HERE’S YET ANOTHER REASON WHY CLASSIC & SPORTS CAR is a favorite automotive magazine: Mick Walsh’s online article about the Alfa Romeo 8C-2900B Corsa Sperimentale. Argentine enthusiasts nicknamed the car affectionately the Balena, Spanish for “Whale,” and its Argentine connection is only part of this car’s fascinating heritage. Here, in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow, are tidbits gleaned from Mick’s research, together with my own related sleuthing.
The 1940 “Mille Miglia.” The Alfa Romeo Corsa Sperimentale’s history begins with the 1940 Gran Premio di Brescia della Mille Miglia. This event was a non-traditional Mille Miglia run on a 103-mile triangular circuit lapped nine times, with Brescia, Cremona, and Mantova as its apices. Also breaking with tradition, with the exception of the Italian O.M.’s inaugural win and Mercedes-Benz’s in 1931, the 1940 event was not won by an Alfa Romeo; that year it was a German BMW.
Che disastro!
What’s more, “after a German car won the 1940 Mille Miglia,” Mick Walsh writes, “Italian leader Benito Mussolini possibly sent a heated directive to create a new challenger. The in-house body appears to be inspired by Bugatti’s Type 57G ‘Tank’, which had dominated the 1937 Le Mans.” See “French Streamlining” to put Bugatti “Tanks” and the Alfa Corsa Sperimentale in historical perspective.
The 8C-2900B Corsa Sperimentale Balena.This and other images are from Classic and Sports Car online, June 20, 2025.
The 8C-2900B Corsa Sperimentale. “The origins of this fascinating design,” Walsh recounts, “date back to a body drawing dated February 1941 and signed by Gioacchino Colombo, whose long and illustrious engineering career with Alfa Romeo started with the P2 when he was aged 21 and working under Vittorio Jano.”
Walsh writes, “A mysterious detail of Colombo’s drawing is the inclusion of two rear elevations for the option of single or twin exhaust outlets.” Later in the article, Walsh cites Paulo Cognolato, specialist in the car’s restoration: “Studying these plans I spotted two holes in the tail. When we investigated the original inner bodywork, we found a welded-up hole for a second exhaust exit. Maybe this wartime car had been tested with a V12 in its spare lungo chassis.”
A Quick Run on the Autostrada (and a Royal Drive). Walsh recounts, “The coachwork was eventually built at Alfa Corse around a spare 8C-2900 long chassis, which was ready for autostrada testing on the Milano-Como section in September 1941.”
“With a higher axle ratio fitted,” Walsh observes, “the 1130kg (2491lb) Spider clocked 219.5kph (136mph) at 5300rpm. During testing, the 19-year-old King Michael of Romania turned up while on a visit to Alfa Romeo. After a high-speed ride with Spanish chief engineer Wifredo Ricart, he was invited to drive the prototype.”
A Royal Learns About Power/Weight. Walsh continues, “Story has it the newly recrowned royal was so impressed by the prototype’s performance that he ordered an 8C-2900 (chassis 41039) with a saloon body by Touring. The shy young monarch was fascinated by engineering, particularly aviation, and later wrote to Alfa reporting his disappointment with his new 8C saloon’s performance due to the heavy bodywork.”
Walsh observes, “No doubt the dramatic motorway blast with Ricart had built up his expectations.” And the young monarch learns a bit about power-to-weight ratios of high-performance cars.
Tomorrow in Part 2, we continue Mick Walsh’s discussion of the Alfa Romeo Corsa Sperimentale Balena as it earns a best of classic automotive environments.
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025