Shawn Till, 53, a senior executive at a global testing, inspection, and certification company, and his wife, Leanne, also 53, an event director for the running advocacy group Girls On the Run, split their time between Texas and Maryland.
Here, they share the story of their 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Spider Zagato, as told to A.J. Baime.
Shawn: My parents had a passion for classic cars. They didn’t have a lot of money, but they always drove interesting vehicles.
That love of cars passed down to me, and I’ve always been impressed by everything about them: the history, the unique stories behind each car, the engineering.
In 2011, I had the opportunity to co-drive in the Mille Miglia—a “regularity” rally of over 1,000 miles in Italy, judged on the precision of driving and navigation.
It’s one of the last great historic driving events in the world. Since then, I’ve participated 10 times, usually alongside a friend from Spain who has a collection of family-owned cars.
Leanne: We’ve been married for 28 years. While Shawn was off doing these endurance car events, I was home with our three kids. My version of endurance was running marathons, and my last one was in 2019.
Shawn: In 2021, we became the proud owners of this 1931 Alfa Romeo, purchased from a respected historian in the European Alfa Romeo community.
Last June, I took it to the Mille Miglia, and for the first time, Leanne joined me. Driving a classic Italian car in Italy during this event is an incredibly special experience. [Alfa Romeo was founded in Milan in 1910.]
Despite being from 1931, the 6C is impressive to drive—it’s nimble, it’s fast, and it handles remarkably well. I love that it’s not restored, so it has its “battle scars.”
The car retains its original 1750-cubic-centimeter, straight six-cylinder supercharged engine, giving it an authentic, vintage feel. Leanne: The car has some quirks—its driver’s seat is on the right, and the brake and gas pedals are in swapped positions.
The manual transmission is challenging to handle, so while Shawn drives, I handle the navigation. The maps at the Mille Miglia are all in Italian, in kilometers rather than miles, and extremely precise.
There are hundreds of turns each day over the five-day event. You have to stay fully focused. Unlike in a marathon, where you can just follow the person in front of you, here you can’t.
There were many times when I saw the car in front of us continue straight when we were supposed to turn.
Shawn: I’m 6-foot-6, and we barely fit in this car. If I were an inch taller, I wouldn’t fit. The pedals are so close together that I can’t wear shoes; I wear socks with rubber soles.
We use the highest octane fuel we can get, plus an octane booster. My background is in engineering, and I admire this car’s engineering—it’s a snapshot of top-tier Italian design from its era. In fact, the Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 won the Mille Miglia two years in a row in its day.
Leanne: We finished 26th out of around 450 cars, placing first among American teams. The top teams attended a ceremony, and we were the only ones, I think, wearing headphones for translation since we don’t understand Italian.
Shawn: So far, we’ve taken the Alfa Romeo on five endurance rally events—the Mille Miglia in Italy, the 1000 Miglia Warm Up USA in Middleburg, Virginia, twice (where we won both times), and the Colorado Grand twice.
We’re incredibly grateful for these experiences and for the chance to share the car with others.Leanne: Especially with kids.
When possible, we let kids sit in the car, which they love. The 2023 Mille Miglia was grueling—hot, and the car broke down at one point. But we finished, and now I’m hooked. We’re planning to go back next June.
