One of the great things about the annual Retromobile show in Paris is that it each year features the rarest of the rare. At this year's show we were treated to three very special sports cars from the late 1940s and early 1950s. The one thing they had in common was the use of a six cylinder engine.
The earliest of the trio is the Nardi-Danese Alfa Romeo created in 1948 by Enrico Nardi, who would later become legendary for the steering wheels that bear his name. In partnership with Renato Danese, he built a series of cycle fender sports cars of which three were powered by Alfa Romeo's 6C 2500 engine. The cars were raced in the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio but poor reliability prevented them to get notable results. Our article features two of the three Nardi-Daneses that were powered by the Alfa Romeo engine and fitted with the Rocco Motto cycle-fender body.
Celebrating the introduction of the all new SLS AMG, Mercedes-Benz brought the last 'W194' 300 SL competition car built in 1952. It is a development of the cars that brought Mercedes-Benz victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Carrera Panamericana. Built for the 1953 season, it features a direct-injection version of the straight six engine and a more efficient 'gull-wing' body. The improvements resulted in a 40 bhp hike in power and a 20 km/h higher top speed. Instead of racing the car, Mercedes-Benz decided to focus all their intention on the 1954 Formula 1 campaign. Only rarely seen in public the never-raced 300 SL Prototype made a welcome appearance at Retromobile.
Under the guidance of the legendary Italian engineer Vittorio Jano, Lancia built some of the finest racing cars during a brief period in the 1950s. First introduced as the D20 in the spring of 1953, the V6-engined sports racer was rapidly developed. In D24 guise, the car proved most successful with wins in the Carrera Panamericana, Targa Florio and Mille Miglia. Towards the end of 1954, a final evolution was launched. Dubbed the D25, it used a 3.7 litre and 305 bhp version of Jano's V6. It was only raced once as Lancia also opted to leave sports car racing for Formula with the equally impressive D50. Lancia brought their D25, which is the only known survivor, to Paris.

Enjoy the links:

1954 Lancia D25 Sport Pinin Farina Spyder - Images, Specifications and Information

1953 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Competition Prototype Coupe - Images, Specifications and Information

1948 Nardi-Danese Alfa Romeo Roadster - Images, Specifications and Information