Background
If you try to imagine a world in which the MK2 Jaguar was Italian, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what to expect from the gorgeous Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint.
Introduced in 1962 as a saloon (Berlina), a 2+2 convertible (Spider) by Carrozzeria Touring and a coupé (Sprint) by Bertone, the 2600 is the last Alfa to be fitted with a straight-six, twin overhead camshaft engine.
As such, it was the last in a line of ultra-sporting and luxurious cars, a niche the Italian company forsook in lieu of the more profitable four-cylinder mass-market cars that became its mainstay for the following half-century.
Based on the Alfa Romeo 2000, the body shapes were essentially the same, albeit with minor stylistic tweaks to freshen them up a little and to better suit their more upmarket demographic. The interior, on the other hand, is a real high point being both opulent and gloriously OTT.
The 2.6-litre straight-six engine produces 128bhp in twin-carb Berlina format, and 145 when fitted in the coupé and convertible and fed by three twin-choke carbs. The latter is enough for a top speed of around 125mph, and the engine itself was described by Cars Illustrated as ‘one of the smoothest, quietest running sixes, irrespective of the speed at which it is running, in our experience.’
It died in 1968 after just 2,038 Berlinas, 6,999 Sprints, and 2,255 Spiders had been built. This relative dearth of cars was attributed to the car’s high price and a long and heavy engine that did nothing for the 2600’s handling, something that had long been an Alfa strength. That some of its running gear was essentially that of the 1900 of 1950 didn’t help.
Interestingly, the Italian police ran a few 2600 Sprints as modified high-speed pursuit patrol cars.
Nicknamed the Pantera (Italian for panther) they were bought to combat the rise in armed robberies by motorized gangs; in this respect they were not only the Italian equivalent of the Jaguar Mk2 but formed the basis for an effective motorsport weapon.
