The auction of the Alfa Romeo Tipo C 8C-35 with chassis number '50013' from 1935 is likely to be one of the highlights of this year's auction season. None other than Tazio Nuvolari drove the supercharged racing car in the service of Scuderia Ferrari. An impressive £ 5.5 to 6.5 million was set as the estimated price.
Competitive against Mercedes and Auto Union
Thanks to substantial state support, the German manufacturers had practically dominated the racing scene thanks to new and very expensive technologies. For 1935, however, Alfa Romeo upgraded and presented a car that could compete with its German rivals in terms of technical equipment: In-line eight-cylinder with supercharging installed low down, independent suspension all round, hydraulic brakes. And as a driver, you could count on the small, fearless and legendarily fast Tazio Nuvolari.
Incredible victory in the 1936 Coppa Ciano
Nuvolari started the Coppa Ciano in the sister car, the 12C-36, but the gearbox gave up the ghost on the second lap. As a result, Nuvolari took over chassis 50013 from Carlo Pintacuda after he ran back to the pits and the second driver could be waved in.
Seven laps behind, Tazio took up the race in a car that he could barely see out of because Pintacuda had been much bigger. Despite this, he overtook the entire field several times and finally beat the Auto-Union racing cars, taking home victory as his reward. Unbelievable.
In addition to this race, 50013 also competed in the Gran Premio di Monza, Modena, the Grand Prix in Brno, Tunis and two Monaco GPs, as well as the Hungarian Grand Prix, the Eifelrennen and the German Grand Prix, among several others ...
In Swiss ownership
After the Livorno race, 50013 was sold to the Swiss Hans Rüesch, who entered it in the Shelsey Walsh hill climb in England and won the 1936 Donington Grand Prix together with Dick Seaman. In the following months, Rüesch competed in races around half the world, winning the Grand Prix des Frontieres in Chimay (Belgium) and other races.
Long English racing career
The Swiss eventually sold the racing car to Robert Arburthnot, who passed it on (in a roundabout way) to Dennis Poore. The racing career of the Monoposto was not over even after the war, with the car taking part in the Goodwood race in 1948 and winning the English hill climb championship that year. It was not until 1955 that the racing car was mothballed and only reappeared in 1987 after Poore's retirement.
It was sold at the Bonhams Monaco auction in 1987 for USD 2.85 million, an incredibly high price for a Grand Prix car at the time, and was later restored to race-ready condition by Peter Giddings.
At this year's Goodwood Revival on September 14, 2013, a new Alfa Romeo enthusiast will now have the chance to continue the story of 50013 at the Bonhams auction.
Further information about the auction can be found on the Bonhams website.
