Boano's "50s American Style" Alfa Romeo 1900 Primavera Hardtop Coupé

I consider the late 1940s and most of the 1950s as a "golden age" of Italian coachbuilding design.  Of course, not every design was outstanding or even above-average in the European context.  Some poor designs were strictly failures of the stylist.  Other substandard designs were due to the influence of others -- clients for one-off designs and corporate sponsors of limited-production designs.

Today's subject car's design includes several noticeable non-Italian features.  That suggests Alfa Romeo marketing managers might have "leaned on" the Boano firm to include such details.

This link provides some background on the Primivera:

"In 1953, Mario Felice Boano sold Ghia to Segre and in 1954 started his own firm.  Boano managed his firm, in conjunction with his son, Gian Paolo, until the end of 1957.  In this period of time, between 1955 and 1957, the Turin Coachbuilder Boano built the Primavera (Spring) two-door saloon.  The body of this coupé was built on a chassis of the 1900 Super Saloon, a completely new coachwork was done without changing the wheelbase of the four-door.  At a first glance, the front and the roofline seem similar but instead are different.

"The new car was offered as coupé although front bench seat, steering wheel-mounted gearshift, interior space and luggage compartment were comparable to the four-door.  Both front side windows without frames and rear side windows can disappear right down."  So it is indeed what we call a "hardtop coupe" in America.

"The Alfa Romeo 1900 Primavera production figures were as follows: 1955 4 cars, 1956 286 cars, 1957 10 cars."

Primavera styling reminds me of the Sunbeam Rapier, so a photo of one is included below.

Gallery

1955 Alfa Romeo 1900 Primavera by Boano - image via carrozzeria-italiani.com
Side view showing the two-tone paint job and associated chrome trim.  American cars with similarly arbitrary color patterns served as fashionable inspiration to Boano (or, as noted, more likely to Alfa Romeo management).

1957 Sunbeam Rapier - auction photo
This similar Sunbeam Rapier design also entered production in the late summer or fall of 1955, so is essentially contemporaneous with the Primavera.  Unless I discover otherwise, it can be assumed that the two designs were developed in ignorance of one another.  That said, the Rapier was styled by Raymond Loewy's organization, whereas the Primavera was likely influenced by Loewy's classic 1953 Studebaker coupes and 1950s American styling in general.

1957 Alfa Romeo 1900 Primavera by Boano - BaT Auctions photos
This would be a fairly attractive Italian design absent the chrome trim and paint scheme.

The C-pillar could be a tiny bit wider.

Rear fenders extend beyond the trunk lid.  This added visual length when seen from the side.

I would prefer a flatter trunk lid.  But there might have been glass-forming technology limitations on the size of the backlight.

I would have placed the tail light assemblies a little lower and rounded off the upper end of the fender.

If there absolutely had to been two-toning, having the other color only on the passenger compartment would have been more attractive that what we see here.

The windshield seems to be that of the 1900 sedan, giving it a slightly tacked-on appearance on the Primavera.

Frontal design is essentially stock Alfa Romeo 1900.

After I completed the first draft of this post I came across a photo of a Primavera with more sensible two-toning and chrome trim.  Most likely that image here (via carrozzeria italiani) is of a 1955 or early 1956 model.  This supports my supposition that the jazzy 1950s American stuff was at the behest of Alfa Romeo.