The Alfa Romeo 12C is a car from Alfa Romeo, built from 1936 to 1937, when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together. Under the bonnet: Roots supercharged 4.1 L 4064 . Vittorio Jano drew it.
How it came about
The Alfa Romeo 12C or Tipo C was a 12-cylinder Grand Prix car. The 12C-36 made its debut in Tripoli Grand Prix 1936, and the 12C-37 in Coppa Acerbo 1937. The 12C-36 was a Tipo C fitted with the new V12 instead of the 3.8 litre straight-eight of the 8C-35. The 12C-37 was a new car, with a lower chassis and an engine bored and stroked to 4475 cc, now with roller- instead of plain bearings and two smaller superchargers instead of a single large one. The car suffered poor handling, which could not be cured in time for the 1937 Italian GP, and thus was not successful.
This is given as the reason for Vittorio Jano's resignation from Alfa Romeo at the end of 1937. The 12C-36 used the existing six Tipo C chassis. Four examples of the 12C-37 were built, although only two were actually assembled for the 1937 Coppa Acerbo and Italian GP. Early in 1938, the Tipo C (8C-35, 12C-36) chassis were modified into 308s, with the straight-eight engine fitted lower in the chassis and a completely new body. The four 12C-37 chassis were instead assembled into 312 (V12 downsized to 3-litre) and 316 (V16 obtained from two 158 engines fitted to a common crankcase) formula race cars.
The hardware
Power comes from Roots supercharged 4.1 L 4064 other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 818 kg (1804 lb). It shifts through a 4-speed manual transmission. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Alfa Romeo 8C-35; its successor was the Alfa Romeo Tipo 308 / Alfa Romeo Tipo 312 / Alfa Romeo Tipo 316. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Bugatti Type 57, the Volkswagen Beetle, the Chevrolet Suburban — show what else the money bought that year. Its Alfa Romeo stablemates include the A.L.F.A 12 HP and the A.L.F.A 15 HP.
What it costs now
There is no federal ownership record for the Alfa Romeo 12C — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.