The Alfa Romeo 8C was a range of Alfa Romeo road, race and sports cars of the 1930s.
85-485: The 8C designates 8 cylinders, and originally a straight 8-cylinder engine. The Vittorio Jano designed 8C was Alfa Romeo 's primary racing engine from its introduction in 1931 to its retirement in 1939. In addition to the two-seater sports cars it was used in the world's first genuine single-seat Grand Prix racing car, the Monoposto 'Tipo B' - P3 from 1932 onwards. In its later development it powered such vehicles as
170-578: A malaria attack. It was probably a combination of both that proved fatal, as Birkin died at Countess Carnavon Nursing Home in London 22 June 1933, aged thirty-six. He was buried in the churchyard at St Nicholas Church, Blakeney , Norfolk. Birkin's life was portrayed in the 1995 TV drama Full Throttle with comedian Rowan Atkinson in the role of Birkin. In 2000, the last 54 of the Bentley Arnage Green label powered cars were created as
255-511: A supercharger to the 4½ litre Bentley. When Bentley Motors refused to create the supercharged model Birkin sought he determined to develop it himself. With technical help from Clive Gallop and supercharger specialist Amherst Villiers , and with Dorothy Paget financing the project after his own money had run out, Birkin rebuilt the car at the engineering works he had set up for the purpose at Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire. Adding
340-425: A (4.0" bore × 3 13 ⁄ 64 " stroke = 322 in³ (5.277 L)) V8 in 1953, with similar displacement as their (3 7 ⁄ 16 " bore × 4 5 ⁄ 16 " stroke = 320.2 in³ (5.247 L)) straight-8, the latter being produced until the end of the 1953 model year. Pontiac maintained production on their straight-eight, as well as a L-head inline six, through the end of the 1954 model year, after which
425-529: A V8 became standard. Packard ended production of their signature straight-eight at the end of 1954, replacing it with an overhead valve V8. By the end of the 1970s overhead valve V8s powered 80% of automobiles built in the US, and most of the rest had six-cylinder engines. In Europe, many automobile factories had been destroyed during World War II, and it took many years before war-devastated economies recovered enough to make large cars popular again. The change in
510-512: A familiar sight on the race tracks driving with the works team (the "Bentley Boys"). In 1928 Birkin entered the Le Mans race again, leading the first twenty laps until a jammed wheel forced him to drop back, finishing fifth with co-driver Jean Chassagne who heroically rescued the abandoned, damaged car, winning the hearts of the crowds; Chassagne received a trophy from W.O. Bentley in recognition of this extraordinary feat. The next year Birkin
595-402: A few races at Brooklands . Business and family pressures then forced him to retire from the tracks until 1927 when he entered a three-litre Bentley for a six-hour race. For 1928 he acquired a 4½ litre car and after some good results decided to return to motor racing, very much against his family's wishes. Soon Birkin, racing with a blue and white spotted silk scarf around his neck, would be
680-458: A few were bodied by Pininfarina An 8C 2900 with Pininfarina cabriolet bodywork was auctioned for US$ 4,072,000 by Christie's at Pebble Beach, California. This was the tenth highest price ever paid for a car at auction at the time. 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
765-491: A huge Roots-type supercharger ("blower") in front of the radiator driven straight from the crankshaft gave the car a unique appearance. The 242 bhp " blower Bentley " was born. The first car, a stripped down Brooklands racer known as Bentley Blower No.1 , first appeared at the Essex six-hour race at Brooklands on 29 June 1929. However, the car initially proved to be very unreliable. W.O. Bentley himself had never accepted
850-717: A limited edition, called "The Birkin Arnage." German aftermarket tuner MTM have latterly produced a tuned version of the Bentley Continental GT called "The Birkin Edition," producing 641 hp. Birkin House, a Victorian country guest house in Stinsford , Dorchester , is named after Birkin. The artist Terence Cuneo unveiled his painting The 'Spirit of Brooklands', which shows Tim Birkin racing John Cobb as
935-545: A match for the big Mercedes and Auto Union on the faster circuits, they came into their own on the tighter circuits and races. In 1936 Tipo Cs fitted with the troublesome V12 did not live up to expectations, and the 3.8 continued to be used. From 1933 Scuderia Ferrari had managed the racing, and the Ferrari prancing horse appeared on the flanks of the Bimotore, but Alfa Corse began to become more active, and Vittorio Jano went at
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#17327727517481020-459: A result, the design has been displaced almost completely by the shorter V8 engine configuration. The first straight-eight was conceived by Charron, Girardot et Voigt (CGV) in 1903, but never built. Great strides were made during World War I , as Mercedes made straight-eight aircraft engines like the Mercedes D.IV . Advantages of the straight-eight engine for aircraft applications included
1105-524: A selection of Italian coach-builders (Carrozzeria) such as Zagato , Carrozzeria Touring , Carrozzeria Castagna , Carrozzeria Pinin Farina ( later Pininfarina ) and Brianza, even though Alfa Romeo did make bodies. Some chassis were clothed by coach-builders such as Graber, Worblaufen and Tuscher of Switzerland and Figoni of France. Alfa Romeo also had a practice of rebodying cars for clients, and some racing vehicles were sold rebodied as road vehicles. Some of
1190-505: 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
1275-468: A six-year gap in the middle caused by the war). By 1951, their 1.5 L supercharged engines could produce 425 bhp (317 kW) at 9,300 rpm, and could rev as high as 10,500 rpm. However, the engines were at the end of their potential, and rule changes for the 1952 season made the Alfettas obsolete. Mercedes-Benz would create the last notable straight-eight racing cars in 1955, with
1360-464: A stop for a new wheel. That all made way for Étancelin to advance and he was followed by Birkin, the track with its long straights suiting the supercharged Bentley perfectly. At one-third distance Chiron led, followed by Étancelin, Williams and Birkin. Birkin's fourth place became a third as Williams got engine troubles but then Zanelli, who had made an early stop, came rushing through the field pushing Birkin back to fourth. At lap ten "Sabipa" crashed and
1445-535: A successful debut in the 1931 Eireann Cup driven by Henry Birkin . It won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1931 ( Howe -Birkin); 1932 ( Chinetti - Sommer ); 1933 ( Nuvolari -Sommer) and 1934 (Chinetti- Etancelin ). The 8C 2300 Le Mans model on display at the Museo Alfa Romeo was bought by Sir Henry Birkin in 1931 for competition use, but it is not the car in which Birkin and Howe won the 1931 Le Mans 24 hours. A 1933 8C 2300 Le Mans, chassis #2311201,
1530-472: A transverse leaf spring at the rear. The 8C 2900A was shown to the public at the 1935 London Motor Show and was advertised for sale there. The engine, with a compression ratio of 6.5:1 and a stated power output of 220 bhp (160 kW) at 5300 rpm, was detuned from the Grand Prix racing version. Ten 2900As were built, five in 1935 and five in 1936. Scuderia Ferrari entered three 8C 2900As in
1615-710: A transverse leaf spring was used for the Tipo C 3.8s. The 8C 2900 was designed to compete in sports car races in general and the Mille Miglia in particular. It used the 2.9 L (bore: 68 mm, stroke: 100 mm, 2905 cc) version of the 8C engine and was based on the 8C 35 Grand Prix racing chassis. As such, it had an inline 8-cylinder 2.9-litre engine using two Roots type superchargers fed by two updraught Weber carburettors and fully independent suspension with Dubonnet-type trailing arm suspension with coil springs and hydraulic dampers at front and swing axles with
1700-580: Is part of the permanent collection at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia, PA, US. The car was owned by Lord Howe who campaigned it in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1934 (DNF) as well as in 1935 when it set the fastest lap before retiring. In 1933 the supercharged dual overhead cam straight-8 engine, enlarged (bore: 68 mm, stroke: 88 mm, 2557 cc) to 2.6 litres ('8C 2600') for
1785-463: Is sufficient to require the use of a harmonic damper at the accessory end of the crankshaft. Without such damping, fatigue cracking near the rear main bearing journal may occur, leading to engine failure. Although an inline six -cylinder engine can also be timed for inherent primary and secondary balance, a straight-eight develops more power strokes per revolution and, as a result, will run more smoothly under load than an inline six. Also, due to
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#17327727517481870-581: The Centurion ARV, and various Dennis fire engines. Despite the shortcomings of length, weight, bearing friction, and torsional vibrations that led to the straight-eight's post-war demise, the straight-eight was the performance engine design of choice from the late 1920s to the late 1940s, and continued to excel in motorsport until the mid-1950s. Bugatti, Duesenberg, Alfa Romeo , Mercedes-Benz , and Miller built successful racing cars with high-performance dual overhead camshaft straight-eight engines in
1955-704: The aerodynamic efficiency of the long, narrow configuration, and the inherent balance of the engine making counterweights on the crankshaft unnecessary. The disadvantages of crank and camshaft twisting were not considered at this time, since aircraft engines of the time ran at low speeds to keep propeller tip speed below the speed of sound. Unlike the V8 engine configuration, examples of which were used in De Dion-Bouton , Scripps-Booth , and Cadillac automobiles by 1914, no straight-eight engines were used in production cars before 1920. Italy's Isotta Fraschini introduced
2040-409: The overhead camshaft , three-valve-per-cylinder engine produced 115 brake horsepower (86 kW ) at 4,250 rpm , and was capable of revving to an astonishing (at the time) 5,000 rpm. No Grand Prix engine before the war had peaked at more than 3,000 rpm. Bugatti experimented with straight-eight engines from 1922, and in 1924, he introduced the 2 L Bugatti Type 35 , one of
2125-414: The 15.8 km track, making a total of 396 km. Guy Bouriat took an early lead, followed by Williams, Zanelli, Czaikowski and Étancelin, with Birkin as first non-Bugatti driver, in sixth place. Williams in a works Bugatti then became the next leader. Czaikowski fell back through the field and Bouriat in the other works Bugatti made a pitstop giving over the car to Chiron. Then Williams also had to make
2210-540: The 1920s and 1930s. The Duesenberg brothers introduced the first successful straight-eight racing engine in 1920, when their 3 L engine placed third, fourth, and sixth at the Indianapolis 500 . The following year one of their cars won the French Grand Prix , while two others placed fourth and sixth in the race. Based on work the company had done on 16-cylinder aircraft engines during World War I ,
2295-434: The 1929 500-mile race due to a cracked exhaust. Birkin kept his motor workshop going by entering into a partnership with Mike Couper and developing a business specialising in tuning high performance cars. In addition, an "electric model Brooklands" – an elaborate miniature racetrack game with motorized cars running on single rails – was manufactured at the works. Birkin's partnership with Couper came to an end in 1932 however and
2380-483: The 1936 Spa 24 Hours with Raymond Sommer and Francesco Severi . The 8C 2900B began production in 1937. The 2900B design made some concessions to comfort and reliability. The engine was detuned further, having a compression ratio of 5.75:1 and a stated power output of 180 bhp (130 kW) at 5200 rpm. The 2900B chassis was available in two wheelbases: the Corto (short) at 2,799 mm (110.2 in), which
2465-408: The 1936 Mille Miglia and again in the 1937 Mille Miglia. In 1936 they finished in the top three positions, with Marquis Antonio Brivio winning, Giuseppe Farina finishing second, and Carlo Pintacuda finishing third. In 1937 they finished in the top two positions, with Pintacuda winning and Farina finishing second; the third 2900A, driven by Clemente Biondetti , did not finish. The 8C 2900A also won
2550-423: 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), 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
2635-435: The 1987 cc P2 , with common crankcase and four plated-steel two-cylinder blocks, which won the first World Championship ever in 1925. Although it was a straight-8, the 8C designation was not used. The 8C engine, first entered at the 1931 Mille Miglia road race through Italy, had a common crankcase, now with two alloy four-cylinder blocks, which also incorporated the heads. The bore and stroke (and hence rods, pistons and
Alfa Romeo 8C - Misplaced Pages Continue
2720-494: The 24-litre Napier Railton. On 7 May 1933 he started the Tripoli Grand Prix in a new 3 L Maserati 8C owned by fellow driver Bernard Rubin, finishing third. During his pit stop Birkin burnt his arm badly against the hot exhaust pipe while picking up a cigarette lighter. There are different opinions of what then happened. The traditional view is that the wound turned septic , whilst others say Birkin suffered from
2805-687: The Alfa Romeo museum, which now runs it at many events. Straight-8 The straight-eight engine or inline-eight engine (often abbreviated as I8 ) is an eight-cylinder internal combustion engine with all eight cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankcase . The type has been produced in side-valve , IOE , overhead-valve , sleeve-valve , and overhead-cam configurations. A straight-eight can be timed for inherent primary and secondary balance , with no unbalanced primary or secondary forces or moments. However, crankshaft torsional vibration , present to some degree in all engines,
2890-481: The Alvis FV 600 armoured vehicle family. The Alvis Saladin armoured car was a 6x6 design with the engine compartment in the rear, a 76.2mm low pressure gun turret in the centre and the driver in front. The Saracen armoured personnel carrier had the engine in front with the driver in the centre and space for up to nine troops in the rear. The Stalwart amphibious logistics carrier has the driver's compartment over
2975-626: The Duesenberg brothers for the Cord-owned Duesenberg Inc. The automobile manufacturers within the Cord Corporation, comprising Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg, were shut down in 1937. Lycoming continues to this day as an aircraft engine manufacturer. In the late 1920s, volume sellers Hudson and Studebaker introduced straight-eight engines for the premium vehicles in their respective lines. They were followed in
3060-456: The Imperial luxury model. The British R101 rigid airship was fitted with five Beardmore Tornado Mk I inline eight-cylinder diesel engines. These engines were intended to give an output of 700 bhp (520 kW) at 1,000 rpm but in practice had a continuous output rating of only 585 bhp (436 kW) at 900 rpm. After World War II , changes in the automobile market resulted in
3145-592: The Tipo B, was fitted to the Scuderia Ferrari 8C Monzas. Scuderia Ferrari had become the "semi-official" racing department of Alfa Romeo, who were no longer entering races as a factory effort due to the poor economic situation of the company. With the initial 215 hp of the 2.6 engine, the Monoposto Tipo B (P3) racer could accelerate to 60 mph (97 km/h) in less than 7 seconds and could eventually reach 135 mph (217 km/h). For 1934
3230-499: The blower Bentley. Nevertheless, with Woolf Barnato's support, Birkin persuaded "W.O." to produce the fifty supercharged cars necessary for the model to be accepted for the Le Mans twenty-four-hour race . In addition to these production cars built by Bentley Motors, Birkin put together a racing team of four remodelled "prototypes" (three road cars for Le Mans and Blower No.1) and assembled a fifth car from spare parts. Birkin's blower Bentleys were too late for Le Mans in 1929 and only two of
3315-467: The cars reached the start line in 1930. After an epic duel between Dudley Benjafield and Birkin's privately entered blower Bentleys and Rudolf Caracciola 's Mercedes SSK all three retired, leaving the victory to the Bentley works team Speed Six of Barnato and Glen Kidston . Birkin's courage and fearless driving, in particular his selflessly harrying Caracciola into submission, are regarded as embodying
3400-401: The championship-winning W196 Formula One racing car and the 300SLR sports racing car. The 300SLR was famous for Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson 's victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia , but notorious for Pierre Levegh 's deadly accident at the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans . The 300SLR was the final development of the Alfa Romeo design of the early 1930s as not only the camshaft, but now also
3485-526: The city council in the nearby town of Pau and decided to try to take the French Grand Prix to their own town. Pau had some Grand Prix traditions, as the town held the honour of arranging the first race ever to be called a Grand Prix back in 1901. For the 1930 Grand Prix a triangular, Le Mans -type track outside the city was selected. Known as the Circuit de Morlaas it should not be confused with
Alfa Romeo 8C - Misplaced Pages Continue
3570-652: The decline and final extinction of the straight-eight as an automobile engine. The primary users of the straight-eight were American luxury and premium cars that were carried over from before the war. A Flxible inter-city bus used the Buick straight-eight. During World War II, improvements in the refinery technology used to produce aviation gasoline resulted in the availability of large amounts of inexpensive high octane gasoline. Engines could be designed with higher compression ratios to take advantage of high-octane gasoline. This led to more highly stressed engines which amplified
3655-558: The design of cars from a long engine compartment between separate fenders to the modern configuration with its shorter engine compartment quickly led to the demise of the straight-8 engine. As a result of this, and of gasoline prices several times as expensive as in the U.S., four- and six-cylinder engines powered the majority of cars in Europe, and the few eight-cylinder cars produced were in the V8 configuration. The British Army selected Rolls-Royce B80 series of straight-eight engines in
3740-601: The early 1930s by Nash (with a dual-ignition unit), REO , and the Buick , Oldsmobile , and Pontiac divisions of General Motors . The Buick straight-eight was an overhead valve design, while the Oldsmobile straight-8 and Pontiac straight-8 straight-eights were flathead engines . Chevrolet, as an entry-level marque, did not have a straight-eight. Cadillac, the luxury brand of General Motors, stayed with their traditional V8 engines. In order to have engines as smooth as
3825-537: The end of the 1937 season. In 1938 four Alfa Romeo Tipo 308 racers were built for the three-litre class using 8C engines. On September 14, 2013, a former Scuderia Ferrari 8C 35, in which Tazio Nuvolari had won the 1936 Coppa Ciano , was sold for £5.9 million; a new world record price for any Alfa Romeo. It was sold by the Bonhams auction house in its Goodwood Revival Meeting Sale in England. The car in question
3910-434: The even number of power strokes per revolution, a straight-eight does not produce unpleasant odd-order harmonic vibration in the vehicle's driveline at low engine speeds. The smooth running characteristics of the straight-eight made it popular in luxury and racing cars of the past. However, the engine's length demanded the use of a long engine compartment, making the basic design unacceptable in modern vehicles. Also, due to
3995-484: The famous first owners include Baroness Maud Thyssen of the Thyssen family , the owner of the aircraft and now scooter company Piaggio Andrea Piaggio, Raymond Sommer , and Tazio Nuvolari . The first model was the 1931 '8C 2300', a reference to the car's 2.3 L (bore: 65 mm, stroke: 88 mm, 2336 cc) engine, initially designed as a racing car, but actually produced in 188 units also for road use. While
4080-883: The first production automobile straight-eight in their Tipo 8 at the Paris Salon in 1919 Leyland Motors introduced their OHC straight-eight powered Leyland Eight luxury car at the International Motor Exhibition at Olympia, London in 1920. The Duesenberg brothers introduced their first production straight-eight in 1921. Straight-eight engines were used in expensive luxury and performance vehicles until after World War II. Bugattis and Duesenbergs commonly used double overhead cam straight-eight engines. Other notable straight-eight-powered automobiles were built by Daimler , Mercedes-Benz , Isotta Fraschini , Alfa Romeo , Stutz , Stearns-Knight and Packard . One marketing feature of these engines
4165-489: The first to react to the engineering problems of the straight-eight: in their racing car engines for the P2 and P3 and in their Alfa Romeo 8C 2300/2600/2900 sports cars of Mille Miglia and Le Mans fame the camshaft drive had been moved to the engine centre, between cylinders four and five, thus reducing the aforementioned limitations. The straight-eight was actually built as a symmetrical pair of straight-four engines joined in
4250-569: The following year. (Although purchased by Rolls-Royce the marque did not reappear for several years.) Dorothy Paget withdrew her support for Birkin's road team in October 1930. She continued however to support Birkin's red single seater track car, the original Blower No.1. The car (nicknamed the Brooklands Battleship) had been re-bodied with a single shell by Reid Railton after its lightweight fabric two seater body had caught fire in
4335-520: The front wheels, the larger B81 engine in the rear and a large load compartment over the middle and rear. The Salamander firefighting vehicle was unarmoured, and resembled the Stalwart with a conventional fire engine superstructure. The Rolls-Royce B80 series of engines were also used in other military and civilian applications, such as the Leyland Martian military truck, the winch engine in
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#17327727517484420-552: The gearbox was driven from the engine's centre. Engineers calculated that torsional stresses would be too high if they took power from the end of the long crankshaft, so they put a central gear train in the middle (which also ran the dual camshafts, dual magnetos, and other accessories) and ran a drive shaft to the clutch housing at the rear. Tim Birkin Sir Henry Ralph Stanley Birkin, 3rd Baronet (26 July 1896 – 22 June 1933), known as Tim Birkin ,
4505-413: The length of the engine, torsional vibration in both crankshaft and camshaft can adversely affect reliability and performance at high speeds. In particular, a phenomenon referred to as "crankshaft whip," caused by the effects of centrifugal force on the crank throws at high engine rpm , can cause physical contact between the connecting rods and crankcase walls, leading to the engine's destruction. As
4590-513: The like), were the same as the 6C 1750 (bore: 65 mm, stroke: 88 mm 2,336 cc). There was no separate head, and no head gasket to fail, but this made valve maintenance more difficult. A central gear tower drove the overhead camshafts, superchargers and ancillaries. As far as production cars are concerned, the 8C engine powered two models, the 8C 2300 (1931–1935) and the even more rare and expensive 8C 2900 (1936–1941), bore increased to 68 mm and stroke to 100 mm (2,905 cc). At
4675-412: The limitations of the long crankshaft and camshaft in the straight-eight engines. Oldsmobile replaced their straight-eight flathead engine with an overhead valve V8 engine in 1949, at which time Cadillac's V8 was changed to one with overhead valves. Chrysler replaced its straight-eight with its famous Hemi V-8 for 1951. Hudson retired its straight-eight at the end of the 1952 model year. Buick introduced
4760-485: The middle at common gear trains for the camshafts and superchargers. It had two overhead camshafts, but only two valves per cylinder. The Alfa Romeo straight-eight would return after World War II to dominate the first season of Formula One racing in 1950, and to win the second season against competition from Ferrari 's V12-powered car in 1951. The Alfa Romeo 158/159 Alfetta was originally designed in 1937 and won 47 of 54 Grands Prix entered between 1938 and 1951 (with
4845-515: The middle class. Engine manufacturer Lycoming built straight-eight engines for sale to automobile manufacturers, including Gardner, Auburn, Kissel, and Locomobile . Hupmobile built their own engine. Lycoming was purchased by Auburn owner Errett Lobban Cord , who used a Lycoming straight-eight in his front-drive Cord L-29 automobile, and had Lycoming build the straight-eight engine for the Duesenberg Model J , which had been designed by
4930-621: The most successful racing cars of all time, which eventually won over 1000 races. Like the Duesenbergs, Bugatti got his ideas from building aircraft engines during World War I, and like them, his engine was a high-revving overhead camshaft unit with three valves per cylinder. It produced 100 bhp (75 kW) at 5,000 rpm and could be revved to over 6,000 rpm. Nearly 400 of the Type 35 and its derivatives were produced, an all-time record for Grand Prix motor racing . Alfa Romeo were
5015-581: The race engines became 2.9 litres. Tazio Nuvolari won the 1935 German GP at the Nürburgring at the wheel of a 3.2 L Tipo B against the more powerful Silver Arrows from Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union. Eight 3.8-litre versions, sharing no castings with the earlier blocks, were individually built for racing in five months, most being used in the Alfa Romeo Monoposto 8C 35 Type C, as raced by Scuderia Ferrari . (The P3 designation
5100-563: 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
5185-493: 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
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#17327727517485270-516: The racing version of the 8C 2300 Spider, driven by Tazio Nuvolari won the 1931 and 1932 Targa Florio race in Sicily , the 1931 Italian Grand Prix victory at Monza gave the "Monza" name to the twin seater GP car, a shortened version of the Spider. The Alfa Romeo factory often added the name of events won to the name of a car. '8C 2300 tipo Le Mans' was the sport version of the '8C 2300' and it had
5355-425: The result of a wager, three laps of Brooklands to win. Cobb drove a ten and a half-litre Delage, once holder of the land speed record, and Birkin his four and a half supercharged Bentley, the 'Brooklands Battleship.' The higher top speed of the Bentley gave Birkin the edge over the distance, and the painting depicts Birkin on the outside line of the high banking edging past Cobb to win. The actual race had taken place in
5440-437: The same time, since racing cars were no longer required to carry a mechanic, Alfa Romeo built the first single seater race car. As a first attempt, the 1931 Monoposto Tipo A used a pair of 6-cylinder engines fitted side by side in the chassis. As the resulting car was too heavy and complex, Jano designed a more suitable and successful racer called Monoposto Tipo B (aka P3) for the 1932 Grand Prix season . The Tipo B proved itself
5525-467: The straight-eights of its competitors, Cadillac introduced the crossplane crankshaft for its V8 , and added V12 and V16 engines to the top of its lineup. Ford never adopted the straight-eight; their entry-level Ford cars used flathead V8 engines until the 1950s while their Lincoln luxury cars used V8 from the 1930s to the 1980s and V12 engines in the 1930s and 1940s. Chrysler used flathead straight-eights in its premium Chrysler cars, including
5610-403: The time. It was his nickname for the rest of his life. Birkin married Audrey Clara Lilian Latham, daughter of Sir Thomas Paul Latham, 1st Baronet, and Florence Clara Walley, on 12 July 1921; they divorced in 1928. He and Audrey had two daughters, Pamela and Sara, both of whom married and had issue. The elder daughter Pamela (d. 1983) married two Buxton cousins in succession, and her second husband
5695-682: The true spirit of the Vintage Racing era. Back in 1925 the energetic motor sports enthusiast Eugène Azemar , who was involved with the Tourist Board in Saint-Gaudens in southern France , succeeded in persuading the Automobile Club du Midi to arrange a Grand Prix race in the region. A great success, the Saint-Gaudens track later got the honor of hosting the 1928 French Grand Prix . If they can, so can we, thought
5780-406: The twenty five starters. Among the top Bugatti drivers were Louis Chiron , Marcel Lehoux , Count Stanislas Czaikowski , Jean-Pierre Wimille , Philippe Étancelin and William Grover-Williams . A curiosity in the largely single-seat entry list was Tim Birkin's blower Bentley touring car, stripped down to racing trim, with headlights and mudguards removed. The race distance was twenty five laps of
5865-496: The twin-engined 1935 6.3-litre Bimotore, the 1935 3.8-litre Monoposto 8C 35 Type C, and the Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Mille Miglia Roadster. It also powered top-of-the-range coach-built production models, including a Touring Spider and Touring Berlinetta . In 2004 Alfa Romeo revived the 8C name for a V8-engined concept car . This eventually made it into production in 2007, as the 8C Competizione . In 1924, Vittorio Jano created his first straight-eight-cylinder engine for Alfa Romeo,
5950-592: The well-known street track in the Parque Beaumont . The French had hoped to run the race to the International Formula , but when the response was poor the event was postponed and changed to a Formula Libre event instead. The new date meant that the Italian teams were unable to attend, leaving it to be mostly an internal French affair with sixteen Bugattis , two Peugeots and a Delage among
6035-545: The winning car of its era, winning straight from its first outing at the 1932 Italian Grand Prix , and was powered with an enlarged version of the 8C engine now at 2,665 cc, fed through a pair of superchargers instead of a single one. Initially, Alfa Romeo announced that the 8C was not to be sold to private owners, but by autumn 1931 Alfa sold it as a rolling chassis in Lungo (long) or Corto (short) form with prices starting at over £1000. The chassis were fitted with bodies from
6120-563: The works closed. Birkin continued racing despite these setbacks. In 1931 he won Le Mans with Earl Howe in an Alfa Romeo, even receiving a telegram from Mussolini congratulating him on his "win for Italy". On 24 March 1932 he raised the Brooklands Outer Circuit lap record to 137.96 mph in the Brooklands Battleship, a record which stood for another two years before being beaten by John Cobb driving
6205-453: Was a British racing driver, one of the " Bentley Boys " of the 1920s. Birkin was born into a wealthy Nottingham family in 1896, the son of Sir Thomas Stanley Birkin, 2nd Baronet, and the Hon. Margaret Diana Hopetoun Chetwynd. In childhood, Henry Birkin gained the nickname "Tim", after the children's comic book character Tiger Tim , created by Julius Stafford Baker , who was extremely popular at
6290-479: Was back as winner, racing the " Speed Six " as co-driver to Woolf Barnato . If Bentley wanted a more powerful car he developed a bigger model and the Speed Six was a huge car. Ettore Bugatti once referred to the Bentley as " the world's fastest lorry " ("Le camion plus vite du monde"). Back in 1928, however, Birkin had come to the conclusion that the future lay in getting more power from a lighter model by fitting
6375-407: Was dropped.) The 3,822 cc (233.2 cu in ) capacity 78 mm × 100 mm (3.07 in × 3.94 in) produced 330 bhp (246 kW) at 5500 rpm, and had 320 lb⋅ft (434 N⋅m) from 900 rpm to 5500 rpm. It had 15.5-inch drum brakes all round, using Pirelli 5.25 or 5.50 x 19 tyres at the front and 7.00 or 7.50 x 19 tyres at the rear. Though not
6460-541: Was killed during practice for the 1927 Isle of Man TT motorcycle races. Birkin joined the Royal Flying Corps during World War I and gained the rank of Lieutenant in the service of the 108th (Norfolk and Suffolk Yeomanry) Field Brigade, serving in Palestine where he contracted malaria , a disease from which he would suffer for the rest of his life. In 1921 Birkin turned to motor racing , competing in
6545-479: Was longer than the 2900A's 2,718 mm (107.0 in) wheelbase, and the Lungo (long) at 3,000 mm (118.1 in). The wheels of the 2900B had 19-inch rims fitted with 17-inch (432 mm) hydraulic drum brakes. Thirty-two 2900Bs were built in regular production, ten in 1937, and twenty-two in 1938. Another 2900B was assembled from parts in 1941. Most of these cars were bodied by Carrozzeria Touring , although
6630-434: Was offset by increased pit times. On May 12, 1935, two were entered in the Tripoli Grand Prix driven by Nuvolari and Chiron who finished fourth and fifth. Chiron managed a second at the following 1935 Avus race. On June 16, 1935, Nuvolari drove a specially prepared Bimotore from Florence to Livorno and set a new speed record 364 km/h (226 mph) with an average speed of over 323 km/h (201 mph). After that it
6715-454: Was sidelined in favour of the Tipo C. It was the first racer to use the Dubonnet independent trailing arm front suspension . The V12 was under development, but was not race ready. It was noticed that the Bimotore had a traction advantage on rough ground, so a version of the Bimotore chassis with the independent Dubonnet front end, and a new independent rear with swing axles with radius rods and
6800-507: Was the Life Peer Baron Buxton of Alsa , KCVO , MC . She had seven children including wildlife film-maker Cindy Buxton . The younger daughter Sara (d. 1976) married twice, and had two sons by her first husband. At his death in 1933, without sons of his own, he was succeeded by his next surviving male relative, his paternal uncle Sir Alexander Russell Birkin, 4th Baronet (died 1942). His younger brother, Archie Birkin ,
6885-542: Was the ex-Hans Ruesch, ex-Dennis Poore car, which had been one of the early stars of racing at the Goodwood Motor Circuit 1948–55. In 1935, to compete with Mercedes Benz and Auto Union , Enzo Ferrari (Race team manager) and Luigi Bazzi (Designer) built a racer with two 3.2-litre (bore: 71 mm, stroke: 100 mm, 3167.4 cc) engines, one in the front and one in the rear, giving 6.3 litres and 540 bhp (403 kW). The drivetrain layout
6970-485: Was their impressive length — some of the Duesenberg engines were over 4 ft (1.2 m) long, resulting in the long hoods (bonnets) found on these automobiles. In the United States in the 1920s, automobile manufacturers, including Hupmobile (1925), Chandler (1926), Marmon (1927), Gardner (1925), Kissel (1925), Locomobile (1925) and Auburn (1925) began using straight-eight engines in cars targeted at
7055-481: Was thrown out of his Bugatti, Birkin only avoiding the injured driver by the slightest of margins. After eleven laps Chiron encountered problems with oil pressure and Étancelin took over the lead. Soon Chiron was also passed by Zanelli and Birkin. The Bentley driver used his horn to warn the Bugatti to move over, surely a unique occurrence in Grand Prix racing! With seven laps to go Zanelli made another pitstop and Birkin
7140-494: Was unusual. The two engines were connected by separate driveshaft to a gearbox with two input shafts, and two angled output shafts, so each of the rear wheels had its own driveshaft. It could never quite succeed against the Mercedes W25 B of Rudolf Caracciola , the car handed very badly because of uneven weight distribution, thanks to one of the engines being behind the driver, and was hard on fuel and tyres. The gain in speed
7225-465: Was up into second place. While Étancelin, with a 2.5-minute lead, nursed his Bugatti home to take victory, Zanelli had not given up and was catching Birkin fast. At the flag the margin was down to fourteen seconds but it was enough for the British Bentley driver to make Grand Prix history. Birkin's life changed dramatically at the end of 1930. Bentley Motors withdrew from racing and closed down
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