Among all the new BMWs that debut this year on the Concorso d’Elanza Villa d’Este, it is easy to be carried away and overlooked the other gemstones. But there were so much more about the cars that wore the famous round. The event, which was again organized by BMW Group Classic, brought together some of the most historically most important vehicles.
An Alfa Romeo took the crown home for the “Trofeo BMW Group – Best of Show”. This beautiful Speedster from Tipo B (P3) from 1934 is one of the first, full-fledged single seat racing cars. The breathtaking machine was designed by Vittorio Jano and has an charged V8 and was impressive for his time. The monopost tipped the scale with only 680 kilograms (1,500 pounds).
It triumphed in Monza in June 1932 with the legendary Italian racing driver Tazio Nuvolari. He fought for Alfa Corse and even managed to publish Juan Manuel Fagioli’s new 16-cylinder-maserati V5 at the time. However, Alfa Corse met financial difficulties in the following season and decided to hand over the P3 to Ferrari. Over the years, the output of the original 215 hp rose from a 2.6-liter shift from 1932 to 330 hp in 1935 thanks to an enlarged 3.8-liter engine.
To date, the P3 remains one of the most successful Alfa Romeo racing cars in history. The example of 1934, which was exhibited in the Concorso d’Elanza Villa d’Este, comes from the Aurma collection, which belongs to a wealthy German collector. In addition to the trophy, the winner also received a unique chronograph of 1815 in white gold. A. Lange and sons created the watch especially for this occasion.
Alfa Romeo originally called Tipo B before moving into P2 to P3 as natural aftercare. In its fastest configuration, it could achieve 275 km/h, a remarkable performance for the 1930s.
Photos: BMW Group Classic
