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- Melbourne, Australia
With the arrival of the government backed German Grand Prix teams, Alfa Romeo's stronghold on motor racing started to weaken. In sportscar and Grand Prix form, Vittorio Jano's marvelous eight cylinder had dominated in the early 1930's resulting in four consecutive Le Mans wins for the 8C 2300 and many Grand Prix victories for the Tipo B3. The Tipo B combined the supercharged straight eight with a revolutionary chassis and is considered by many as the first true single seater. There is no doubt that the managing skills of a young Enzo Ferrari and the driving talents of Tazio Nuvolari, 'The Flying Mantuan' contributed much to the success as well. Unstoppable in it's introduction year 1932, the Tipo B was showing it's age by 1935 an despite the gradual increase of displacement from 2.6 to 3.8 litres, it was rarely able to match the advanced German racers. Nuvolari did manage to take a very important victory in the 1935 German GP at the Nurburgring in front of a large number of Nazi officials. While Alfa Romeo drivers struggled on in 1935, the factory was busy building a new chassis and engine.
The biggest problem Alfa Romeo faced was the huge amounts of power the German eight, twelve and sixteen cylinder engines produced. At 3.8 litres, Jano's eight cylinder engine had grown to it's maximum displacement, so work was started on an all-new V12. In the mean time Ferrari attempted to bridge the gap with the hugely complex 'Bimotore', which as the name suggests sported two engines and was designed for high speed tracks like Avus. Remarkably the Bimotore did manage to finish second, although most of the credits for that result have to go to driver Louis Chiron who was a very careful with the tyres. He gained many positions as drivers ahead of him dropped out with blown tyres. The Tipo B Nuvolari drove to take that memorable win in Germany did not only sport the latest spec engine, but also a new independent front suspension through swing axles. Both were carried over to the new Tipo C chassis under construction in Jano's workshop. For the new car he went one step further and followed the German example set in 1934 by fitting independent suspension all-round. The package was literally rounded off with a curvaceous aerodynamic skin, which was quite a departure from the simple, square body panels fitted on the Tipo B.
While originally dubbed the Tipo C, the cars a now commonly referred to as 8C-35 and the later twelve cylinder variant as 12C-36. The Italian GP at Monza in September 1935 saw the introduction of the new 8C-35, but Nuvolari was still not able to match the Germans for outright performance; there was a gap of another 100 bhp to bridge. The introduction of the 4.1 litre 12C-36 at the Tripoli GP in May 1936 brought the deficit down to 60 bhp and brought Alfa Romeo somewhat in contention again. Although mostly in minor races, both the 8C and 12C models were driven to several wins in 1936, highlighted by victories in the Donington GP and the Vanderbilt Cup in New York. In races with the German cars present a second place at Monza and a third at the Nurburgring, both with the V12 car, were the best results.
ENGINE
Configuration
60 degree V12
Location
Front, longitudinally mounted
Construction
Aluminium block and heads
Displacement
4064 cc / 248 cu in
Bore / Stroke
70 mm (2.8") x 88 mm (3.5")
Compression
7.1:1
Valvetrain
2 valves per cylinder, DOHC
Fuel feed
Weber 50mm DCO carburettor
Aspiration
Supercharger
Power
370 bhp / 276 kW @ 5800 rpm
DRIVETRAIN
Chassis
Aluminium body on sheetmetal frame chassis
Front suspension
Swing axles, coil springs, hydraulic shock absorbers
Rear suspension
Swing axles, transverse leaf spring, friction and hydraulic dampers
Steering
Worm and sector
Brakes
Hydraulic drums, all-round
Gearbox
4 speed manual
DIMENSIONS
Weight
820 kg / 1807.8 lbs
Length
4200 mm / 165.4"
Width
1520 mm / 59.8"
Height
1215 mm / 47.8"
Wheelbase
2750 mm / 108.3"
Front & rear track
1350 mm / 53.1"
Fuel tank
170 litre / 44.9 US gallons
Front wheels
18" x 6.5
Rear wheels
19" x 6.5
http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/c1.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_12C
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