPA 23s chassis. Bertone is also a manufacturer of vehicles, however, the only Alfa Romeo they have ever produced was the Alfa Romeo GT of the sixty's. Working back Bertone has had involvement in:
- Alfa GT
- Alfa Romeo Bella
- Alfa Romeo Sportut
- Alfa Romeo Delfino
- Alfa 90
- Alfa Romeo Navajo
- Alfa Romeo Carabo
- Alfa Romeo Montreal
- Alfa Romeo Canguro
- Giulia GTV 1750/2000
- Giulia GT 1300/1600
- Alfa Romeo Coupe High Speed
- Alfa Romeo 2000/2600 sprint
- Giulietta SS
- Giulietta Sprint
- BAT 9
- BAT 7
- BAT 5
- 6C 2500 Coupe
- 6C 2300
All these cars are stunning, however, the highlights for me are the BAT cars, The Canguro and the Carabo.

Pinin Farina

Founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina the company was started to produce one off's or limited production runs, nowadays they also style and mass-produce cars. The first collaboration between the two companies came with the 1931 2+2 Cabriolet, however, Alfa Romeo was at this time itself a small manufacturer of very high-performance cars and so all the body's tend to be one off's and so we are soon presented by a host of stunning creations, the 1933 coupe Victoria, the 1935 coupe Aerodinamico and the 1935 Spider Sport Aerodinamico. These cars had some of the most powerful engines of their day with Vittorio Jano's straight 8 being the jewel in the crown. After the war, Alfa Romeo was in the grip of the Finmeccanica and Pininfarina proposed the manufacture of short runs of special versions. They started in a very small way with 88 examples of the 1900 C Sprint. By the 50's the worldwide success of Pininfarina's Giulietta Spider one of Alfa Romeo's most beautiful cars had assured Pininfarina of the chance to design Alfa's next generation of spiders, the 105 Giulia Spider. From here Alfa Romeo chose Pininfarina to design the Alfa 164 and the 916 Spider and GTV all of which have marked the renaissance of Alfa Romeo.

Zagato

Zagato was started in 1919 by Ugo Zagato and their cars immediately became synonymous with lightweight aerodynamic designs, I make no bones about it they are my favourite Carrozzeria when it comes to Alfa Romeo, with other marque's I have a different opinion. Zagato started work with Alfa Romeo on the 1929 6C 1750 and from there Zagato's cars took class wins in every single Mille Miglia and have been driven by the likes of Enzo Ferrari, Ascari, Fangio and Moss. After the Second World War Zagato got a new factory in via Giorgini 16 Milano. Zagato now concentrated on the new and up and coming GT class of cars, these cars were designed to be great on the road or track and their Avant-garde styling, lightweight and aerodynamic lines both wowed the public and won races, eventually the company received the Compasso d'Oro for its design coherence, Its design's individual and flying in the face of fashion Zagato's Alfa Romeo's are:
- Alfa tipo G1
- Alfa 6C 1500
- Alfa Romeo RL SS Torpedo
- Alfa Romeo RL SS Gran Premio
- Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 SS
- Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS
- Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS Testa Fissa
- Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 spider Zagato
- Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Le Mans
- Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 spider Corto
- Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 torpedo corto
- Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 spider Monza
- Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 torpedo corto
- Alfa Romeo Coupe Zagato 6C 1750
- Alfa Romeo 2300 Gt Metallica
- Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 tipo Pescara
- Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Spider carenato
- Alfa Romeo 2500B Panoramica
- Alfa Romeo 2500 SS Panoramica
- Alfa Romeo 159 Formula Uno
- Alfa Romeo 1900 SSZ spider
- Alfa Romeo 1900 SSZ coupe
- Alfa romeo Giulieta SVZ
- Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ
- Alfa Romeo SZ coda tronca
- Alfa Romeo 2600 SZ
- Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ1
- Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ2
- Alfa Romeo Junior Z 1300
- Alfa Romeo Junior Z 1600
- Alfa Romeo Junior Z motore posteriore
- Alfa Romeo Sprint motore centrale
- Alfa Romeo Zeta 6
- Alfa Romeo Alfetta break
- Alfa Romeo Tempo Libero 33
- Alfa Romeo ES30
- Alfa Romeo SZ
- Alfa Romeo RZ
- Alfa Romeo Roadster Zagato
- Alfa Romeo 155 TI.Z
- Alfa Romeo GTAZ

Related Links: History of the Alfa Romeo Badge | Alfa Romeo Twin Cam Engine '54-'97