Alfa Romeo 308C 1938

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Pete05

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Alfa Romeo entered the 3 litre formula with no less than three different cars, all with indepedent suspension and distinct appearance. Many consider that the factory should have done better concentrating on just one car instead.
The first one, the 308, was a development of Vittorio Jano's classic 8 cylinder car, engineered by Giocchino Colombo under the control of Enzo Ferrari, who was then in charge of Alfa's racing team, Alfa Corse. Finally the bore was increased from 68 to 69mm changing the volume from 2905 to 2994 cc. Four old 8C-35 & 12C-36 tubular chassis were used with only minor updates. The car was rather a stop gap construction until the stronger 12 and 16 cylinder cars were ready. Fuel was held in a saddle tank over the driver's feet to improve the weight distribution and handling.
The car first appeared at Pau 1938 where a leak in the saddle tank caused the accident that made Nuvolari resign from Alfa Romeo.
A victory was scored in the non-championship Rio de Janiero Grand Prix in the hands of Carlo Pintacuda.
After the war one of the surviving 308Cs was brought to the United States and between 1946 and 1948 scored three top-ten finishes.
Louis Durant taking sixth at Indy 1946, a year later Walt Brown finished seventh and at the car's final appearance Johnny Mauro ended the race in eighth.
Today the car is displayed in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.

ENGINE

Configuration
Straight 8

Location
Front, longitudinally mounted

Construction
Aluminium block and head

Displacement
2991 cc / 182.5 cu in

Bore / Stroke
69 mm (2.7") x 100 mm (3.9")

Compression
6.1:1

Valvetrain
2 valves per cylinder, DOHC

Fuel feed
2 carburettors

Aspiration
Twin Roots-Type Superchargers

Power
295 bhp / 220 kW @ 6000 rpm

DRIVETRAIN

Chassis
Aluminium body on steel ladder frame

Front suspension
Transverse arms, coil springs, hydraulic dampers

Rear suspension
Swing axles, transverse semi-elliptic leaf springs, hydraulic telescopic dampers, friction dampers

Steering
Worm and sector

Brakes
Drums, all-round

Gearbox
4 speed manual

DIMENSIONS

Weight
870 kg / 1918 lbs

Length
4000 mm / 157.5"

Height
1160 mm / 45.7"

Wheelbase
2750 mm / 108.3"

Track (F&R)
1350 mm / 53.1"

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http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/c1.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_Tipo_308
 
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