ALFA ROMEO

8C 2900B Mille Miglia Roadster

In 1938, Alfa Corse, an in-house racing team for Alfa Romeo, took over the activities of Scuderia Ferrari, along with many of their personnel, including Enzo Ferrari. Alfa Corse prepared four 8C 2900B Corto cars for the 1938 Mille Miglia. These used Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera roadster bodies. Three of these cars had their engines tuned to give 225 bhp (168 kW),[18] while the fourth, assigned to Biondetti, had an engine from an Alfa Romeo Tipo 308 Grand Prix car, which delivered 295 bhp (220 kW) The cars finished in the top two positions, with Biondetti winning and Pintacuda finishing second after leading the race from Piacenza to Terni where his brakes locked up. The other two 8C 2900B Mille Miglia roadsters did not finish; Farina crashed and Eugenio Siena had a blown engine. Piero Dusio finished third in a privately entered 8C 2900A. One of the 2800B Mille Miglia roadsters later won the 1938 Spa 24 Hours with Pintacuda and Severi driving. Phil Hill competed in several west coast United States races in Pintacuda's car in 1951 before driving for Ferrari. Alfa Corse also prepared and entered a single 8C 2900B, chassis number 412033, for the 1938 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car featured a streamlined coupé body at a time when Le Mans racers were almost always open cars. The aerodynamic coupé was built by Carrozzeria Touring. In 1987, an Italian magazine had the car tested at the Pininfarina wind tunnel, where a Cx of 0.42 was measured, down to 0.37 with air intakes closed. The coupé, driven by Sommer and Biondetti, led for most of the race, but tyre trouble was then followed by a dropped valve. The car was driven to the pits, but had to retire there. At the time the valve dropped, the coupé had a lead of more than 160 km over the next car. This was the only time the coupé was raced by Alfa Corse. After the war, it was entered in minor races under private ownership, was then displayed at the Donington museum from the 1960s before being added in 1987 to the Alfa Romeo museum, which now runs it at many events.