(first posted 1/19/2019) Think Alfa Romeo and your mind’s eye will most likely conjure up a beautiful red roadster or lithesome coupe, both powered by a high-revving DOHC engine that is both powerful and visually a work of art. But buses (and trucks) were once a major part of the company’s product line. As we’ve recently reviewed the Mercedes O6600H and the Krauss Maffei KML 110 coaches; both produced in the decade of the 1950’s, let’s look at several buses that Alfa built during that same period.
Alfa Romeo 110
Alfa Romeo 130
First a little history. Pre-war, Alfa built some of the largest motor coaches in Europe…
Alfa Romeo 500A (both pictures)
And during the immediate post-war period, they made some highly stylized conventional designs…
But the 1950’s was the “Golden Age” for the company’s motor coach division. The bus above is the 140/150A urban transit coach. The 140/150 was built from 1950 – 58, and was used primarily in Milan. It came in two and three axle versions with the three axle model twelve meters (39 ft) long. It could seat 46, and used a big Alfa 12.5 litre inline six cylinder front-mounted gas engine that pushed out 140 horsepower.
An articulated model was also produced and could hold one-hundred fifty; both seated and standing.
The trolley bus model was perhaps the most popular – it was also made in both single body and articulated versions. Note the steerable rear axle in the photo directly above.
For intercity travel, Alfa produced the 800/900A – made from 1952 to 1956. Like the Krauss Maffei, this was Alfa’s first semi-monocoque body design (no separate body and chassis).
It came in several different lengths, but most were ten meters (32 ft) long, seating thirty-five. Engine was a front-mounted Alfa 1606 9.5 litre diesel inline six, with 130 horsepower.
Alfa made several more models and continued to produce buses until the mid-60’s – it’s last coach was the “Mille” (1000). After 1964, the company exited the bus and heavy truck market, though some smaller commercial trucks were made until 1974.
I’d like to take a ride in an Alfa bus – just to see if it is imbued with the same spirit of enthusiasm and élan that its smaller, more famous products were noted for…likely not, but one can always dream…
Great piece to read whilst drinking coffee from an Alfa Romeo mug and mulling over an Alfa Outtake…thanks Jim.
That 800A Ambrosini is gorgeous, as in drop dead gorgeous. Have to say, though, that the car engines do look better still!
Now you’ve done it Jim. Roger (our favorite Alfa male) isn’t going to get a thing done all day, having been sucked into this treasury of Alfa-ness.
FWIW Roger, I agree with you completely on that 800A Ambrosini.
Yes, the 800A looks sweet indeed.
The 800A is indeed gorgeous, and I found the articulated long nose 110 quite charming, in a different way. But the final Mille looked quite dull, and it’s American school bus yellow just highlighted it’s generic early 1960’s bus look. Probably time to exit the market. Thanks for sharing; as a two time Alfa owner, including one 4 door Berlina, it’s a good reminder that this manufacturer known in the US mostly for sports cars, made more functional transportation vehicles than even sedans.
Thank goodness….Jim’s bus and coach stories keep on rolling in the new year.
Jim, you are my hero. Those are beautiful.
Wow. You’ve exposed me to some all-new bus porn! 🙂
Italy seems to have been a pioneer in giant buses, given the ginormous Lancias (attached) and some of these big Alfas. I strongly suspect it’s a combination of topography and a less then ideal train network. Unlike the dense and often mountainous northern Europe, central and southern Italy was more spread out, making these leviathans feasible. I don’t know ow else to explain why Italy built such big buses.
CC is always a goldmine!
Paul, the bus you mention is exactly the same depicted in an old picture I was shown when I was a kid in the Seventies. Such an irrational thing I thought back then; in fact they could have been designed by a kid, with that “coupe” section in the back.
To make it short, these Lancias were named “Autoalveolari” and were meant to be used as short range buses between Rome and its outskirt. Huge as they were, they proved totally unsuitable to serve in hilly and narrow roads around Rome and were soon destined to other uses.Originally, this vehicle was intended to replace the steam tramways lines which were ailing after the Government dictated major overhaul work to improve urban tram/railroad lines. This happened in the late Twenties and resulted in many companies stopping their business, thus the need to find a stopgap solution which a normal capacity bus could not provide.
These website has plenty of information and pictures one the “honeycomb cars” as well as on Alfa and Lancia buses:
http://www.tramroma.com/autobusroma/rete_urb/autobus/rotabili/autrot_15.htm#autoalveari
Indeed, it is true Italians have a strange fascination with huge buses; even today I’m surprised to find huge urban buses in small and crowded village where the compact or small size buses would fit better. A bit like having Crown Vics or whale Caprice fulfilling cab duties in our historic town!
Regarding railroads, Italy had an extensive railroad system back then reaching even the remotest areas in the South, but that’s another story.
A bit off topic I know, but I always linked that “coupe” section to the high speed ETR300 Settebello train. Child fantasies I guess, as the stremlined “elettrotreno” has nothing to do with the humongous and clumsy bus.
Great work as usual, thank you
“Unlike the dense and often mountainous northern Europe…”
At this point I’m having trouble following you, Sir.
Northern Europe mountainous? Maybe the Norwegian mountains or Scotland.
But otherwise? Denmark: flat, northern Germany: flat, The Netherlands: flat, northern France: flat, Sweden and Belgium mostly hilly at best.
Did you perhaps mean to say “Northern Italy”?
Replace “often” with “sometimes”, but the key word is “dense”.
What yu say. So let it be.
Thanks. I always enjoy the bus posts here at CC.
On a sort of related note it turns out that Jim Lehrer of PBS News Hour fame is bus aficionado. Wonder if he is aware of Curbside Classics?
This is excerpted from his article in Wikipedia:
“His father was a bus driver, who briefly operated a bus company. Lehrer is an avid bus enthusiast, a hobbyist, and a collector of bus memorabilia—including depot signs, driver caps, and antique toy buses.[15][16] As a college student in the 1950s, he worked as a Trailways Ticket Agent in Victoria, Texas. He is a supporter of the Pacific Bus Museum in Williams, California, and the Museum of Bus Transportation in Hershey, Pennsylvania.”
The 500a (in the 1st 500a pic) certainly reminds me of the ’39 DeSoto and Chrysler’s art Deco look, always been one of my favorite Mopar model years.
Very possible Renderson,
The influence of american styling was widespread among italian “carrozzerie”.
After all, why not putting a bit of american dream in your bus ride?
Having spent a bit of time in those conveyances in the Seventies when their operational life was long overdue, I can assure you the magic aura worked , even if a more contemporary FIAT or IVECO was a safer and more convenient travel!
After all we had no Internet, no CC and no VCR either; A chromed grille in your bus was enough to trigger dream car fantasies.
By the way, I love those De Sotos.
There are some interesting pictures in this thread about a 1950s trolleybus that was recently found in Sweden: https://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/transportation-commercial-industrial-products/202056-sensational-find-sweden.html
A few Milles also found their way to Belgium: https://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/transportation-commercial-industrial-products/673638-alfa-romeo-50-old-bus.html
And lastly, here’s a cool video from 1955, showing the build process of a trolleybus, “one of a batch of 120 units that will soon roam the streets of Montevideo”.
https://patrimonio.archivioluce.com/luce-web/detail/IL3000050716/1/la-nuova-carrozza-tutti.html
Just watched the video, epic commentary and all.
Postwar Italy, when everything seemed possible and with good reason.
Thanks mb
Must have been an Alfa bus that the 2 kids boarded at the end of The Graduate.
I’ll never understand why they didn’t take the red ’67 Duetto.
“e – LAINE ! ! “
From buses to aircraft engines: Alfa Romeo produced a series of engines from WWI through the 1930s. Some were built under license from DeHaviland and Bristol, some were in-house designs. Alfa also designed and built its own propellers. At the outbreak of WWII, the Italians did not have a powerful liquid-cooled aircraft engine, so Alfa started building the direct fuel-injected Daimler-Benz DB601 inverted V12, best known for powering the Messerschmidt Bf109 and other German aircraft. The engine was used in the Macchi C202 fighter. Later, Fiat produced the more powerful DB605 engine under license, which powered Fiat, Macchi, and Reggiane aircraft. See Wikipedia for more detail.
This site! First Lancia made trucks, now Alfa made buses. I am looking forward to your next post, Jim, where we learn about the little-known and short-lived two-make bus race series the rivals held in 1955-6, complete with shots of Fangio and Moss drifting their respective makes through the esses (and 35 terrified faces squashed against the side glass of each)…
And Alfa too made diesels, I had no idea. And trolleybuses! I mean, those are electric you know, surely molto ironic considering the company’s later reputation for the casual approach it had towards the sparky bits of it’s cars. Did they make their own stuff, or was it Italian Westinghouse or somesuch, I wonder?
Graze molto, Giacomo Brophy. You’ve left me daydreaming of some rich aficionado who makes a retro ’50’s racer with a 12.5 litre Alfa six.
In Montevideo, Uruguay, there were two series of trolleybuses. I rode extensively the second one, which was imported around 1962. These buses were much faster than the diesel powered typical coach, and had also such a fast getaway speed they induced reckless driving.
Something interesting in these vehicles, which were retired in 1992 (most pictures are from the time they were put to pasture and they were already dilapidated), is that they had Ansaldo AND Alfa Romeo branded parts. The steering wheel, for example, had the Alfa Romeo mark in the center. The cover for the door mechanism had Ansaldo decals.
Any ideas on their real origin? There are old bus drivers clubs around here, but they don’t seem to agree on the factory of origin.
Here’s another pic
This is a cartoon depicting the conductor holding down the trolleys when lines merged, as the system was so lacking in maintenance those posts would fly upward and damage anything in their way, besides stopping the bus.
Sometimes the driver would not stop long enough and the conductor had to run to catch the bus, and he’s shown here yelling “stop!!!! stop!!!!”. He would seat near the rear entrance platform.
Rafael,
Scroll a few comments up, MB has posted a link to a video which may be relevant to you. Also see the first picture in the linked page.
http://www.stagniweb.it/foto6.asp?File=casaro
There’s an ad regarding filobus (trolley busses) to be shipped to Montevideo.
Comment below pinpoints the second batch delivered had 3 doors and a squarish look which matches with your pictures. Ansaldo, Marelli and Alfa Romeo were all involved into this wealthy business.
The story of the trolley bus industry in Italy is something worth investigating. Its roots go back to the Twenties and it has strong ties with the political situation of the time. Well into the Fifties Italian built trolley busses were providing public transportation worldwide.
Also, we cannot exclude the ties between Alfa and South America (I. E. FNM). It may be that some material was exported from Brazil to Uruguay.
Hope this may help you.
Bruno,
thank you so much for your explanation and the link.
The comment you mention is right on spot, the description is just correct. Moreover, I know from old photos the bus pictured in the advertising, and I didn’t know some of those were in service up to ’76, I don´t remember them. Then again, I was 11 then and my school was at walking distance. As so much infrastructure was needed, there were just 5 or 6 trolley lines in Montevideo, as compared to around 100 diesel fueled bus lines. When I used them everyday to get to college they were so dilapidated you could see right through the wooden floor, and the vehicles were invariably tilted to the left. You can imagine that climbing those buses at the rear door was not easy, and many older people either couldn’t board them or even had accidents.
The most interesting control I remember was reverse. The vehicles had three very long levers over the middle of the dashboard, against the flat twin windshields. One of those was to change forward/reverse. The driver would actually lean over to change, no easy task as he’d have to keep his foot on the brake pedal. They mostly activated the air brakes with a brass lever positioned to the right of their right knee and then leant over to the reverse lever. Another one of those levers,IIRC, was for lights, and the third one was something related to the articulated buses, which weren’t run on the line I rode. I’m almost sure the windshield wipers were vacuum powered, which doesn’t make sense at all. Perhaps they were fed off the air compressor? In any case, those weren’t easy vehicles to drive, at least in the condition I remember them. Steering didn’t seem too heavy, though, but I don’t think it was powered.
As regards the Brazilian FNM, they produced some very interesting cars, with and without the Alfa brand, but I don’t think these trolleys were related to them.
Rafael,
My memories about these vehicles are not so vivid, as I was just a young kid in the early Seventies when these Alfas were being withdrawn from the streets here in Italy.
At the end of their life they were passed on to small companies providing school bus services: among the others I remember a 900, exactly the same as the one depicted by Jim. It was a stinky, smoking old bus which could barely cope with uphill climbs. Often, we were all forced to get off the bus and push it! And yes, they needed to be mastered rather than driven; those bus drivers looked like race drivers to me.
As for the trolley buses, main italian towns were still relying on those but that was vanishing in favor of Diesel powered buses. Still, that intricate web of electric wires seemed so fascinating to my 10 years old eyes and the sudden acceleration impressed by the driver was a really stark contrast to the sluggish diesel buses.
You’re right about their performance: the narration says speed to be up to 65 km/h and acceleration looks impressive too in the video.
Thanks for sharing your memories.
The trolleybuses were mostly Alfa romeo with bodies “Carrozzeria Tipo Aerfer” by “Officina Meccanica e Ferroviaria Pistoiesi, Pistoia, Italia”, proudly stated in a plaque at eye level by the rear double door.
The were a few trolley buses made in England with no other ID but “Consorcio Británico” at the front.
As stated before, the Alfa´s trolleybuses acceleration was truly amazing.
Are these as dependable as the cars? Have a neighbor that has a new sedan and 3 old ones and I have seen them come back on a flatbed truck at least 2 times.
I always love the articles about buses.
I’ve recently been watching the newest version of The Talented Mr. Ripley – now entitled just “Ripley” – on Netflix. It’s a beautifully filmed show and of course I’m more entranced by the vehicles than the human actors (to be fair, it’s a pretty good show, IMO). There are recurring scenes where characters take a long bus ride from Naples to Atrani in a bus that I’ve been trying to figure out. Reading this post, I thought that perhaps what was being used in the show is an Alfa 900.
But in order to confirm this, I’ve now done the research, and have actually found that bus in the show is a Fiat 626 RNL. Very similar size, appearance, and vintage to the Alfa 900 though. In the show, the Fiat has an absolutely wonderful-sounding exhaust note. I don’t of course know if this is what the bus actually sounds like (it could be over-dubbing). But I’d love to know.
It seems that the Italians were making buses in the 1950s as stylish as their cars.
I too love old buses for some odd reason .
These like so many things Italian, are glorious looking .
-Nate
“Gorgeous” is not a word I thought I’d ever use to describe a bus, but that 500A coach in the second of the two shown, just, wow. The sculpture is evocative of ocean waves. Stunning.
Here’s another vehicle that’s probably not what first comes to mind when you think “Alfa Romeo” – AR 52:
I knew they made trucks so buses isnt a stretch of the imagination and of course they couldnt resist styling them, quite nice buses.