Early Morning Alfa
1931 was the year that the stars lined up for the Italians. Alfa added 2 cylinders to their sweet 1750, producing the all conquering (for 4 years) 8C 2300 which appeared just in time to replace the collapsing Bentley Le Mans dominating, 'worlds fastest Lories' as Ettore Bugatti quipped), as Bentley had financially collapsed, the 'Bentley Boys' who had won 5 Le Mans had dispersed, and Bentley had been purchased by Rolls Royce, who defanged Bentley by officially quashing all performance and racing plans. So Bentley, who was the odds on favorite to repeat at Le Mans, had evaporated, leaving the field open.
The Italians had already perfected 8 small cylinders 2300 cc (both Bugatti and Alfa) to successfully compete with the behemoth Mercedes SSK 8 of 7.1 liters, that continues today with Ferrari's V-12s still using lots of small cylinders. ...... and now the story gets wonderfully weird......
Alfa sent 2 factory cars with full teams and drivers, which did not finish DNF, but a private entry from the very British Lord Howe driving with Tim Birkin (of Bentley Birkin Blower fame) drove their supercharged 8C to victory, 7 laps ahead of the mighty Mercedes SSK. The start of 4 straight Le Mans wins for the 8C.
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Early Morning Alfa
1931 was the year that the stars lined up for the Italians. Alfa added 2 cylinders to their sweet 1750, producing the all conquering (for 4 years) 8C 2300 which appeared just in time to replace the collapsing Bentley Le Mans dominating, 'worlds fastest Lories' as Ettore Bugatti quipped), as Bentley had financially collapsed, the 'Bentley Boys' who had won 5 Le Mans had dispersed, and Bentley had been purchased by Rolls Royce, who defanged Bentley by officially quashing all performance and racing plans. So Bentley, who was the odds on favorite to repeat at Le Mans, had evaporated, leaving the field open.
The Italians had already perfected 8 small cylinders 2300 cc (both Bugatti and Alfa) to successfully compete with the behemoth Mercedes SSK 8 of 7.1 liters, that continues today with Ferrari's V-12s still using lots of small cylinders. ...... and now the story gets wonderfully weird......
Alfa sent 2 factory cars with full teams and drivers, which did not finish DNF, but a private entry from the very British Lord Howe driving with Tim Birkin (of Bentley Birkin Blower fame) drove their supercharged 8C to victory, 7 laps ahead of the mighty Mercedes SSK. The start of 4 straight Le Mans wins for the 8C.
Enlarge for details