(Updated 10/19/2025) I’m not sure how I ended up in this particular rabbit hole, but the other day I started browsing the web for vintage photos of Alfa heavies. I must have missed Jim Brophy’s post on the subject earlier this year: I only found out about it during said browsing. Anyway, there are untold treasures of Biscione-badged beauties out there, so here are a few more, including a couple of particularly cool Alfa trucks. Makes a nice break from the JDM cars, and because I know nothing about these or who made the bodies and Jim’s post contains all the relevant info anyway, this is going to be strictly a photo-based post.
Alfa 85 (1934-39) – 6-cyl, 11.6 litre, 110 hp
Alfa 350 / 500 (1935-45) – 6-cyl, 6.1 litre, 75 hp
Alfa 800 (1940-47) – 6-cyl, 8.2 litre, 108 hp
Alfa 430 / 450 (1942-59) – 4-cyl, 5.8 litre, 80/90 hp
Alfa 140A (1948-57) – 6-cyl, 12.5 litre, 140 hp
Alfa 900 / 950 (1947-58) – 6-cyl, 9.5 litre, 130 hp
Alfa 902 (1950-58) – 6-cyl, 9.5 litre, 130 hp
Alfa Mille (1959-64) – 6-cyl, 11 litre, 165 hp
Ciao tutti!
Related post:
Bus Stop Classics: 1950’s Alfa Romeo Buses – Mass Transportation Con Verve, by Jim Brophy
No words needed – the pictures told the story quite well.
A bus with Wide Whites & full wheel covers ……. “not that there’s anything wrong with it.”
Bring back the Whitewalls & full wheel covers!
Wow, some very interesting specimens down this rabbit hole! Thanks for sharing.
One question, in the very first picture, it looks like the trailer wheels are steerable, is this normal?
Wonderful trucks and busses. I love the long nose bus in the fourth picture, La Freccia del Carnaro. And the Mercury (or should that be Mercurio) photobombing the picture of the 1950’s Grand Prix transporter is a nice touch.
That fourth one is gobsmacking. A rhinocerbus.
Looks like a ’57 Mercury with the 368 cu in engine & big side mirror for towing duty.
The color prints look like they belong on trading cards or post card collections.
Very nice, very vivid!!!
And check out the sun roof on the bus on the 9th photo. A free suntan included in the price of your ticket!!
This is pure bus/Alfa porn.
These pics are so cool!!! And on the articulate bus, the rear wheels are trailing the rear axle during a turn.
What a country!
Our buses were a stunning choice – blue or green. They had pulse-deadening English names like Leyland or AEC. They had mournful bodywork with all the imagination that could be mustered on such dull underbits, usually boxes with doors. They were slow and stinky.
Meanwhile, the Italians said life is too short to be in a box before you’re due, so we’ll make every one of them stylish, or at minimum, different. They’ll be Alfa-Romeos, and faster just because of that name. In my distractable mind, they all sound like (huge) ripping calico and run on olive oil and the smell makes you hungry, not choked. Bellisima.
Even though I applaud the enthusiasm for endless varieties of glasswork, I’m a bit intrigued by the second-to-last one, which might be a case of getting a bit carried away. It is hard to imagine the crying need for windows onto the luggage. It could, ofcourse, be ultra-economy where passengers are packed horizontally on racks, or perhaps even a hearse area for those unfussed about the final journey.
Errr… You had Flxibles with very advanced style and screaming Detroit Diesels in them which made any 4 stroke Alfa diesel sound very geriatric indeed. Plus, some Aussie-bodied Internationals were very stylish for the time, the rolling box approach seems to have been adopted much later with the Dennings (which at least were unbreakable). HP for HP a Leyland Royal Tiger was at least on par with anything offered by Alfa (and with the 680 Power Plus engine, more powerful).
So please don’t be so harsh on the local stuff – if you want to see seriously utilitarian bodywork, look no further than 40s-50s Israeli buses…
Shhh! Don’t go spoiling my tale with facts!
Actually, the (I think) early-’80’s Denning coaches with stainless front and front roof window and dual back axles are quite cool-looking. And from direct experience, I can attest that they are uber-comfortable even when living their million-mile existence flying along at 120km/h on outback roads so rough that even a 4wd would be destroyed. Unbreakable doesn’t begin to describe them.
120kmh the driver was just cruising I got overtaken by a bus along the horror stretch between Mackay and Rockhampton, long straight roads, anyhow I put my clog down and chased the damn thing my tired 215 cube VJ Valiant wagon ran out of puff at 145 indicated and the bus kept pulling away, it wasnt long after that sometime in the 90s speed limiters became compulsory on heavy interstate vehicles in OZ to give tired old dungas like that Valiant a fighting chance
Some of those earlier Alfa buses have a 30s International Harvester look about them, I kinda like that styling and seven of those Inters were rebodied as coupes here for IH reps two survive that Ive actually seen.
I got to experience the 2 extremes, my school commute in the 70s involved 2 buses, the first was a 60s Bedford which deposited us in the centre of town, the second took us to the school, it was like going from a prison to a palace, I cant remember the brand but it was a stepped roof stainless clad air conditioned Detroit Diesel powered piece of heaven compared to the Bedford. It had reclining seats with integrated head rests, overhead individual ventilation (which came in handy given that the bus was filled with disgusting teenage boys)
It even had a radio tuned to the local station, all you could hear in the Bedford was the tough as nails but overworked sounding six.
For completeness’ sake, take a look at this basic body from 50s Israel. The inside, with wood seats, matched the interior.
I did tell you:)
The older buses seem to have channeled some of the car designs into them – didn’t always work, but certainly distinctive. I remember seeing the Alfa buses on here before, but I didn’t know they made trucks as well.
Thank you for taking the time to put this together. It is appreciated.
The Alfa race car transporter with the two Indy cars on top had to be at the Race of Two Worlds at Monza one of the two years they ran the race. Racing used to be much more interesting.
Exactly. Here’s another pic:
Great pics – saw a few of these when I was putting the Alfa article together, but I missed that Art Deco 350/500 – that’s stunning. Thanks. Jim.
Vi prego di confermare se si tratta di Alfa Romeo Macchi. Foto scattata a Pirano in anni 50 -60. Saluti Igor
Just lovely .
-Nate
What a treat to see these buses and trucks that we never saw in The U.S. Stylish. Typical Italian in that the love for design/style is there.
2nd picture. At first glance it looked like the bus was doing a burnout 😳
Thanks for the very interesting photos and engine specifications.
Those are some big 4 and 6 cylinders!
That first Alfa 900 sure looks like a U.S. Brill or Aerocoach. Quite a collection!
The color prints are some amazing art! A bit of “Edward Hopper”, influence?