Alfa Romeo's Cross Waves

For nearly a century, Alfa Romeo engines have worked wonders not only on road and track, but also on the water, adding to the racing success of some of the most legendary models of the Milanese house

- Gerald Guetat

Some countries excite greater passion than others – Italy is a prime example. Little wonder red became its national car-racing colour back in the early 1920s. Decades before Ferrari was spawned from its racing division, Alfa Romeo embodied mechanical excellence, not only on the ground, but in the air and on the water

After a retrospective exhibition of its major aeronautical, civil and military achievements at the Museo Storico (historical museum) Alfa Romeo in Arese, Milan, the museum is undertaking a similar initiative to celebrate decades of victories in motorboat racing under the Quadrifoglio flag.

WORLD CHAMPION WITH FERRARI

A handful of Italian car and boat collectors already regularly meet up with a bunch of Swiss and French colleagues to show their enthusiasm for Alfa Romeo. In late spring every year, they gather at the small Italian town of Colorno, on the banks of the river Po, often identified with the Eridanos river of Greek mythology. This is the scene of a wild and legendary boat race from Pavia to Venice, launched in 1929, when there were no boundaries between racing activities in the air or on the water. Alfa Romeo recorded consecutive major victories there in 1937 and 1938, with hydroplanes powered by aircraft engines. At the time, the Milanese firm was among the world’s most prestigious, on both road and track, thanks to the talents of a certain Signor Enzo Ferrari, who then managed the Alfa Romeo factory team. In the years preceding and immediately following the Second World War, Alfa Romeo’s six- and then eight-cylinder, in-line car engines also recorded victories on the water, thanks in no small part to an elite team of drivers always ready to jump from their cockpits on the track to even greater adventures behind the wheel of a racing hydroplane.