1936 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900A Spyder

Out of Alfa Romeo’s impressive racing program directly came four road-going 2900A Spyers with dramatic bodywork by Carrozzeria Alfa Romeo. These were presented as halo cars from the marque and were presented at the top shows in Europe, sometimes alongside the V12 competition cars.

Many of the Spyders were converted from the Botticella race cars which competed and won at the 1936 Mille Miglia. The very first Spyder appeared at the 2012 Paris Mondial de l’Automobile and subsequently at the London Motor Show. It had distinct two-tone paint work and was styled in house at Alfa Romeo by Sig. de Micheli and Giovanni Rossi.¹

The cars were immaculately prepared for the show circuit in 1935 and 1936. They featured all the great hallmarks of the competition models with a style of an unsurpassed elegance. Later, the production versions of the model on the 2900B chassis borrowed much from these seminal cars.

At brochure for the 1935 London Motor Show exclaimed that the 2900A “is the result of 25 years in the manufacture of Sports and Racing cars.” Furthermore, “The exceptionally good road-handling qualities are obtained not only through a perfect weight distribution of the weights and a very low center of gravity, but again by a specially designed independent springing of 4 wheels.” While not entirely elegant, the ideas in this brochure embody the essence of every modern racing car.¹

412007

Alfa Romeo historian Simon Moore went to great lengths to uncover the history of the early 1935 and 1936 models. By his estimate four separate Spyders were made in this period of which he has the only remaining survivor with an original body.¹

Simon purchased chassis 412007 as a chassis from the United States with no body or engine 1980. Three years later he discovered the body in Huntington Beach Calfornia mounted on top of a Thunderbird chassis built up for racing at Riverside. Remarkably, the original chassis plaque, complete windscreen and softtop were still mounted.¹

By 1987, 412007’s chassis and body were remarried for entrance in the 1987 Mille Miglia retrospective. The car carried it’s ‘DLY 163’ liscense plate and blue paint which it carries in Enlgand for some time. Later the car was repainted again for 2010 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in its original hues of red and cream.¹

Sources & Further Reading.

1. Moore, Simon. The Immortal 2.9 Alfa Romeo 8C2900. Parkside Publications: 2008.