Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Corto Mille Miglia Spider, Zagato, #2211127, 1932

Location:
Radnor Hunt Concours d'Elegance, 2015

Owner: Bruce Rudin | Montchanin, Delaware

Prologue:

Image Source: Nikon D750 (24.3 MP)

I finished this 8C 2300 because it offers some interesting illustration opportunities, namely a composite profile and a couple more 8C motor shots. The dearth of motor photographs in Alfa Romeo literature upsets me, so I like to give adequate service to this most vital aspect of the cars. Contrarily, the main perspective is not so well composed—clean shot, but not so well sighted.

As to the veracity of the chassis number, the car appears to be what is left of #2211127 rebuilt with a substantial amount of new material, along with a painstakingly fabricated drivetrain and body. The result is not an original factory product, but a product of a lot of original componentry brought to completion through complementary techniques. The alternative, if we don't considering the car to be #2211127, is to say that it doesn't exist at all. In some sense that is true, but as this vehicle is everything that remains I prefer to see the glass half-full.

References:

• Czap, Nick. Museo Storico Alfa Romeo: The catalogue. Milano, Italia: Giorgio Nada Editore, 2015, p. 57
• Hyman Ltd: A good description of the car, and very good inside-out gallery.

Hyman Ltd summarize the story tracked down by Simon Moore, that chassis #2211127 began life with coupe coachwork by Letourner et Marchand, but suffered an accident in 1934. The motor and chassis survived the war, though the became separated for repair and ultimately disappeared. The whereabouts of any original components from this car remained unknown for the rest of the 20th century.

In the early 2000s, "chassis parts believed to be from 2211127" emerged and subsequently became the kindling around which a new car would be built. Apparently the original chassis number survives on a frame member used in the final product. The total build uses a large number of period mechanical components topped by a reproduction body, with contributions from a host of international specialists.

Auto Restorations Ltd of Christchurch, New Zealand built up the rolling chassis. Jim Stokes Workshops Ltd of Waterlooville, England built the motor using original parts, including a competition 2.6-litre crankcase, and sent the unit to Christchurch. Receiving the rolling chassis in the US, the oft-cited D.L. George Coachworks Ltd of Cochranville, Pennsylvania completed the final assembly and sorting. Gary Yates of England crafted the body based on chassis #2111034. And the late Gary Maucher of Yardley, Pennsylvania provided the upholstery.

For so much effort, it is important to profile re-built cars as they comprise an important and not insubstantial portion of the classic car world. In many cases, communities of interest suss out the numbers game, bringing chassis and motors together across the continents. But sometimes the pursuit of genetic purity slips far behind the simple desire for a beautiful performance vehicle, something representative of history in both the way it looks and the way it drives. And in the case of machinery that was damaged and dismantled so early in life, the result here is nothing short of bionic.

Motor: 2,336 cc, straight 8-cylinder, alloy block, aluminum hemi-head

This car uses an original competition-spec 2600 crankcase formed out of magnesium, a rarity particular to a few 8C Monza cars with uprated 2,556 cc motors.

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

Aspiration: Memini S152 carburetor, Roots-type supercharger

Power: 165 bhp at 5,200 rpm

Drivetrain: 4-speed gearbox, rear-wheel drive

As a rebuilt car in need of authentic components, chassis #2211127 uses a similar 6C 1750 gearbox.

Front Suspension: beam axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs, friction dampers

Rear Suspension: live axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs, Siata shock absorbers

Architecture: pressed steel chassis based on original components of #2211127 with replica aluminum coachwork by Gary Yates

Kerb Weight: 1,000 kg (2,205 lbs)

Wheelbase: 2,750 mm (108.3 inches)

Top Speed: 185 km/h (about 115 mph)

Etymology:

'8C 2300' refers to the motor, a straight 8-cylinder of about 2.3 litres displacement. 'Corto' refers to the short chassis, (as opposed to 'lungo'). 'Mille Miglia' references Alfa's recent dominance in the 1,000-mile race, although the first group of 8C 2300 cars arrived too shortly before the 1932 race and had not been well enough prepared, leaving the business of winning the race to subsequent years, which indeed came good in 1933 and 34. The term 'spider' descended from the carriage trade, which in motorcar terminology came to refer to open sports cars. 'Zagato' identifies the Milanese coachbuilder who bodied many classic Alfa racing cars in lightweight aluminum coachwork, although in this case the aluminum body is an evocation of the original design.

Figures:

We've cited many different figures throughout the development of this portfolio, the largest of which is the factory's own figure of 308 total 8C 2300 cars produced between 1931 and 1934, comprising all manner of road and racing variants. The number of long and short-chassis racers seems as if it shouldn't be too great, and yet I continually stumble across chassis I haven't seen before, to say nothing of the registries that log many dozens of disparate examples. Suffice to say, this corto chassis is one of many, though the classic car world still wishes there were more.

Value:

This 8C 2300 appeared for sale at Hyman Ltd in 2024 for $1,750,000. The price more closely reflects the collective effort of specialists around the world to piece the car together over the course of many years, apart from its value as a historical artefact.

Rebuilt Body: Characteristic Zagato Shape in Reconstruction

Compared with its authentic bretheren, as in the 1931 Zagato-bodied spider in our portfolio, the new coachwork looks very well executed. The running gear leap at the proper height, to the proper degree, and the linear elements follow the correct pattern. Overall, the plan is very similar to the 6C 1750 Zagato spider.

Acknowledging that the coachwork is faithful to the original, it's worth pointing to the shape of the door, which, apart from the linear body, provides angular hints in the leading edge and curved chrome trailing edge. The door is the most obvious styling gesture on the Zagato-bodied 8C, and I like that the coachbuilder did not overlap the door sill with leather, keeping the curves bare and accentuating the elbow joint—the point of convergence among the sill, the chrome belt line, the chrome on the trailing edge of the door, and the brace that frames the cockpit. With four bright edges meeting at one point, a spot of cleverness emerges in the design.

Touring Comparison: Comparing the 1932 8C 2300 Mille Miglia Cars by Touring and Zagato

Zagato's simplicity versus Touring's glam... the former might seem adequate, and yet Touring cleaned up some inherent awkwardness in the shapes and panel cuts necessitated by the windscreen and doors. The Zagato design typically uses a rectangular, two-piece windscreen, which appears upright when fixed but folds quite usefully for fast driving. More sophisticated than a large metal frame, the Touring design uses lovely, curved, form-fitting glass with wind-wings, altogether more rakish.

As for the door, Zagato cut down the sill with a handsome curve, but not so deeply as Touring. And then the linear chrome of the Zagato design gets in the way of the door gap along the leading edge, (the edge actually slices through the chrome brightwork), whereas Touring's French sweep dives gracefully below the sill. That French sweep hides Touring's door handle, whereas, to Zagato's credit, they removed the handle altogether. But then, Touring's design uses a more sophisticated hinge arrangement, nearly flush with the body compared to Zagato's protruding barrel hinges.

Back and forth, both designs offer subtle advances in cleanliness and finesse, with preferences tilted toward Touring as the car with a more cohesively rendered idea.

Siata Shocks: Adjustable Suspension Upgrade for the Period 8C 2300

Also true of the 1932 8C 2300 Corto Touring Spider, this 8C 2300 rides on adjustable rear Siata shock absorbers, provisions of the accessory manufacturer in the days before they made complete cars. As the knob indicates, the driver can adjust the rear shocks remotely, (which is exactly what the seal reads in Italian), not unlike a contemporary sports car.

Motor Comparison: Details of the 8C 2300

Reviewing the 1932 8C 2300 Corto Touring Spider, we can find numerous idiosyncrasies in the two motors' presentation. In this spot-the-difference game, we rather believe that the Touring Spider represents the perfect state, whereas this chassis here marries different components. Differences appear around the steering box and low along the crank; these are differences in tubing most notably, though I like the delicate, two-pronged brace connected to this car's steering box, with its grey-blue color matched to the bulkhead.