The First Italian Supercar

The extremely rare 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Spyder Corto was one of the defining pre-war performance cars

by Thor Thorson

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1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Spyder Corto

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The chassis serial associated with this 8C 2300 is 2211051. This serial was the earliest number applied to the second-series of 8C 2300s, the brainchild of Alfa Romeo's fabled chief engineer, Vittorio Jano.

Alfa Romeo 8C 2300s appeared in 1931 in a variety of forms, achieving four consecutive wins in the Le Mans 24-hour race (plus a close second in 1935), two wins in the Spa 24 hours, three consecutive victories in the Targa Florio, and three more in the Mille Miglia.

The 8C 2300 design also spawned the short-wheelbase Monza Grand Prix car, followed by the single-seat-open-wheeled Tipo B Monoposto, one of the landmarks of motor racing history at its highest level.

This car was restored in the 1980s by the late British Alfista David Black and maintained by his family since his death in 1990. Much of 2211051's provenance is recorded and key details are incontrovertible. It was a Scuderia Ferrari entry in the 1933 Mille Miglia and, driven by Mario Borzacchini, actually led the race for a while. It then passed through various Italian owners -- even spending time in Africa -- before being sold to the U.S. in the early 1960s.

By 1975, it was in pieces, with a later 6-cylinder engine, incorrect independent front suspension, and little body work. At this point, David Black bought the remains for a bargain £600 and set about building up a replacement 8-cylinder engine, correct axle, and bodywork, largely with pre-WWII parts. A recent restoration from 1999 to 2002 cost $160,000.

The SCM Analysis

This car sold for $2,819,000 at the Bonhams Chichester auction at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on June 22, 2007.

It is difficult to overstate the importance of Alfa Romeo's 8C 2300 series of cars in the history of the performance automobile. Despite the relatively small production (188 cars) it was the dominant European racing car of the early '30s and arguably the first Italian "Supercar."

It defined the careers of many of the great drivers of the era, particularly Nuvolari, Caracciola, and Chinetti. It set Enzo Ferrari firmly on the path to automotive greatness, and it established the standards of quality, technological excellence, and beauty that have defined the Italian automobile to the present day. As such, it has been one of the holy grails of performance car collecting for as long as that passion has been around.

ALFA (which stands for Lombardy Motorcar Manufacturing Company, roughly translated) was formed in 1910 around the remains of a collapsed Darracq taxicab factory and immediately showed its Italian racing passion by entering two cars in the 1911 Targa Florio, where one led briefly. Through the teens, and particularly after industrialist Nicola Romeo took over after WWI, competition (both in racing and with their Torinese rival FIAT) was at the core of Alfa Romeo's self-concept.

Vittorio Jano upgraded Alfa

A group of talented young racing drivers coalesced around the factory in the early 1920s, including one named Enzo Ferrari. Legend has it that in 1923, Ferrari himself persuaded Fiat's top racing designer, Vittorio Jano, to move to Milan and join Alfa Romeo, but this may be more a good story than reality. Once established in Milan, Jano quickly moved to upgrade Alfa's automotive offerings, dumping the pushrod RL series in favor of a new series of overhead-cam engines with far greater performance. The 6C 1500 and its development, the 6C 1750, were extremely successful through the late '20s, both in competition and as road cars.