Alfa Romeo RL
The Alfa Romeo RL was Giuseppe Merosi’s masterpiece — Alfa Romeo’s first sporting model after World War I, designed in 1921 and produced 1922–1927 in 2,640 examples. The RL’s straight-6 engine (overhead valves, 2,916 cc in base form; later 2,994 cc and 3,154 cc in racing variants) was a direct step forward from Merosi’s pre-war designs: a capable, durable, and tuneable unit that would carry Alfa Romeo to its first significant post-war international victories. Three road variants were offered — Normale (56 hp), Turismo, and Sport — plus the high-performance RLSS Super Sport (up to 125 hp) and a set of pure-competition specials, the RLTF. Merosi’s chassis featured semi-elliptic springs at both axles and four-wheel drum brakes, which was advanced for the era. Bodies were supplied as torpedo, roadster, or rolling chassis for external coachbuilders including Zagato and Castagna.
The RLTF (Targa Florio) was a set of four purpose-built racing cars constructed for the 1923 Sicilian mountain race. They weighed approximately half the standard RL despite having engines with seven main bearings instead of four and twin carburettors. Two were built with 2,994 cc engines (for Giuseppe Campari and Wagner) and two with the larger 3,620 cc unit (for Antonio Ascari and Giulio Masetti). Ugo Sivocci received the larger-engined car. Before the race — over the objections of nobody, and at his own personal whim — Sivocci painted a four-leaf clover in green on a white square on the bonnet of his RLTF. He won the 1923 Targa Florio in just over seven hours on the 108 km Circuito delle Madonie circuit in heavy rain, with Antonio Ascari second. Enzo Ferrari drove a fifth RLTF and finished fourth (some accounts say Masetti fourth; accounts differ). That green clover on a white background — the Quadrifoglio Verde — immediately became Alfa Romeo’s permanent racing symbol, carried on every works racing car from that day forward.
The RL also delivered Alfa Romeo’s first major Grand Prix victory: Antonio Ascari won at the Cremona Circuit in 1923 in an RLTF, before Vittorio Jano’s Alfa Romeo P2 had been completed. This win demonstrated the RLTF’s outright speed beyond endurance racing. The RLSS (Super Sport), available from 1925, produced up to 125 hp and was considered a genuine high-performance touring car. When Jano’s 6C 1500 arrived in 1927, the RL was discontinued. Five RLSS models were entered in the inaugural 1927 Mille Miglia, though only two finished. Merosi’s career at Alfa Romeo effectively ended with the RL: Ugo Sivocci’s death during testing of the Alfa Romeo P1 in September 1923, and the P1’s cancellation, had already made his position untenable. The RL stands as both his greatest achievement and the car that gave Alfa Romeo its most enduring racing symbol.
Connections
- Giuseppe Merosi — designed, 1921, source: wikipedia.org
- Alfa Romeo — manufactured_by, 1922–1927, source: wikipedia.org
- Ugo Sivocci — drove RLTF; won 1923 Targa Florio; painted first Quadrifoglio Verde, source: wikipedia.org
- Antonio Ascari — drove RLTF (1923 Targa Florio 2nd; Cremona GP 1923 winner), source: wikipedia.org
- Giuseppe Campari — drove RLTF (1923 Targa Florio), source: wikipedia.org
- Enzo Ferrari — drove RLTF at 1923 Targa Florio, source: automotivemasterpieces.com
- Targa Florio — won 1923 in RLTF (Sivocci), source: wikipedia.org
- Quadrifoglio Verde — origin: Sivocci’s hand-painted clover on 1923 RLTF → became Alfa’s permanent racing symbol, source: wikipedia.org
- Alfa Romeo 6C — succeeded_by (Jano’s 6C 1500 from 1927), source: wikipedia.org
- Mille Miglia — five RLSS entered inaugural 1927 race; two finished, source: wikipedia.org