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Ordered new by Count Felice Trossi, this Nardi-Danese Alfa Romeo was raced by Francesco Beneventano in the Targa Florio and Mille Miglia in 1948 and again in 1949. He managed to finish only once; during the 1949 Mille Miglia with Renato Danese in the passenger seat. It is believed that the car was sold to Argentina shortly after from Count Trossi's estate. Here Juan Manuel Fangio himself tested the car but deemed it too slow.
In 1954 it reappears in the hands of Californian racer Gordon Cooper. He extensively raced the car, now named the Cooper Special after its owner. Cooper slightly enlarged the engine, lifting power to 200 bhp, fitted larger wheels and added two extra grilles in the nose ahead of the oil cooler. Motor Trend tested the car and found that it was capable of speeds well in excess of 200 km/h. During the 1960s the cars passed into the collection of triple Le Mans winner and Ferrari's man in North America, Luigi Chinetti.
Chinetti cherished the Alfa Romeo machine and displayed it prominently in his showroom. He held on to it for over two decades before selling it to Ali Lugo, who had had his eyes on the rare machine for quite sometime. He carefully restored the car to its original configuration and even managed to acquire the original grille from Cooper. After showing the car at numerous concours and racing it extensively he sold the Nardi-Danese to its current owner. The prominent American collector ranks it among his favourite cars and thoroughly enjoys driving it.
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