1934 Alfa Romeo P3 - supercharged inline-8 Grand Prix car

1934 Alfa Romeo Tipo B Monoposto "P3"
Engine: inline-8 supercharged / 2905 cc / 177.2 cu in
Power: 255 hp / 189.9 kw
Gearbox: 4-speed manual
Weight: 750kg / 1653.4 lbs
Top speed: 225 kph / 140 mph
Event: Spa six hours
Race series: Historic Grand Prix Cars Association www.hgpca.net/
Date: 15-16 September 2017
Track: Spa-Francorchamps
Driver: Stephan Rettenmaier (DE)
The classic "Tipo B" was the first significant Grand Prix car to use streamlined single seater bodies. When the 2.6 litre car appeared in 1932 it was simply known as the "Monoposto". For 1934 the car was upgraded with a 2.9 litre engine and wider bodywork to conform with the 750 kg formula. The 2.9 litre car was offically known as the Tipo B. Also the 2.6 litre car became retrospectivly known as Tipo B. Among the press the car, as the successor to the Alfa Romeo "P2", has been called the "P3" but it remains doubtful if that name was used officially.
The engine was similar in design to the 2.3 litre engine used in the "Monza" (1931). With a new alloy block the engine with its twin superchargers on the left side had a wide powerband and excellent low speed torque, giving the light chassis a good acceleration out of corners.
The cars made their debut for the Alfa Romeo works team at the 1932 Italian GP winning first time out and then winning 3 more races before the team withdrew the cars leaving the Ferrari team to represent Alfa Romeo for 1933 with its "Monzas". After Ferrari failed to score with the "Monzas" Alfa Romeo finally had to release the Tipo B's to Ferrari in August 1933 in time for Chiron and Fagioli to dominate the end of the season with 3 victories each.
For 1934 the bodies were bulged out to 85 cm and the engine size was increased to 2.9 litres by changing the bore to 68 mm. There were rumours that as many as 25 cars would be built and sold to privateers but Alfa Romeo changed their mind and access to new cars were restricted to Scuderia Ferrari. However the rebuilt 2.6 litre cars were later sold to privateers as brand new cars were built for the Ferrari team.
Louis Chiron won the French Grand Prix at Montlhery, whilst the German Silver Arrows dominated the other four rounds of the European Championship. However the P3s won 18 of all the 35 Grands Prix held throughout Europe.
By the 1935 Grand Prix season the P3 was hopelessly uncompetitive against the superior German cars (Auto Union & Mercedes-Benz) in 6 rounds of the European Championship, but that didn't stop one final, legendary works victory. When Tazio Nuvolari beat the combined German might of five Mercedes and four Auto Unions. That race, the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, in front of dozens of Nazi officials and 300.000 spectators is considered one of Nuvolari's greatest victories of all time while the car that took him to victory, the P3 is enshrined in the pantheon of great Grand Prix cars.
More info on this great website.
www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/...
Filmed with Canon Legria HF G40 + Røde Videomic Pro
The video has been color graded to give it an "oldschool" feeling.
Related video
• 1936 Maserati 6CM at S...
My pictures
belgian-motorsport.com
www.flickr.com/photos/belgian...
Follow me on Facebook and instagram
/ belgian.motorsport
/ belgianmotorsport
---------------------------------------------------------
keywords
---------------------------------------------------------
loud engine exhaust sound idle revs revving car automobile racecar alfa romeo p3 tipob Monoposto 1934 spa francorchamps six hours 2017 sixh 6hours 6h hgpca Stephan Rettenmaier Historic Grand Prix Cars Association grandprix gp masters inline8 8cyl supercharged Nuvolari chiron scuderia ferrari

[@sylentxtinction2097]

Best sounding 255 horsepower you'll ever hear.

[@jcgabriel1569]

What's more amazing is that it only had a 3 speed gearbox! Such was the torque of the engine that when they removed the first gear to make the gearbox more reliable, they found that it could go off the line in 2nd just as well as any other car!

[@jcgabriel1569]

the early ones (1932 versions) had 4 speeds. But when they started putting bigger engines (1934- 2.9 and 1935-3.2 liters), the series 2 cars (like the one in the video and the legendary 1935 German GP winning car, of course) had the first gear removed to make room for the thicker, new gears. So you're right, the gearbox modification is made to maintain the cars' reliability

[@jcgabriel1569]

What those P3s lack today were really fast drivers, like the ERA drivers. You cansee it there in the video, on the long straights, even a 1960s single seater is unable to pass the Alfa. I would really like to see one of those P3 or Maserati 8CM defeat those ERAs at Goodwood Revival.

[@maxwellglobule6543]

Old beast..alfa is a great italian car maker

[@trespire]

What a legend, sounds better than any modern car, like a symphonic orchestra with all those harmonics. Goes like stink too.

[@jcgabriel1569]

The driver isn't even the faster driver...

[@mikebeeton4982]

Proper Italian car

[@giorgiopolizzi5038]

Tazio Nuvolari's favorite car 46 victories from 1932 to 1935

[@davegodkin9066]

Fun fact my grandfather Ron Roycroft of New Zealand also owned and raced the famous P3 to great success for many years. It was a sad day when it finally left our family.

[@jcgabriel1569]

@@davegodkin9066 That's fantastic! Your grandfather owned 50005, the most important of all the P3s (and my absolute favourite). The ex-Nuvolari German GP car, also raced by Roy Salvadori (later 1959 Le Mans winner) before the car is shipped to NZ. At least you can feel good about the fact that the current owner regularly races it, and it didn't end up in the hands of some speculator who will just lock it up until its price goes up...

[@davegodkin9066]

@@jcgabriel1569 thank you. Yes I'm very glad to see the P3 Revived in all it's glory on places like U tube at least. Grandad absolutely loved the P3, it suited his hard driving style never giving an inch while cornering. Stirling Moss once likened grandad to the great Juan Manuel Fangio stating if Roycroft ever gets a new car under him the world will see a new world champion, a absolutely wonderful accolade from true legend. Unfortunately for grandad being a stand alone driver he never had the budget to go all the way but none the less he was very successful here in NZ all the while driving much older cars to 5 NZ championships and countless other wins in many classes over the years. He was also fortunate to have owned some other great pedigree race cars over the years also such as ex Gonzalez Ferrari he brought out to NZ in the 50s unfortunately he only had mediocre success as the Ferrari was extremely tired and needed a total rebuild and constant maintenance so he often resorted back to the old but trusty P3.

[@jcgabriel1569]

@@davegodkin9066 Your grandfather had quite a stable! Back then, they were well used race cars, but looking at them now, they were extremely significant! An ex-Nuvolari Alfa Romeo P3 and an ex-Gonzalez Ferrari 375 F1? That's a stable with laurels on them. Still, it's nice to see that your grandfather did well with the cars, despite their advancing age (The Alfa could be considered ancient in 1950s racing!)

[@davegodkin9066]

Yes it was the Ferrari 375 F1. Yep he had quite a stable of classic race cars alright and a fabulous car collection that topped out at 120 cars at any given time, not only many many different Euros but he was a huge fan of American made also Chevy's in particular. The whole collection was quite a site to see not to mention all the racing memorabilia spanning his 30 year career. Unfortunately they are all gone now, except for his type 35a Bugatti still being raced at classic meets by my uncle and also a Parry Thomas special one of five ever built that he has just finished rebuilding after being in bits for over 50 years. But the special will be put on the market for anyone whom appreciates the amazing engineering skills of a legendary designer that was Mr Parry Thomas.

[@tubbahooney]

Lovely piece of thunder!

[@Firestorm500]

That dude has balls of steel for driving that incredible death trap. I’m terrified of driving this thing in Forza Horizon 4!

[@petersmith3953]

Dont describe it in such terms !!!, it is one of Vittorio Jano's finest, any Grand Prix car up to the end of the 70's is a death trap in today's terms, if you.re a youngster , i appreciate your knowlege , i need to learn to spell !!, if you have'nt seen one in the flesh yhen try to do it. My own sons watched cars like this when they were very young, Goodwood Festival of Speed.

[@fredskidgell4116]

The drive shaft is like an inch from your balls.

[@legofordman5788]

Is it just me, or is the engine sound for the P3 in FH4 terrible?

[@jcgabriel1569]

@@legofordman5788 It is, generic and pretty crap.

[@Loulovesspeed]

@@legofordman5788 - What do you expect from just a video game?

[@MRFUCKOFF202]

That is a good noise for 1934

[@jasperbergman6299]

better than most cars today, so raw and violent!

[@ranzen2269]

We need this sounds in FH4

[@althejazz]

Real motoring in a real car !

[@elpatolucas22]

🤣 comentario cliché

[@niksenten5049]

Vittorio Jano engineer , father of the P3

[@mr.petrolhead5432]

Ik vroeg me al af of er een filmpje van dan de alfa ging komen, nu kan ik er weer tegen tot volgend jaar!

[@Belgian-Motorsport]

Er komen nog veel video's van de Spa six hours. Heb alleen weinig tijd om er elke dag één te maken.

[@diyhack2206]

New intro needed!!!

[@Belgian-Motorsport]

Next year ... :)

[@zxr-cade2026]

The great Scudaria Ferrari alfa p3 was a brilliant car

[@ot8479]

That's an Alfa Romeo

[@WendelRLima]

Is Alfa Romeo

[@ilmaio]

Look how this old thing copes, in sheer acceleration out of narrow turnings, with racing cars at least 2 generations more modern. In the '30ies, it was simply unmatchable. 250+ HP, and a top speed matching those of most '930 airplanes...

[@jcgabriel1569]

And it doesn't even have a quick driver at this point! The driver, Stephan Rettenmaier, is a bit more of a backmarker...

[@grumpystony]

If you guys could help me narrow down the years of the loud supercharger. Im assume it was pre war era. Just cant find modern videos of the cars.

[@jcgabriel1569]

Superchargers became in vogue in racing during 1923-24, up until 1951.

[@RDiminutive]

Hi, can I use this for a video?

[@stefanopellegrino5068]

Ma i 5 non mi piace hanno capito cosa stanno guardando?

[@jcgabriel1569]

Can you imagine the sound this will make with a faster driver...

[@OwenMessenger]

This makes the one in forza 6 sound like shit The one in the game sounds like a supercharged v-twin

[@HexThunderOfficial]

Just imagine that engine in a ford mustang

[@jcgabriel1569]

It would've been pretty strong. One owner said the peak torque is reached at around 1,000rpm...

[@Martin-xh1hd]

I am the one dislike

[@Loulovesspeed]

@M Ld - Are you reluctant to tell us why you dislike it?

[@Loulovesspeed]

Evidently you are!

[@firedude1Productions]

@@Loulovesspeed some men just want to watch the world burn

[@Loulovesspeed]

@@firedude1Productions You got that right! The Alfa P3 was an incredible racing machine with many victories under its belt. I think the greatest one was the 1935 German GP when Tazio Nuvolari in his, by then, outdated, under powered Alfa, beat the mighty, superior German Silver Arrows with more than twice the power. The German crowd applauded Nuvolari on his victory, while the Third Reich was incensed!

[@ilmaio]

​@@Loulovesspeed mighty, more powerful, faster, more modern, yes. Superior, quite evidently, nope. The nimbleness of the P3 made up for the lack of pure speed, Nuvolari the fearless did the rest. The "superiority" of german racing cars is a fixation. Only two makers got 10 F1 crowns, one italian, one british. When BMW wanted to make a racing car (the M1) they contracted Lamborghini (who was no maker of racing cars). Suffice to say.