Vintage 1933 race car speeding through a stone Italian village, viewed from a dark archway.

The History of Alfa Romeo From Portello to Stellantis

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By 1986, Alfa Romeo’s factories could build 400,000 cars a year. The group used just 42 percent of that capacity, according to the European Commission.

Ford and Fiat put forward competing proposals. Finmeccanica’s board chose Fiat, and the sale moved Alfa Romeo’s carmaking operations from state control into a larger auto group.

A Quick Look at the History of Alfa Romeo

Company History Summary

Alfa Romeo began as a Milanese carmaker and earned an early reputation in Grand Prix and endurance racing. After World War II, models such as the 1900 and Giulietta brought its sporting approach to a wider public. Today it is a premium Stellantis brand with a range that includes sports sedans and compact SUVs.

Company Snapshot

Founded: June 24, 1910

Original Name: Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (A.L.F.A.)

Founding Location: Milan, Italy

Industry: Premium automotive

Parent Company: Stellantis N.V.

Brand CEO: Santo Ficili, as identified by Stellantis in June 2026

Best Known For: Sporting road cars and a racing history that includes the first two Formula One drivers’ titles

From Darracq to A.L.F.A. at Portello

Società Italiana Automobili Darracq began in Naples in 1906 and moved to Milan’s Portello district. When the venture ran into trouble, managing director Ugo Stella promoted the formation of a new company at the site. A.L.F.A. was registered on June 24, 1910. By then, Giuseppe Merosi had already drawn up the design for its first car, the 24 HP.

A.L.F.A. struggled financially despite the success of its early cars. By 1915, it was in liquidation. Nearby, engineer Nicola Romeo had a wartime order for shells and a workshop too small to fill it. Banca Italiana di Sconto took over A.L.F.A.’s shares and entrusted management to Romeo’s engineering concern. Portello shifted from cars to wartime production, including munitions.

The corporate reorganization brought the name Società Anonima Italiana Nicola Romeo & C. in 1918. When car production resumed after the war, Alfa Romeo appeared on early models such as the 20–30 HP.

Grand Prix Victories and State Control

The P2 won the inaugural AIACR Grand Prix World Championship in 1925. Alfa Romeo cars then won four consecutive editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1931 through 1934.

Nicola Romeo’s role wound down in the late 1920s. In 1933, with Alfa Romeo weighed down by debt, the state-owned Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale (IRI) took control. Ugo Gobbato became director general. The business made cars, heavy vehicles and aircraft engines, while Scuderia Ferrari handled Alfa Romeo’s racing activities during the transition.

In 1939, the foundation stone was laid for an aeronautical plant at Pomigliano d’Arco, near Naples. World War II brought bombing and dispersal to the industrial operation. At the end of the war, Alfa Romeo had manufacturing capacity that the initial market for cars could scarcely absorb.

The Giulietta Makes the Case for a Bigger Factory

Alfa Romeo moved toward volume production with the 1900. The Giulietta, introduced in Sprint form in 1954, took that shift much further. The company’s museum puts total production at about 18,000 for the 1900 and more than 177,000 for the Giulietta.

Racing still had a place in the postwar years. Giuseppe Farina won the inaugural Formula One World Drivers’ Championship in 1950, and Juan Manuel Fangio won it in 1951, both driving for Alfa Romeo. The works team withdrew after the 1951 season.

By 1956, Portello was hemmed in by Milan’s growth and had become a constraint on production. A new plant at Arese was approved that October. The transfer took time. When the original Giulia appeared in 1962, some of its components were still being made at Portello.

Alfasud Expansion and the Sale to Fiat

Expansion also took Alfa Romeo south. President Giuseppe Luraghi put engineer Rudolf Hruska in charge of the Alfasud, a compact car intended for production at Pomigliano d’Arco. According to the Giugiaro design firm, Hruska set the engineering and cost parameters and brought in the firm for work that extended from styling to industrial planning. The front-wheel-drive Alfasud was presented in 1971 and went into production in 1972.

The new car broadened the range, but running the expanded business proved difficult. In its review of the group’s finances, the European Commission identified excess capacity, labor relations problems and low productivity. A 1980 restructuring failed to put the business on a stable footing. Further capital injections followed in 1985 and 1986.

Ford proposed starting with a minority stake and gaining control in stages. On November 6, 1986, the board of state-controlled Finmeccanica accepted Fiat’s offer instead. Romano Prodi, the head of IRI, publicly announced the choice. Fiat took effective management responsibility for the transferred operations on January 1, 1987, and acquired the assets and specified holdings from Alfa Romeo S.p.A. and Alfa Romeo Auto the next day.

From the Alfa 156 to a New Giulia and the First SUV

One of the clearest signs of renewal under Fiat came in October 1997, when the Alfa 156 was shown to the international press in Lisbon. The sports sedan offered a JTD engine with common-rail diesel technology and won the 1998 European Car of the Year award.

In 2014, the 4C sports car marked Alfa Romeo’s return to regular U.S. sales after roughly two decades. FCA US reported 91 sales of the model that calendar year. At the parent-company level, Fiat S.p.A. merged into Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. that October.

In June 2015, the new Giulia Quadrifoglio was unveiled at the renovated Alfa Romeo museum in Arese. The full Giulia range followed in 2016. That November, the Stelvio debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show as Alfa Romeo’s first production SUV. Both models were built at Cassino.

Alfa Romeo returned to the Formula One grid through a partnership with Sauber. The two signed a commercial and technical agreement in 2017 and began competing under the partnership in 2018. It ended at the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Alfa Romeo Under Stellantis

Alfa Romeo entered the Stellantis portfolio when Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Groupe PSA merged in January 2021. The following year Alfa Romeo unveiled the Tonale with hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions. It was built at the Giambattista Vico plant in Pomigliano d’Arco, returning the story to the town where the Alfasud had gone into production half a century earlier.

In April 2024, Alfa Romeo presented a Polish-built compact model called Milano. Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso argued that the name fell afoul of Italian rules. Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato maintained that the name met legal requirements and said management had changed it to Junior to ease relations with the government.

Alfa Romeo reported that Junior was its top-selling model in the first half of 2026, ahead of Tonale, Stelvio and Giulia. The limited-production 33 Stradale was the flagship. In May 2026, Stellantis said it planned to keep the existing Giulia and Stelvio in production until 2027 and outlined new compact models using shared group platforms and flexible powertrains.

The postwar expansion depended on building more cars at Alfa Romeo’s own plants. The latest plans show how that challenge has changed inside Stellantis, where the group can spread engineering across several brands.

Timeline

These milestones trace Alfa Romeo from its founding in Milan to its place in Stellantis.

Timeline.

1910

A.L.F.A. is registered in Milan.

1915

Nicola Romeo’s engineering concern takes over operations at Portello and shifts the factory to wartime production.

1925

The P2 wins the inaugural AIACR Grand Prix World Championship.

1933

IRI takes control of Alfa Romeo, and Ugo Gobbato becomes director general.

1950–1951

Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio win the first two Formula One drivers’ championships driving for Alfa Romeo.

1954

The Giulietta Sprint is introduced.

1971–1972

The Alfasud is presented and then enters production at Pomigliano d’Arco.

1986–1987

Finmeccanica’s board accepts Fiat’s offer in November 1986. Fiat acquires the motor-vehicle assets and specified subsidiary holdings in January 1987.

1997–1998

The Alfa 156 debuts in Lisbon and wins the 1998 European Car of the Year award.

2014

The 4C marks Alfa Romeo’s return to regular U.S. sales.

2015–2016

The new Giulia Quadrifoglio is unveiled at Arese. The Stelvio makes its debut in Los Angeles the following year.

2021

The merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Groupe PSA forms Stellantis, which includes Alfa Romeo in its brand portfolio.

2022

The Tonale is unveiled with hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants.

2024

The compact model unveiled as Milano is renamed Junior.

FAQs

Question: Why do some histories date Fiat’s Alfa Romeo acquisition to 1986 and others to 1987?

Answer: Finmeccanica’s board accepted Fiat’s offer in November 1986. Fiat assumed effective management of the transferred operations on January 1, 1987, and acquired the assets and specified subsidiary holdings on January 2.

Question: Was the modern Alfa Romeo Formula One entry the same team that won in 1950 and 1951?

Answer: The 1950 and 1951 titles were won by drivers for Alfa Romeo’s works team. The modern entry grew out of a partnership with Swiss team Sauber that began appearing on the grid in 2018 and ended in 2023.

Sources