Falling under the spotlight today is another 2023 Hall of Fame nominee – Luigi Fagioli. F1's oldest race winner at 53, he claimed his 1951 French GP victory at the wheel of Alfa Romeo 158/159. A beautiful post-war sensation, only one is still racing. Keith Howard quizzes the man who knows it inside-out
Very few Italians would be inclined to acknowledge it, but the unique competition record of the Alfa 158, the original Alfetta, arguably owes as much to the rise of National Socialism in Germany as to the talents of its legendary designer Gioachino Colombo.
There are two reasons for this: first, it was conceived in 1937 to compete in the 1.5-litre Voiturette formula, thereby sidestepping the Nazi-funded silver steamroller which was flattening all opposition in grand prix racing; second, it was put on ice during WWII (if you can be put on ice in a cheese factory), recovering quickly from its enforced hibernation to continue its winning ways while the rest of Europe emerged hesitantly into what was purportedly a new spring...
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