Car of the Week: This Concours-Winning 1938 Alfa Romeo Could Fetch $20 Million at Auction

As in the world of fine art, when it comes to the greatest classic cars, there are a handful of undisputed masterpieces whose fame and significance only increase through the ages. The contemporary art market may wax and wane, just as one day a certain supercar may be “up” and the next day “down,” but like the eternal expression of Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, the appeal of Alfa Romeo’s 8C 2900B Lungo Spider is unaffected by tastes, trends, and time. Today, it ranks as perhaps the greatest prewar sports car of them all.

The Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 was designed to win races, the result of a decade’s development by the marque’s chief engineer, Vittorio Jano. Under his aegis, Alfa Romeo scored numerous grand prix wins, including victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Mille Miglia, the Targa Florio, the 24 Hours of Spa, and the Watkins Glen Road Race, among other motorsport contests.

The model’s straight-eight engine, first seen in 1931, initially grew in displacement from 2.3 liters to 2.6 liters, and finally reached a 2.9-liter capacity. The 8C 2900A, made from 1935 through 1936, was followed by the 2900B from 1937 through 1939. The power plant’s cylinder head, cast from light aluminum alloy, featured hemispherical combustion chambers and two gear-driven camshafts. Together with twin Roots-type superchargers, the engine developed between approximately 180 hp and 225 hp, depending on tune. A four-speed transaxle was placed at the rear of the chassis, the latter having fully independent suspension and massive hydraulic brakes with finned-aluminum drums at each corner. The 8C 2900 was among the fastest vehicles of the period, with one works-car example averaging 132 mph over a 50-mile section of Autostrada during the 1938 Mille Miglia.

Even if it was only a bare chassis with Jano’s exquisite engine, the Alfa’s 8C would be an automotive jewel. That it came with coachwork by Milan-based Carrozzeria Touring made it nothing short of perfection. Touring patented the Superleggera (superlight) method of coachbuilding, which utilizes a network of thin steel tubes describing the shape of the body, wrapped with sculpted aluminum panels. As well as being light in comparison to a traditional body’s wooden-frame construction, the Touring bodies were streamlined, optimally proportioned, and flawlessly detailed.

According to authority Simon Moore, who wrote the definitive book on the model (The Immortal 2.9; Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 A & B), “the majority of these fabulous cars were fitted with bespoke bodywork by Carrozzeria Touring, both in closed Berlinetta form and as open spiders.” Moore adds that “it appears that eight long-chassis cars were built with Touring spider bodies, one of which is the car offered, chassis No. 412027.”

Indeed, this is one of only five genuine 8C 2900B Lungo (long chassis) Touring Spiders known to still exist, and it’s fitted with its original body (No. 2023). Altogether, fewer than 50 examples of the 8C 2900 were produced—either in road or racing guise—between 1935 and 1939.

Chassis No. 412027 was exported to Egypt in the early 1940s, or perhaps even earlier, by Major Raymond Flower, proprietor of the Cairo Motor Company. By 1948, it had been sold to Zürich-based pilot Hans Ernst, who kept it until 1953. It was in the U.S. by 1955, and went through a number of owners, including Vojta Mashek and Ben Moser, then was acquired at the end of the 1970s by noted collector Dr. Fred Simeone.

Lukas Hüni, also of Zürich, became the next steward in 1994, and commissioned a full restoration of the car. The work paid off, as the vehicle won the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este at its debut in 1996. Following its sale to Oscar Davis in 1998, the Alfa took First in Class at the 2000 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. After Davis passed away in 2021, the car was sold to a Florida collector.

Alarmingly, the Alfa was stolen—along with the truck and transporter carrying it—while on its way to a restoration facility in Maine. Insurer AIG settled the claim, becoming the legal title holder of the stolen vehicle. Yet by December of 2023, the car was tracked down and located by the FBI. The Alfa will be present for Northern California’s Monterey Car Week, where it will be auctioned for the first time in its history at Gooding & Company’s 20th annual Pebble Beach sale, being held August 16 and 17. The rare prewar automobile carries a high-end estimate of $20 million.

Click below for more photos of this 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider.