A Pan-European effort
1928-1936

Italy, one of the victors of World War I, had annexed some of Austria’s most beautiful Alpine provinces, such as South Tyrol and the entire Trieste region. Taking pride in these new possessions, and making use of an already illustrious name, the Automobile Club di Milano, quickly created the ‘Coppa delle Alpi’. It was first held in 1921, started in Milan and took competitors to night stops in Torino, Merano, Trieste, Trento, and back to Milan, over a distance of 1430 miles. The Trial not only tackled the mountains in Piemonte and the region north of Milan bordering on Switzerland, but it also included the prize sections of the old Austrian Alpine, including the Stelvio, the Dolomites and the mountain passes north of Trieste.
It was a very ambitious project, and the Austrian Allgemeine Automobil Zeitung commented on “the Italian Alpine Trial which, in a sense, was the heir of the Austrian Alpenfahrt”. Entries were mainly Italian, but Mercedes sent four cars, and the irrepressible Count Alexander Kolowrat entered an Austro-Daimler. There was also one Laurin & Klement entry, no longer Austrian but coming from the newly created republic of Czechoslovakia. Finally, 25 cars took to the road, to cover the distance at a prescribed average speed of 30mph. Penalties were inflicted both for lateness and for exceeding 31mph. After the first leg (at Torino) ten cars were still unpenalized, three Itala, two Ceirano (all in the 3 litre class), one Alfa Romeo, one SPA (both 4½ litres), two Mercedes and one Lancia (both unlimited). Soon after the start of the second stage Alfred Vischer, son of the late Gustav Vischer (Daimler Board Member) retired his Mercedes with a broken front wheel, and there were more losses to come. Only 14 cars reached the overnight stop at Merano. Those were the men, as distinct from the boys, and they mastered both the gruelling Dolomite stage and the Alpi Orientali near Trieste with remarkably few incidents. On the last leg from Trento to Milan Antonio Ascari had a nasty crash when his Alfa Romeo left the road going over a bridge. Max Sailer (Mercedes) helped the crew in their predicament. With Ascari out of the race, there were nine cars at the finish, three of them without loss of marks, two Italas in the 3 litre class (Claudio Sandonnino and Giuseppe Rebuffo) and Ferdinando Minoia (Mercedes, over 4500cc unlimited). In case of a tie the rules gave precedence to the car with the smaller engine. The Alpine Cup and the first two places, therefore, went to Itala, Mercedes being third. Ugo Sivocci and Enzo Ferrari (both Alfa Romeo ES Sport 4¼ litre) were fourth and fifth overall, after Sailer (Mercedes) was eliminated from fifth position following protests.
For 1922 the distance was increased to 1720 miles, and 13 out of 37 starters arrived at the finish in Milan – all Italians. The outright winner was Pietro Cattaneo driving an Italian Ceirano car, with Rebuffo (Itala) the runner-up. Next year there were 44 starters, 25 of them making it into the results list after a journey of 1826 miles. Only four cars never deviated from the stipulated average speed, so again top honours went to the smallest of them: first place and the Alpine Cup went to Ferdinando Minoia driving a type 469 OM of 1469cc. Pietro Garro and Eugenio Beria d’Argentina, both in type S23 SPA cars of 2724cc, were ranked second and third ahead of Enzo Ferrari (Alfa Romeo RL SS, 2994cc). The other class winners, apart from the glorious Minoia/1500 and Garro/3000, were Meo Constantini (Amilcar, 1100) and Carlo Bucchetti (Ansaldo, 2000). For the first time there was also a class for military officers, won by Capitano Torti in a Fiat. Still, the Coppa delle Alpi had not yet achieved a breakthrough. It had become a major national event, though, all the participants being Italian, and Meo Constantini’s Amilcar 1100 was the only non-Italian car in the field!
Was it wishful thinking when Allgemeine Automobil Zeitung proclaimed the inevitable advent of a truly supranational Alpine Trial in the more distant future? It stated, however, that there was no hope for 1924, as preparations for both the Coppa delle Alpi and a Swiss Alpine Trial were already too far advanced. Yes, the Automobile Club of Switzerland had made up its mind to stage a Swiss Alpine, a forerunner of which had been held once before, in 1914. The Swiss Competitions Committee tried successfully to attract competitors from many nations. In fact, there were cars and drivers from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland and Hungary. What a difference when compared with the Coppa delle Alpi! The Swiss Alpine also included two special tests, a ‘novelty’ the Italians declined to introduce into their event. There were 17 finishers in the 1924 Swiss Alpine, and Benz cars took a double victory. The outright winner was Fritz Nallinger, later to become a prominent Board Member of Daimler-Benz. Close behind Schürch in the second Benz was Poulin in his Citroën. Then came three Belgian Minerva cars driven by Edgar Goujon, Sylvain de Jong, and Marmini, which meant that Minerva also pocketed the Team Award. Fastest in the Hill Climb, and seventh overall, was Baron Hans von Veyder-Malberg in a Steyr. The speed test over the kilometre went to B Schriever driving a French Bignan car.
Austria and Hungary combined forces to run the 1924 Alföld-Alpenfahrt described earlier, and then there was the 4th Coppa delle Alpi. Participation was down to 20 starters, and there were nine finishers. The increased distance – 1758 miles – did nothing to uprate the event. OM took the first two places (Vincenzo Coffani ahead of Nando Minoia), with Cesare Schieppati third in an Italian Diatto. The side show for the military over a reduced distance of 745 miles was won by Capitano Papa driving another OM.
1925 saw the Austrian Alpine finish in Munich, so as to generate interest for the event in Germany. The Coppa delle Alpi, however, experienced a further erosion of its international standing. There were 24 starters, with Filippo Tassara (Bugatti 1500) the overall winner, and Felice Bianchi Anderloni (Peugeot) scoring an 1100cc class win. The class for military officers was won by Capitano Guerrini driving an OM, while ‘other ranks’ were issued with Fiat lorries to take some motoring exercise ...
Over five years the AC di Milano had successfully developed the Coppa delle Alpi but failed to attract the European motor industry. Now the Club came to realize that supranational cooperation was needed to create a truly International Alpine Trial. It would have to transcend all national borders, the way the Alps do. Preliminary talks were held with the Austrian Automobile Club, the only other club with long standing Alpine Trials experience. Then, on the occasion of the AIACR General Assembly in Paris on May 5th 1925, a meeting took place of the Austrian, French, German, Italian and Swiss National Clubs. Italy did the next step and invited the other four countries to Milan where, on September 5th, it presented a concept for a joint Alpine event to be held in 1926. An organizing committee was set up. In October draft regulations were submitted by the Italians, though perhaps in a bit of a ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ manner. This was not very well received and strongly divergent opinions were voiced. Austria opted out first, to pursue its own ideas in another combination. The ACF was lukewarm as racing prevailed in France and trials were almost unknown there. When the remaining four countries failed to reach an agreement, Italy launched the idea of a Gran Premio d’Italia della Montagna. However, just like the Austro-Yugoslav Alpine Trial with Vienna, Belgrade and Ragusa/Dubrovnik as the corner stones, it was cancelled.