1931 Alfa Romeo Tipo A

In 1923, Alfa Romeo went Grand Prix racing with their P1, and it was a dismal disappointment. The company turned to Fiat, more specifically, to Vittorio Jano - a Fiat employee and offered him a job. Accepting the job, Jano soon created a straight-eight engine that was placed in the P2. The success Alfa Romeo was searching, was found, and several victories were scored in Grand Prix competition. But as the 1926 season came to a close, rule changes were announced which made the P2 obsolete. Though unable to compete in GP competition, they were used successfully in other racing venues, including the 1930 Targa Florio where they emerged victoriously.

Jano began work on a 1.5-liter engine to be fitted into a road-going car, the 6C 1500. The engine size would soon grow to 1.7-liters, bringing about the 6C 1750. With the addition of a supercharger, the Grand Sport was introduced.

For the 1931 racing season, Grand Prix competition was run under 'formula libre' regulations. This meant that Alfa Romeo's 8C 2300 (eight-cylinder engine displacing 2.3-liters) would have to compete with even stiffer competition, including Mercedes-Benz potent SSK. Jano was unsure if the Alfa Romeo's would be able to keep pace or even provide competition for outright victories, so he decided on a rather unusual setup. He paired two six-cylinder engines from the Tipo A and prepared them for the race at Monza, the season opener. The two engines were installed side-by-side and fitted with two superchargers. Each engine had its own separate three-speed gearbox. There was a single differential that powered the rear wheels. An 8C chassis was chosen to house this unusual setup. The driver sat in the middle of the car, on top of two propeller shafts. This was Alfa Romeo's first single-seat race car.

Along with this Tipo A, Alfa Romeo entered two 8C 2300s at the Monza 10 hour race. The Tipo A retired from the race after just two hours. The 8Cs scored first and second, earning the nickname, Monza.

Alfa Romeo created three more twin-engined cars, but they never lived up to expectations. They were replaced in 1932 by the Tipo B or P3.

The four Tipo A's created no longer exist. A replica was created by marque expert Luigi Fusi and currently resides in the Alfa Romeo Museo in Arese, Italy.

By Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2010