Alfa Romeo 8C 2900A Mille Miglia Spider, #412015, 1937

Location:
Radnor Hunt Concours d'Elegance, 2007

Owner: Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Prologue:

Image Source: Nikon D200 (10.2 MP)

Looking back at my scattershot photos from 2007, I have tried to add and update images that at the very least provide color and variety. I would describe my approach so long ago as enthusiasm in the lead with skill trailing some distance behind. At the time, I had just received Alain de Cadenet's "Victory by Design" Alfa Romeo video, which outlines part of the 8C 2900A story. So chassis #412015 felt like a very special find. And though I shot with different ideas at the time, some of them became decent images. I'm pleased with the color quality of image 1, for instance, which comes off a little more painted than the others. And image 6 is the first shot in which I focused on the tail in profile, a perspective I would repeat with greater frequency.

I later harbored a thought of producing an in-motion illustration from a static shot, which results in image 8. I drew Nino Farina at the wheel, but in reality he drove the car stripped of its running gear for the Mille Miglia. So this depiction is not historically accurate (just fun). More recently I revived a tail perspective that, for a long while, I had not enough skill to complete. Today I'm willing to illustrate quite a lot to bring adequate variety to a feature, even if the original shot isn't so good. And pushing the limits on lower quality images like this one sometimes makes a better illustration (further removed from a photograph).

References:

• Automobile Quarterly, Volume 11, Number 2, Second Quarter 1973, "The Immortal Alfa Romeo Two-Nine" by Peter Hull and Simon Moore, The Kutztown Publishing Company, Inc. Kutztown, PA, pages 179-181
• Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum: Read a nice account of chassis #412015's history.
• Grand Prix History: A wonderful site with detailed information and historic photos.
• UltimateCarPage: Information and photos of Simon Moore's chassis #412007.

The earlier 2900A looks the diminutive of the 2900B, but among the lot of road cars is racing-derived, not merely named for past Mille Miglia success, but aimed at the 1936 title. As Automobile Quarterly explain, the thinly veiled guise of 8C Monza Grand Prix cars worked over for two-seat sports car racing would no longer pass sporting regulation, and the new 6C 2300 touring cars were simply inadequate. Hence the Two-Nine.

Construction of the first five chassis began in 1935, and the 2900 uses as its foundation the 1935 8C Grand Prix chassis, including its suspension. Alfa prepared this car, chassis #412015, for the 1936 Mille Miglia, featuring a stocky racing body with a tapered tail, twin windscreens, and cycle fenders. Cars of this configuration are termed, "Botticella," or cask cars, for their barrel-shaped fuselages. Along with mechanic Giuseppe Meazza, Nino Farina drove #412015 to second place in 1936. Alfa Romeo retained the car for works racing through 1937, when Farina again drove it to second place in the Mille Miglia. Carlo Pintacuda won in both of these years, the race being a specialty of his.

But overall, the 2900A dominated. In 1936, the three Mille Miglia entrants finished first, second, and third, besting Clemente Biondetti in a 3.2-litre 8C Grand Prix that had been disguised in some roadworthy manner (much like the earlier 8C Monzas). Pintacuda also set a new average speed record of 74.57 mph. The 2900A cadre competed throughout Europe in '36 and '37, winning at Spa Francorchamps in the Belgian 24 Hours, (quite the cherished victory among sports cars of any vintage, but somewhat overlooked when the badge reads 'Alfa,' in deference to the Mille Miglia).

Apart from the racing schedule, Alfa Romeo prepared some number of 8C 2900A chassis for the 1936 Paris Motor Show with aluminum coachwork inspired by the designs of Carrozzeria Touring, and probably guided by the coachbuilder's own talent. AQ notes that, in 1936, Italy entered into war in Ethiopia, and so domestic auto production dropped off in favor of aero motors. Total 1936 automotive production consisted of just ten chassis. So in this context it makes sense that Alfa purposed a race car for the show stand. Farina's car, chassis #412015, is among these Paris Motor Show cars, which of course could not remain devoted to commercial gain. Alfa pressed the cars back into competition for 1937.

After the 1937 Mille Miglia, Alfa Romeo retrofitted #412015 with its Paris Motor Show coachwork, and then sold it—hence the 1937 date—and not at all an untoward transaction for the classic era.

Unlike the vaunted road-going 8C 2900B, these few 2900A cars lived clandestine lives in the hands of enthusiasts who valued their racing pedigree more than their beautiful bodywork. The story of this particular example is best told by the Simeone Museum, but we can trace a few key points here: Even for a car whose internals represent the apogee of Vittorio Jano's pre-War engineering brilliance, whose coachwork takes cues from the best of Milan's automotive design community, and whose racing exploits hinge on the Mille Miglia efforts of a Formula 1 World Champion, chassis #412015 emerged in disrepair deep in Argentina. The frame and body had been separated from the motor, although the latter had not drifted too far. Working through intermediaries, Dr. Simeone located and purchased all of the original components, reconstructing the car in roadgoing guise.

Today, perhaps only one surviving 2900A retains its Botticella racing coachwork. Thus, these few roadgoing spiders, beautiful though they may be, are perhaps suspect contributors to the Alfa Romeo mystique. They are transient pieces of showmanship that belie the world-class athleticism they were meant to display—perhaps too pretty for their own good. Certainly there are other lovely spiders that produce a similar effect on the eye as these trim fenders and slender nose. But then that is the rub: Often, we in the classic car world want to see all of the variations built onto each historic chassis, not just one. And as stewards, the owners face a difficult task to choose which path to pursue. The Nino Farina car appears in the best possible form for the state in which it was found—exemplary of its dual purpose, and undoubtedly gorgeous.

Motor: 2,905 cc (177.27 cubic inch) straight 8-cylinder, alloy block, fixed aluminum hemi-head | motor #422003

The 2900A motor is a derivation of the 10-bearing Grand Prix motor first developed in 1932 as a 2.6-litre unit, enlarged in 1934 to 2.9 litres. The comparable 1935 Grand Prix car uses a much larger 3.8-litre motor with 7.1:1 compression. This smaller sports-racing unit is detuned to 6.5:1.

Valvetrain: DOHC, 2 valves per cylinder, gear-driven via a central mechanism between each 4-cylinder block

Aspiration: twin Weber carburetors with twin Roots-type superchargers, each of which feeds one 4-cylinder block

Power: 220 bhp at 5,300 rpm, or a base of 190 bhp

Drivetrain: 4-speed gearbox in transaxle rear-wheel drive layout

Front Suspension: independent trailing links with coil springs over hydraulic dampers

Rear Suspension: independent swing axle on transverse semi-elliptic leaf springs with radius arms for location and both hydraulic and friction dampers

Alfa derived this rear suspension set-up from the 1935-36 8C Grand Pix cars, shared only on the 2900 with its transaxle layout.

Architecture: steel ladder-frame chassis with factory aluminum coachwork

Kerb Weight: 852.75 kg (1,880 lbs)

This estimated weight figure pertains to the chassis as prepared with race-driven Boticella coachwork, and not the road car depicted here. This lightweight figure is just slightly more than a 1935 8C Grand Prix car, and perhaps 220 lbs off the fully laden weight of the Paris show car, which might weigh no less than 2,100 lbs.

Wheelbase: 2750 mm (108.3 inches)

Top Speed: 230 km/h (about 140 mph)

Etymology:

'8C 2900' refers to the motor, an 8-cylinder of 2.9 litre displacement. The 'A' designation refers to the first version of the 2900's development program, which began in 1935, aimed directly at auto racing. 'Mille Miglia Spider' refers to this car's preparation in consecutive Mille Miglia contests between 1936 and 1937, when it ran as a true Botticella spider (a "cask car" with cycle fenders).

Figures:

According to Automobile Quarterly, Alfa built only ten total chassis in 1936, of which five were 8C 2900A cars. Industry focused on war efforts owing to conflict in Ethiopia, leaving resources scarce for luxury and sports car production. Alfa completed one 2900 chassis the year prior, for a (likely) total of six. Note that the 2900A is a product of 1936, but registered as a 1937 car owing to its sales date.

So much as I know thus far, Alfa prepared three of the six or so 8C 2900A racing cars with Paris Motor Show coachwork either prior to, or apart from, the works racing schedule. Each of these cars would have been retrofitted with roadgoing running gear prior to being sold. However, due to the racing potential of these cars, much of the coachwork on each vehicle became subject to removal or replacement. Less well known than the luxurious 8C 2900B, the relative obscurity of these first series cars as they raced and rambled about is a function of their oft-deconstructed lives. At present, I believe one 2900A Botticella survives, and two Paris-style spiders—this car and the achingly beautiful two-tone car of marque specialist Simon Moore.

Carrozzeria Alfa: Touring Influence in Alfa Romeo's Factory Design

The Simeone Museum notes that the shape and the detailing of this spider body take many cues from designs penned by Carrozzeria Touring, and that in this case the arrangement is largely one of borrowed talent without citation. Compare the 2900A to its more modest predecessors by Touring, or to its more muscular 8C 2900B cousin, and the similarities are evident. Thus, the Carrozzeria Alfa badge is mere legerdemain, and most classic era car fans would recognize the work of Touring even if it is not printed on the body.

And of that beautiful coachwork, there is fine delicacy in the overall shape, and lovely contrapose in the formal elements. For example, the front fenders are both flowing and perky, well rounded in profile, but thin and drop-like in perspective. From the tail, the rear deck and integrated haunches hint at the 2900B's powerfully elegant shape, and yet the nose is comparatively trim, with less aerodynamic influence. For its prettiness, the car would be lovely as a scale model—a perfect representation of classic era design, hinting at the aerodynamic revolution. But then matching those proportions would be devilishly difficult.

Mixed Bonnet: Combination 8C 2900A Louvre and Vent Design

Somewhat whimsical, the bonnet sides feature both traditional cut louvres and manual vents. The combination might seem busy, but oddly enough adds to the car's fascination. Similarly, the panel sweep follows a traditional French motif, diving to a sharp point behind the door on the flank. Then the return line waves up gracefully over the rear fender, creating a concentric seam around the skirts and down the edges of the rear deck that absolutely does not need to be there. But it is brilliant.

For comparison, look up Simon Moore's two-tone 8C 2900A and marvel at the compound folds throughout the tail. Moores car, chassis #412007, wears elegant red umber and cream two-tone paint, which makes for one of the prettiest roadsters of any make or vintage.