ALFA ROMEO SPA

Italian manufacturer of high-priced sports cars and other vehicles. The company was operated by the Italian government through its state holding company, IRI (Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale), until 1986, when it was sold to Fiat SpA. Headquarters are in Milan. The company was formed in 1910 as Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (ALFA) when a group of Italian businessmen bought a failing French-owned auto plant located near Milan, hired noted auto designer Giuseppe Merosi, and began making racing and sports cars. In 1915 the company was taken over by industrialist Nicola Romeo and became a limited partnership, which during World War I produced mainly industrial and military vehicles and engines. After the war, Romeo renamed the company Alfa Romeo and began producing prizewinning race cars again. The company held onto its preeminent position in the racing world until 1933, when it was nationalized by the Italian government, which did not provide the financial support necessary to continue the production of quality cars. After World War II, Alfa Romeo shifted its emphasis from custom car production to broader automobile production, though it continued to produce higher-priced sports cars. It became involved in joint ventures with other automobile-manufacturing companies for the manufacture of engines and engine parts and industrial vehicles.