1948 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Touring Aerlux
The name “Aerlux” combines two Latin roots for air and light — an apt description for the panoramic acrylic-glass sunroof that distinguishes this rarest variant of the postwar Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS. Fewer than 500 examples of the 6C 2500 SS left the Portello plant, most as bare chassis; of those bodied by Touring, only 19 received the Aerlux coachwork. The body itself follows Touring’s Superleggera construction method, with an aluminium skin over a lightweight tubular framework.
The SS rides the shortest of the three available 6C wheelbases, at 2,700 mm, and its 2,443 cc twin-cam inline six breathes through three side-draught Weber carburettors producing 110 bhp. Independent suspension on all four wheels was a sophisticated specification for the period. A four-speed gearbox with column change completes the drivetrain.
This example’s fitment of quadruple Marchal headlamps, rope-chain interior detailing, and a transparent Aster radio gives it a particularly individual character consistent with its American delivery. The 6C 2500 SS counted King Farouk, Ali Khan, Rita Hayworth, and Tyrone Power among its clientele — a fitting context for a car ordered new by one of New York’s most prominent nightclub figures. The 6C 2500 SS Touring’s competition in the Villa d’Este Concorso d’Eleganza in 1949 confirmed the model’s standing among the finest postwar Italian coachbuilt machines.
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