The Great Racing Alfa Romeos: The Conrero 2000 Supersonica by Ghia

The Pic was taken at the 1953 Mille Miglia: from the right Robert Fehlmann and Virgilio Conrero 

The Conrero 2000 is one of those cars that not many enthusiasts know to exist: it is a special car, a very interesting one and it belongs to an era of motorsport racing that went down into history as the “Golden Age” of motorsport. The car shown here is an example of the Italian Automotive finest artistry: Alfa Romeo 1900 engine, tuned by Virgilio Conrero to race perfection on one of his custom chassis, Lancia gave the transmission, Fiat the suspension and Giovanni Savonuzzi of Ghia provided the adequate bodywork. The 2000 Conrero is a car to be remembered: it is regarded as the very first car featuring an Alfa Romeo 1900 engine tuned by Virgilio Conrero, later to be remembered for his efforts in modifying the engines for the Giulietta Sprint Veloce, SS and the Giulia GTAs of the famous the Jolly Club Team, as well as Opel rally cars of the 1970ies and 80ies.

The car we are showing in the pictures below, with the Swiss license plate GE 30030, was commissioned by Robert Fehlmann to Ghia of Turin with the purpose of competing in the 1953 Mille Miglia. She was dressed by the futuristic pen of Giovanni Savonuzzi, the author of the famed Cisitalia 202. The fin design feature popular of the era was brought to the extreme: the styling of the Alfa Romeo 1900 "Supersonica" by Ghia was directly inspired by the beginning of the supersonic jet era, hence the name. We believe that this unique vehicle was the first of the “Supersonica” design of Giovanni Savonuzzi, which became an elegant aluminum dress of a number of chassis based on Fiat 8v's, Jaguar xk120 and Aston Martin DB II's, for a total of 20 Supersonica cars worldwide. But what really sets the “Fehlmann Supersonica" apart from the other cars is that it was moved by the very first Conrero-tuned Alfa Romeo engine. Starting from the standard power plant found in the Alfa Romeo 1900 Super, it received a special treatmentment by Virgilio Conrero “the Magician” as he was known among racers and the Alfisti of the period.

Typically, the "Conrero magic" was best found in the fine tuning of Alfa Romeo engines, with a change in firing orders, engines mappings and increase in reliability and power. Conrero was no ordinary tuner and this car was literally re-engineered to race-perfection, receiving an increase in the compression ratio by lowering the cyl. heads, a new set of forged cylinders, open carburetors trumpets and even new engine mappings and firing orders and 4 individual exhaust steel tubes  

The Fehlmann Supersonica was a first class contender: power output was  increased to 183 hp over the standard 90 bhp of production models, and it was fitted to a custom Conrero chassis design: original drawings are not known to exist, but it was a big square section tube framing, completely unique to the car, differing from the self supporting unit of the 1900 chassis. Pictures show a cross section tubolar frame by additional transversal “X” tube. This car was also true hybrid of Italian goodness: the transmission came from a Lancia Aurelia the rear section was of Alfa Romeo design, renewed by its stability and effectiveness in cornering and straight conditions. Front suspension came from a Fiat 1400. The choice of Ghia to sculpt the body came by the close friendship that Virgilio Conrero had with Savonuzzi: this car was briefly described to be the very first car to bear the Conrero name on an Alfa Romeo engine, as stated in the excellent book "Giulietta da Corsa" by Donald Hughes and Vito Whitting da Prato. This was the nemesis of Conrero and Alfa Romeo, later to be strengthened by the great competitiveness of the Giulietta SV.

This car is genesis of one of the most successful relationships in the history of motor racing as Alfa Romeo was not funding its own Squadra Corse, it usually provided official support in customers during hillclimbs and international events. In fact, the popularity of the Conrero modifications to the already state-of-the-art 1.3 liter straight 4 of the Giulietta SV gave the opportunity to be a great medium of gaining popularity among the market and also to keep the racing tradition of the Biscione alive.



This great looking car was presented as a private Mille Miglia prototype to the public at the Turin Motor Show in 1953 by Ghia, where it attracted the attention of the specialized press. The car took part in the Mille Miglia, featuring the #453 racing number as part of the 2 liter sport class: the Supersonica departed from Corso Venezia, Brescia at 4:53 pm of 26th April 1953, with Robert Fehlmann at the wheel, the owner and commissioner of the project and  his navigator, G.Duville. The car ended up in a crash along the route and it was retired due to heavy damage. After beign retired, it was converted into a barchetta body style and continued to be raced as a privateer car in the following years.





Further documentation on the competitive history of the car after the barchetta coversion, is not known to exist. Besides this, the car reappeared in 1985 to receive a conservative restoration and the retuning of the engine, operated by the hands of Mario Cavagnero, the now owner of Italtecnica Tuning of Cambiano and former mechanic of Virgilio Conrero.

In a phone interview done in February of 2014, Mr.Cavagnero said that the car was sold that year to famed Italian actor and comedian Renato Pozzetto, an Alfa Romeo enthusiast, who kept the car till 1992.

Despite further research, the present location of the car is not known yet.