The 8C designation at Alfa Romeo referred to an eight-cylinder engine family engineered by Vittorio Jano. First introduced in 1931, the 8C powerplant used a common crankcase with two four-cylinder alloy blocks, dual superchargers, and a central gear tower driving the overhead camshafts. The original 8C 2300 (2,336 cc) powered racing cars to four consecutive Le Mans victories between 1931 and 1934, and was also the basis for the supremely successful Monoposto Tipo B (P3) Grand Prix car.
By 1935, Alfa Romeo had developed a 2.9-litre variant (bore: 68 mm, stroke: 100 mm; 2,905 cc) for Grand Prix use. The 8C 2900 sports car was derived directly from the 8C 35 Grand Prix chassis to create a road-racing machine of exceptional specification.
The 8C 2900A was first shown to the public at the 1935 London Motor Show. Its engine, producing a stated 220 bhp (160 kW) at 5,300 rpm, was detuned from the full Grand Prix specification. The suspension was fully independent front and rear — with Dubonnet-type trailing arm coil-spring units at the front and swing axles with a transverse leaf spring at the rear — a layout of remarkable sophistication for the period. Two Roots-type superchargers fed by twin updraught Weber carburettors completed the drivetrain. Only ten 2900As were built, five in 1935 and five in 1936.
In competition, Scuderia Ferrari entered three 8C 2900As in the 1936 Mille Miglia, where they swept the top three finishing positions: Marquis Antonio Brivio won, Giuseppe Farina finished second, and Carlo Pintacuda third. In 1937, Pintacuda won the Mille Miglia again, with Farina second. The 8C 2900A also won the 1936 Spa 24 Hours with Raymond Sommer and Francesco Severi.
The 8C 2900B began production in 1937. It made modest concessions to comfort and reliability, with a slightly lower compression ratio of 5.75:1 and a rated 180 bhp (134 kW) at 5,200 rpm. The 2900B chassis was available in two wheelbases: a Corto (short) version at 2,799 mm and a Lungo (long) version at 3,000 mm. Thirty-two cars were built in regular production — ten in 1937 and twenty-two in 1938 — with most bodies supplied by Carrozzeria Touring, and a few by Pininfarina.
For the 1938 Mille Miglia, Alfa Corse — the factory racing team that had taken over from Scuderia Ferrari — prepared four Corto-chassis 2900Bs wearing Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera roadster bodies. Three were tuned to 225 bhp (168 kW), while the fourth, driven by Clemente Biondetti, was fitted with an engine from the Alfa Romeo Tipo 308 Grand Prix car delivering 295 bhp (220 kW). Biondetti won the race outright; Pintacuda followed in second place. One of the Mille Miglia roadsters later won the 1938 Spa 24 Hours.
Alfa Corse also entered a single 8C 2900B coupé at the 1938 24 Hours of Le Mans, notable for its aerodynamically streamlined closed body by Carrozzeria Touring — an unusual choice when virtually all Le Mans contenders were open cars. A 1987 Pininfarina wind-tunnel test recorded a drag coefficient of 0.42. Driven by Sommer and Biondetti, the car led the race by more than 160 km before a dropped valve ended its run. It was subsequently preserved and later acquired by the Alfa Romeo museum.
The 8C 2900 is considered among the greatest pre-war automobiles, combining cutting-edge engineering with coachwork of extraordinary beauty. Auction results reflect this status: an 8C 2900 with Pininfarina cabriolet bodywork sold for US$4,072,000 at Christie's at Pebble Beach, California, and a former Scuderia Ferrari 8C 35 (which shares the same engine lineage) was auctioned at Goodwood in 2013 for £5.9 million, a world record price for any Alfa Romeo at the time. The car's fully independent suspension, supercharged straight-eight, and hand-built coachwork set a benchmark that influenced sports car design for the remainder of the prewar period.
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