- Alfa Romeo marks 150 years since founder Nicola Romeo’s birth
- Romeo acquired A.L.F.A. in 1915 and reshaped its identity
- His leadership helped drive early racing success, including the 1925 World Championship
Alfa Romeo is marking 150 years since the birth of Nicola Romeo, the engineer and entrepreneur whose name became inseparable from one of Italy’s most evocative car brands.
Born in Sant’Antimo, near Naples, on 28 April 1876, Romeo trained as both a civil and electrical engineer, studying in Naples and Liège before working across Europe and later with British and American railway-sector firms.
By 1906, he had founded Ing. Nicola Romeo & C. in Milan, initially importing machinery from the United States for civil engineering projects. But his defining move came in 1915, when he acquired A.L.F.A., the Milanese car company founded five years earlier.
From war work to racing glory
Romeo took over A.L.F.A. during the First World War, shifting production to support wartime industry.
After the conflict, he redirected the business again, moving through agricultural and railway work before pushing the company back into cars.
His vision was clear: high-performance “sports touring” cars backed by serious motorsport involvement. Racing, for Romeo, was not just spectacle. It was a way to promote road cars and test technology that could later move from circuit to showroom.
That strategy soon paid off. Alfa Romeo claimed its first major racing triumph at the 1923 Targa Florio, then reached a new peak in 1925 by winning the first World Automobile Championship with the P2 Grand Prix car.
Talent spotter with timing
Romeo’s sharpest move may have been knowing who to bring in.
Acting on his behalf, Enzo Ferrari helped recruit engineer Vittorio Jano to Milan. Jano went on to design the P2, then later created the celebrated 6C and 8C models that helped shape Alfa Romeo’s enduring performance image.
The soul of the Biscione
Romeo stepped down as managing director in 1928, before being appointed Senator of the Kingdom in 1929. He died in 1938, leaving behind a company whose identity had already been forged around speed, engineering and flair.
Today, the cars developed during his era remain stars of the Alfa Romeo Museum in Arese and historic events worldwide. Not bad for a man who began with machinery imports, and ended up giving Alfa Romeo its soul.
