150 YEARS AGO NICOLA ROMEO WAS BORN: THE MAN AT THE ORIGINS OF ALFA ROMEO

• Born in Sant’Antimo (Naples) in 1876, an engineer by training and an entrepreneur by vocation: in 1915, after taking over A.L.F.A., Romeo relaunched the Milan-based Company at the end of the First World War.
   
• Under his leadership, the Biscione significantly strengthened its great sporting tradition through successes in the most prestigious international races: in addition to Alfa’s first victory at the Targa Florio in 1923, the company won the first World Automobile Championship in 1925 with the celebrated “P2”.
   
• Nicola Romeo defined the Brand’s mission: designing and producing high-performance “sports touring” cars, while playing a leading role in racing, both to promote its cars and to enable an effective transfer of technology.
   

TURIN, 28 April 2026 - This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Nicola Romeo, the Naples-born engineer and entrepreneur who made Milan his home. In 1915, he acquired Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili, or A.L.F.A. - founded on June 24, 1910 - and, through the industrial reconversion that followed the First World War, gave the Portello-based company a new mission: a highly concrete vision that would prove successful, focused on designing and producing high-performance “sports touring” cars and playing a leading role in international competitions.

Nicola Romeo saw participation in racing as serving two main objectives: promoting production cars and developing technological expertise on the competitive stage, before transferring the most effective technical solutions to “touring” models. Romeo had the intelligence and insight to work with men of exceptional talent - above all, two names stand out: Vittorio Jano and Enzo Ferrari.

The success at the 1923 Targa Florio, the first of real significance for Alfa Romeo, was not enough for Nicola Romeo to ensure the definitive consecration of the Biscione in racing. It was therefore Enzo Ferrari who, on Romeo’s own behalf, brought Vittorio Jano to Milan: the man who would design the Grand Prix “P2”, the car whose victories propelled Alfa Romeo to the pinnacle of international sporting success. Also as a result of the P2’s sporting triumphs, Jano would later take on the role of technical director and, a few years later, design first the “6C” and then the world-famous “8C”.

The man who gave the Biscione its soul

It all began on April 28, 1876, when Nicola Romeo was born in Sant’Antimo, near Naples, into a large family of modest means. Despite economic hardship, the enterprising young man pursued his studies, earning degrees in civil and electrical engineering in Naples and in Liège, Belgium. He lived for a time in France and Germany, then began working with British and American companies in the railway sector. In 1906, he set up his own business and founded “Ing. Nicola Romeo & C.” in Milan, importing disassembled machinery from the United States for civil engineering works.

During the First World War, Romeo expanded his company by bringing in new partners and took over A.L.F.A., which had just been placed into liquidation, launching production for the war effort. The venture made Romeo wealthy and, in 1918, he opened the company up to new capital, changed its name to “Società Anonima Italiana Nicola Romeo & C.”, and once again reconverted production, moving into the agricultural and railway sectors. Only a year later did he also enter the automotive sector.

At the end of 1921, the government, through the banks, took control of Alfa Romeo, effectively ushering in a new phase for the company. Nicola Romeo continued to serve as managing director, guiding the transition with his experience. In 1928, he stepped down from the role, and in 1929 he was appointed Senator of the Kingdom, a prestigious recognition of his contribution to Italian industry. He passed away on August 15, 1938, in Magreglio, where he had retired with his wife and seven children, leaving behind the memory of a determined and visionary figure in Italian industry.

Today, at the Alfa Romeo Museum in Arese and at international events, the cars designed and developed during the epic period of Nicola Romeo’s leadership continue to shine, fascinate (and roar) - bearing witness to an era of motoring that made history.

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