Alfa Romeo 8C

Start with what the Alfa Romeo 8C is: a car with 2.3&nbsp, built from 1931 to 1939, when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Vittorio Jano.

Where it came from

The Alfa Romeo 8C is a range of Alfa Romeo road, race and sports cars of the 1930s. 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 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 2003 Alfa Romeo revived the 8C name for a V8-engined concept car. This eventually made it into production in 2007, as the 8C Competizione.

Under the skin

The engine is 2.3  other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. 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.

In context

In the Alfa Romeo line-up the Alfa Romeo 8C has a clear place: the factory was Portello, Milan, Italy. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Bugatti Type 57, the Chevrolet Suburban, the Tatra 54. Nearby in the Alfa Romeo catalogue sit the A.L.F.A 12 HP and the A.L.F.A 15 HP.

Owning one today

MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Alfa Romeo 8C has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.