Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 MM #11 – Spark

1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 MM #11
Pilots: R. Sommer, T. Nuvolari
Team: Soc. Anon. Alfa Romeo
Race: 1st overall (3.0 class) at Le Mans in 1933
Spark - 43LM33 (resin)

Published 11/21/22

Alfa Romeo’s 8C 2300 first came out in 1931, both for regular road use and competition. Designed by Vittorio Jano, the engine was a straight-8 (alloy cylinder block and heads) displacing 2336 cm³, with DOHC. Supercharged by a Roots-type blower, it could deliver up to 178 hp. Alfa Romeo produced a total of 188 units, with most of them being passenger cars. For competitions, Alfa modified the race cars according to the race. For instance, the Monza version was a short-wheel chassis used for Grand Prix racing – in fact, most of the 188 cars produced had a short-wheel base. Conversely, for endurance racing Alfa used a longer chassis, called MM (Mille Miglia) or LM (Le Mans). The difference between the two was that the MM had four seats while the LM had only two.

In both the 1931 and 1932 24 Heures du Mans Alfa Romeo’s 8C 2300 came in first place. Yet, with Alfa Romeo struggling financially, in the end of 1932 the brand disbanded their works teams. With that, for 1933 Alfa’s cars would be in the hands of privateers, though some would receive factory support. Despite the lack of an official factory presence at La Sarthe, there were seven Alfa Romeo cars lined up for the race. Five of them were the big 8C 2300 in the 3.0 class, and two were 6C 1750 in the 2.0 class. Of the five 8C 2300, two were Monza, two were MM and one was a LM version. Supposedly there should have been two more 8C 2300, though they did not arrive for the race.

In the 1932 race, Raymond Sommer piloted an 8C 2300 LM to victory. His partner, Luigi Chinetti, got sick in the beginning of the race, forcing Sommer to take the wheel for almost 20 hours straight. In 1933 he was back at La Sarthe, and again with an 8C 2300. However, this year he used a MM version, fitted with an oversized fuel tank to allow less fuel stops. He also had another advantage: his co-driver would be the great Tazio Nuvolari. Il Mantuan was the current European Grand Prix Champion, and Alfa Romeo managed to release him from Scuderia Ferrari just for Le Mans. And just as important, two months before, he won the Mille Miglia, also piloting an 8C 2300 MM.  

However, Sommer wanted to pilot most of the race, since Nuvolari had never raced at La Sarthe. He was also fearful that Nuvolari would break the car. Tazio would have none of that, since he thought Le Mans was a simple layout that would not trouble him. Besides, he was a Grand Prix champion, so they agreed to divide wheel-time equally. 8C 2300 MM #11 (chassis #2211109) started out in the lead, however at 4:30am on Sunday a fuel tank leak appeared. The solution? Chewing gum 😅. Though the fix worked, further stops were necessary as the makeshift repair came undone several times. Nonetheless, Nuvolari broke the lap record nine (!) times, and finished 370 m ahead of the second-place car. This was Alfa Romeo’s third overall victory at La Sarthe, and not the last one with a chewing gum fix.

Though I’m not a big alfista, this model was a grail model for me. After all, it is a Nuvolari ride, fixed with chewing gum 😋. And by far, the most striking of the 8C 2300 Le Mans winners. However, it was really hard to find one. Even the Ixo version is scarce. Spark first released this at least a decade ago, and it vanished from the market. Fortunately, they began to re-issue some of their older releases, and 8C 2300 MM #11 is one of them. This one is from the newer batch, and nonetheless a recent release, it is already scarce. Again 😣. I was fortunate to get one only because my trusted dealer (MVR) secured one for me. A doozy of a model, with the habitual top-notch Spark detail level. So, a looker of a model and with huge history behind it? A must buy.