Great Cars. Alfa Romeo Monza. The autobiography of the celebrated Mick Walsh. Edited by Mark Hughes Designed by Andrew Garman

Transcription

1 Great Cars Alfa Romeo Monza The autobiography of the celebrated Mick Walsh Edited by Mark Hughes Designed by Andrew Garman Porter Press International

2 Contents Foreword 6 Introduction 8 The Monza story 10 Post war life of Jano s masterpiece 12 2 Victory at Monza 28 3 The Monza s career 38 4 The star Monza drivers 60 Pre-war life of First Monza in England 70 6 Record breaker s Latin fancy Young flyer Racing for fun Final flings pre-war Reawakenings Peter Hampton John Broad Patrick Lindsay Dream inheritance Return to green Back to England 294 Anatomy of The Monza in detail 306 Index 318

3 Few sports cars have the prowess to match the Alfa Romeo 8C. Designed by Vittorio Jano, one of Italy s greatest engineers, this supercharged straight-eight exotic was the ultimate machine of its time. These titans have conquered such diverse events, from four consecutive Le Mans 24 Hours victories to Grands Prix and epic road races, confirming the 8C as the greatest all-rounder of its golden era. Complementing its performance, the 8C s pure-bred technical beauty was enhanced by the finest Latin coachwork, and garnered top prizes in the most prestigious concours d élégance events. The fastest and most desirable of the 189 8Cs produced between 1932 and 1934 was the fabled Monza, so named after a momentous 10-hour race in May 1931 at Italy s most famous race track. From that victory the lightweight Corto with its distinctive vented grille and pointed tail became the racer s choice. Campaigned by the factory, the legendary Scuderia Ferrari and the wealthiest privateers, the Monza became the car to beat before the monoposto arrived. Raced by the fastest drivers, headed by Tazio Nuvolari and Rudolf Caracciola, the Monza was as effective accelerating around the streets of Monaco as roaring flat out at 140mph on Monza s banking. Of the rare genuine Monza survivors, the most famous is chassis , which was the first to reach England. Just days after its arrival from Milan in the spring of 1933, it won at Brooklands on its race début. Great cars often attract remarkable individuals, and the Green Monza confirms that adage. From debonair baron and Land Speed Record legend to Le Mans-winning playboy and Fascist speedway queen, diverse characters raced regularly until the Second World War. With peace, wealthy car-starved enthusiasts searched out the fastest pre-war machines, and was soon road-equipped and registered FYE 7, ready for a new life as a road car. In later years it was the star of the finest car collections in Britain, notably that of historic racing hero the Hon Patrick Lindsay, who would travel in it to fly his Spitfire or to race his ERA Remus. Expertly restored by foremost British specialists, this Monza returned to the track into the 21st century, running as both a sports car and a Grand Prix car in the most prestigious historic events, including at Monaco and Spa. Now, for the time being, s competitive days are over, but the great Monza is still regularly enjoyed by its latest owner, who says, If I had to drive one car for the rest of my life, it would be the Monza. The appeal of this magnificent pre-war thoroughbred remains as exhilarating as ever.

4 Chapter 1 Jano s masterpiece The pressure was on for Alfa Romeo, Italy s premier marque, to produce a front-running racing car in the late 1920s. The proud Benito Mussolini, who had become Prime Minister of Italy in 1922, was a motoring enthusiast who demanded a design that could vanquish Europe s finest and bring glory to his new Fascist regime. With the fall-out from the Wall Street Crash, however, the economic climate could not have been more challenging. Prior to the First World War Italian industry, particularly chemicals, steel and automotive firms, including the company that became Alfa Romeo, had flourished, but as the effects of the Great Depression intensified, steel production fell by 35 per cent and car production halved, while unemployment rose rapidly. In 1930 Società Anonima Alfa Romeo was constituted and recapitalised with 80 million lira. Sales of its elite cars were very slow, resulting in continual reorganisation and trimming of staff at the Portello factory in Milan, first by Pasquale Gallo and then his replacement Prospero Gianferrari. All of this left engineers and designers, even the revered Vittorio Jano, apprehensive about their positions. Gianferrari was, thankfully, enthusiastic about performance cars and, despite the depressed economy, encouraged Jano to start work early in 1929 on a new eight-cylinder model as a flagship above the brilliant but underpowered 6C 1750 range. When Alfa historian and registrar Angela Cherrett reviewed the correspondence of London agent Freddie Stiles with the factory, she discovered a 1929 note from Jano relating to the new model: Regarding the Eight Cylinder, I am not yet able to guarantee that these cars will be ready next year. In fact, it is a very difficult undertaking. Initially Alfa claimed that it had no intention of selling the 8C model and its development was kept secret, although a story leaked in L Auto Italiana that Tazio Nuvolari would drive the new car in the Mille Miglia. When the new 8C was launched, however, it carried a price tag that equated to around 40 times the average annual salary in just basic chassis form. The brilliant Jano s talents were very stretched at Portello with his extensive responsibilities branching over several divisions, including production cars, commercial vehicles and aero engines. While designing the new 8C, he was also distracted by the development of the Tipo A, Alfa s first monoposto Grand Prix car, which boldly featured two 6C 1750 engines mounted side by side with twin linked gearboxes. Although Enzo Ferrari had left the employment of Alfa Romeo to form his own Scuderia Ferrari in November 1929, he remained a key figure in the racing programme, and sales to his wealthy patrons and team members would be important for the company s finances. From his spacious premises at 11 Via Trento Trieste in Modena, a team of mechanics prepared and serviced the 6C 1750 for events all over Italy while Alfa Corsa, the factory s own racing department, focused on major international events. No doubt Previous spread Much of the Monza s development was done on the road. Here Enzo Ferrari (behind the fuel funnel) supervises during practice for the Parma-Poggio di Berceto hillclimb in June Note the Scuderia Ferrari support truck and the local interest. Spitzley-Zagari Collection Vittorio Jano at Monza with one of his proudest designs, the P2, ready for the 1924 Italian Grand Prix. In the background, in team shirt, is Giulio Ramponi, who later moved to London to run his own garage, where he regularly serviced chassis Spitzley-Zagari Collection 12 Great Cars

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6 Jano s masterpiece The impressive Alfa Romeo stand at the 1930 Milan show, with Tazio Nuvolari s victorious 6C 1750 Mille Miglia team car centre stage. Author s collection throughout 1930 Ferrari regularly visited Portello to discuss the new design with Jano and his engineering team. The success of the new car would be key to the prestige of his new business. An 8C prototype possibly made its début in the Coppa della Consuma, a tortuous hillclimb near Florence. Although Nuvolari was entered in an 8C 2300 according to Valerio Moretti s book When Nuvolari Raced, the mystery car appears to be a lightweight 6C Only one picture survives of this event, and distinctive details included a mystery bulge on the scuttle and cowled windscreens. Test driver Giulio Ramponi also reported to historian Simon Moore that he had driven an 8C prototype from Portello to Modena to visit Ferrari in December News in the spring of 1931 that both Mercedes-Benz and Bugatti had entered new high-performance cars for the Mille Miglia put extra pressure on Jano s team. With reports that the German champion Rudi Caracciola would drive a lightweight SSKL, and with Italian Achille Varzi running a new 5-litre twin-cam Type 50 Bugatti, it did not bear thinking about that a non-red machine could take Italy s most prestigious race. The development of the new design faced continued delays through the spring. After much discussion it was agreed that Scuderia Ferrari would run two new 8Cs in the Mille Miglia to save the Alfa Romeo factory s reputation should the cars fail to beat the foreign challengers. Among the star drivers Nuvolari had signed a contract with Scuderia Ferrari for events that did not conflict with his commitments with the factory. Another impact of the economic depression was the decision by the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR) to run Grand Prix races to the existing Formule Libre regulations with a 900kg minimum weight and two-seat requirement but with the stipulation that races would run to at least 10 hours. Jano no doubt would have preferred an open brief, but the extra demands of reliability resulted in one of the greatest dualpurpose designs, as competitive in Grand Prix events as it was in sports car classics. In the search for extra performance, the three key rivals Bugatti, Maserati and Alfa Romeo all continued development of an existing chassis design but, in engine terms, Jano took the boldest departure with an all-new supercharged straight eight for the 1931 season. While much of the 8C chassis followed 14 Great Cars

7 Jano s masterpiece the design of the previous 6C 1750, the engine was a radical departure and a determined effort to create a new highperformance car that not only could match the bigger guns from Germany and Britain in competition, particularly at Le Mans, but also power a series of topquality touring models. As with the racing P2, Jano s new straight eight featured 10 main bearings, and retained the same bore and stroke as the 6C 1750 (65mm x 88mm), but the similarities ended there. Rather than rollers as with the P2, the bottom end featured bronze-backed white-metalled bearings, while the big ends also had plain bearings. The major departure was the twinoverhead-camshaft drive. For the first time Jano planned a pair of cylinder blocks with the 50mm crankshaft split with helical spur gears of steel and bronze. These individually drove a train of gears for the camshafts, reducing torsional wind-up at the top end, and the Roots supercharger, which nestled low against the right front of the crankcase. The entrance to the Alfa Romeo factory at Portello, a province of Milan, during the early 1930s. Production started here in 1908 and lasted until LAT Images The relationship between Vittorio Jano and Enzo Ferrari, standing with an Alfa 6C saloon, had its ups and downs but they worked together until the 1960s. Spitzley-Zagari Collection Alfa Romeo Monza 15

8 Jano s masterpiece As with many Alfa Romeo 8Cs today, the original engine of has been removed to preserve the great car s originality. Out of the chassis, the magnificent finned induction of Jano s masterpiece is even more impressive. Author s collection Water and oil pumps also ran off the central drive. Jano made extensive use of light metallurgy with both cylinder blocks (with steel liners) and heads cast in aluminium. Initially the blocks were cast in iron, but Jano s concerns about weight saw aluminium standardised. Later, magnesium was used for both the crankcase and the gearbox casing for racing 8Cs. The camshafts, hollowed for further lightness, were bolted together with the timing gear, and ran in six bronze bearings. The cams bore directly onto hardened caps screwed onto the valve stems, as introduced on the earlier 6C engines. These caps were part of a simple and rapid adjustment mechanism, based on Marc Birkigt s Hispano-Suiza engines. The valve angle was 90 degrees as with the previous 6C engines. Coil ignition was standard but, for racing, magnetos were fitted, driven off the same gearing as the dynamo. The Roots-type supercharger was fed by a twin-choke Memini carburettor, later replaced by a Weber 55BMS for competition by Scuderia Ferrari. Early 8Cs featured two Autovac pumps supplying a 2½-gallon header tank on the scuttle but, after production of the first 77 cars, the fuel system switched to Autoflux electric pumps supplying direct from the 24-gallon rear tank. Lubrication to the dry-sump engine design was initially supplied from an oil tank mounted between the front dumb irons but this was soon moved to a less vulnerable location under the passenger seat and later, for the third series, under the driver s seat, a change that also improved weight balance. With its dramatic cast-aluminium finned induction manifold, the new engine was an engineering masterpiece that made lifting the right bonnet side on an 8C a proud moment for any lucky owner. Some engineering purists, however, claim that the 8C design, with side-mounted supercharger and cam covers interrupted by the bulging gear tower, lacks the symmetry of a Bugatti, 16 Great Cars

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