Alfa Romeo 2500 SS: From Racecar to History, Restored for Mille Miglia

This Alfa Romeo 2500 was stopped during the escape. The car belonging to Claretta Petacci, a 1939 Alfa Romeo 2500 SS, participated in the last commemorative edition of the Mille Miglia.

Driven by the team Snell-Montecchi. In April 1945, Petacci was in this vehicle with her brother Marcello, her companion Zita Ritossa, and their two children, when she was captured by the Resistenza forces along with Mussolini, who was traveling on a truck dressed in a German soldier’s helmet and coat.

Restorations and Subsequent Owners

At the end of the Second World War, the 2500 SS was confiscated by Italian authorities and later sold to a United States Army Air Corps officer, Major Charles Pettit. After several years used at the US base in Livorno, Pettit took it with him to the state of New York.

Following transfer through various owners and a difficult restoration, it returned to Italy for the Mille Miglia 2001. Manufactured in 279 units, it achieved notable results: first at the Gran Premio di Tobruk with Boratto, second with Biondetti, and fourth with Pintacuda.

In the 1940 Mille Miglia, it finished second with Farina-Mombelli, fourth with Biondetti-Stefani, and seventh with Pintacuda-Sanesi.