1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B at the Portland Art Museum

Portland Art Museum

The Cars

The Cars Vehicles

1930 Bentley Speed Six

1931 Duesenberg Model SJ

1933 Pierce Arrow Silver Arrow

1937 Bugatti Type 57S

1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K

1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B

1938 Hispano Suiza H6C

1939 Talbot-Lago T150 C SS

1948 Tucker 48

1953 Porsche 550

1954 Plymouth Explorer Concept

1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR

1957 Jaguar XKSS

1959 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Racer

1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato

1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Competition

Information on the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B

More photographs of the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B

The 8C 2900B was Alfa Romeo's most prestigious grand touring car of the 1930s. Only 33 examples were ever completed for road use, and most were bodied by Carrozzeria Touring. The body on this car was unique; one of six privately commissioned Berlinettas, it was used in several advertisements by Alfa during the period. Based on the successful motor sports engineering of the 2900A, this road version of the 2900B featured a 180 bhp 8-cylinder engine with dual superchargers and twin overhead camshafts installed on a box-type chassis with all-around independent suspension. This car won the first Watkins Glen Grand Prix in 1948, when it was owned and drive by Frank Griswold. It was more recently owned by David Cohen for 25 years; he used it in local rallies in East London, South Africa, before moving it to Vancouver, Canada.

The Alfa Romeo 8C2900B was an elegant blend of advanced styling and engineering. It was the most technically advanced and sophisticated sports car of its era. The men responsible for this model were engineer Vittorio Jano (designer of Alfa Romeo's P-Series Grand Prix racers and road-going sporting models) and body stylist Felice Bianchi Anderloni (founder of the coachbuilding firm Carrozzeria Touring in Milan). With the help of chief designer Aquino Gilardi, Anderloni helped pioneer Superleggera (super light) body construction. Instead of using heavy frames and rigid axles like so many other competitors, Alfa Romeo employed an intricate latticework of lightweight but rigid steel tubes that formed the framework for the elegant, hand-fashioned aluminum body shell. Shapes were tested by attaching felt strips to the body and the car was photographed while moving to record how wind flowed over and around it.

This Berlinetta (Italian for 'sports coupe') has a sharply raked windscreen, fastback roof, and teardrop-shaped rear fenders. In total, Alfa Romeo built just thirty 8C2900s on two wheelbase sizes. This car sits on the longer-wheelbase version (the long were known as 'lungo' while the short were 'corto') and has unusual bonnet-side louvers that extend into the cowl scuttle, extended front fenders, and distinctive slotted rear spots (fender skirts).

Powering this car is a slightly detuned 2.9-liter Alfa Romeo competition powerplant that has 16-valves, dual overhead cams, and a supercharged inline-8. It produces 180 horsepower in this form, while the competition motors were rated at 220 horsepower. The wheelbase measures 118 inches, top speed is achieved at around 115 mph, and there is a four-speed manual transaxle.

Also photographed at :

58th Annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance >> J3 - European Classic Closed

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