Alfa Romeo P3
Alfa Romeo P3
Category Grand Prix 750 kg
Constructor Alfa Romeo
Team/s 1932– Alfa Corse
1933/1935 - Scuderia Ferrari
Designer Vittorio Jano
Predecessor Alfa Romeo Tipo A
Successor 1935 Monoposto 8C 35 Type C
Drivers 1932 + Tazio Nuvolari, Rudolf Caracciola, Giuseppe Campari, Baconin Borzacchini
1933 + Louis Chiron, Luigi Fagioli, Giuseppe Campari
1934 + Achille Varzi, Louis Chiron, Guy Moll, Brian E. Lewis, Carlo Felice Trossi, Gianfranco Comotti
1935 + Tazio Nuvolari, Raymond Sommer, Louis Chiron, Comte George de Montbressieux, Richard Shuttleworth, René Dreyfus, Vittorio Belmondo, Mario Tadini, Antonio Brivio, Guido Barbieri, Pietro Ghersi, Renato Balestrero
1936 + Raymond Sommer, "Charlie" Martin, Comte José María de Villapadierna, Giovanni Battaglia, Clemente Biondetti, Austin Dobson
Chassis channel section side members
Suspension (front) Semi elliptic leaf springs, friction dampers
1935 independent Dubonnet system with trailing links
Suspension (rear) Semi elliptic leaf springs, friction dampers
1935 reversed quarter elliptic leaf springs
Engine Front mounted, Alfa Romeo,
Straight-8 (two straight 4 blocks),
Twin Roots Superchargers

1932 - 2654 cc, (65x100mm)
1934 - 2905 cc, (68x100mm)
1935 - 3165 cc, bored out for German Grand Prix

Gearbox Alfa Romeo 4-speed manual
c.1934 Alfa Romeo 3-speed manual
Wheelbase 104 in (2,642 mm)
Track Front 55 in (1,397 mm), Rear 53 in (1,346 mm)
Dry Weight 1,545 lb (700 kg)
Fuel
Tyres 1932– Dunlop
1933/35 - Englebert
Debut 1932 Italian Grand Prix, Tazio Nuvolari, 1st
Races competed
Constructors' Championships Not applicable before 1958
Drivers' Championships Not applicable before 1950
Race victories 46
1932 Italian Grand Prix, Tazio Nuvolari
1932 French Grand Prix, Tazio Nuvolari
1932 German Grand Prix, Rudolf Caracciola
1932 Coppa Ciano, Tazio Nuvolari
1932 Coppa Acerbo, Tazio Nuvolari
1932 Monza Grand Prix, Rudolf Caracciola
1933 Coppa Acerbo, Luigi Fagioli
1933 Grand Prix du Comminges, Luigi Fagioli
1933 Marseille Grand Prix, Louis Chiron
1933 Italian Grand Prix, Luigi Fagioli
1933 Masaryk Circuit, Louis Chiron
1933 Spanish Grand Prix, Louis Chiron
1934 Monaco Grand Prix, Guy Moll
1934 Alessandria Grand Prix, Achille Varzi
1934 Tripoli Grand Prix, Achille Varzi
1934 Casablanca Grand Prix, Louis Chiron
1934 Targa Florio, Achille Varzi
1934 Internationale Avus Rennen, Guy Moll
1934 Mannin Moar, Hon. Brian Lewis
1934 Montreux Grand Prix, Comte Trossi
1934 Penya Rhin GP, Achille Varzi
1934 Grand Prix de France, Louis Chiron
1934 Grand Prix de la Marne, Louis Chiron
1934 GP de Vichy, Comte Carlo Trossi,
1934 German Grand Prix, Tazio Nuvolari
1934 Coppa Ciano, Achille Varzi
1934 Grand Prix de Nice, Achille Varzi
1934 Grand Prix du Comminges, Gianfranco Comotti
1934 Circuito di Biella, Comte Trossi,
1935 Grand Prix du Pau, Tazio Nuvolari
1935 Bergamo Circuit, Tazio Nuvolari
1935 GP de France, Raymond Sommer
1935 Biella Circuit, Tazio Nuvolari
1935 Lorraine GP, Louis Chiron
1935 Marne GP, René Dreyfus
1935 Dieppe GP, René Dreyfus
1935 Varese Circuit, Vittorio Belmondo
1935 German Grand Prix, Tazio Nuvolari
1935 GP du Comminges, Raymond Sommer
1935 Coppa Ciano, Tazio Nuvolari
1935 Nice GP, Tazio Nuvolari
1935 Coppa Edda Ciano, Mario Tadini
1935 Donington GP, Richard Shuttleworth
1935 Coppa della Sila, Antonio Brivio
1935 Brooklands Mountain Circuit Championship, Richard Shuttleworth
Last season 1935

The Alfa Romeo P3, P3 monoposto or Tipo B was a classic Grand Prix car designed by Vittorio Jano, one of the Alfa Romeo 8C models. The P3 is considered to be the world's first genuine single-seat Grand Prix racing car[1] and was Alfa Romeo's second monoposto after the Tipo A monoposto (1931).[2] It was based on the earlier successful Alfa Romeo P2. Taking lessons learned from that car, Jano went back to the drawing board to design a car that could last longer race distances.

Description

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1932 Alfa Romep P3 s/n 5006 at Laguna Seca in 2009.

The P3 was the first genuine single seater racing car, and was powered by a supercharged eight-cylinder engine. The car was very light for the period, weighing just over 1,500 lb (680 kg) despite using a cast iron engine block.

Introduced halfway through the European 1932 Grand Prix season in June, the P3 won its first race at the hands of Tazio Nuvolari and went on to win 6 races in total in that year, driven by both Nuvolari and Rudolf Caracciola. These victories included all three major Grands Prix in Italy, France and Germany.

The 1933 Grand Prix season brought financial difficulties to Alfa Corse, so the cars were simply locked away and Alfa intended to rest on their laurels. Enzo Ferrari had to run his breakaway 'works' Alfa team as Scuderia Ferrari, using the older, less effective Alfa Monzas. Alfa procrastinated until August and missed the first 25 events, and only after much wrangling was the P3 finally handed over to Scuderia Ferrari. P3s then won six of the final 11 events of the season including the final 2 major Grands Prix in Italy and Spain.

The regulations for the 1934 Grand Prix season brought larger bodywork requirements, so to counteract this, the engine was bored out to 2.9 litres. 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 in 6 rounds of the European Championship, but that didn't stop one final, legendary works victory. The P3 was bored out to 3.2 litres for Nuvolari for the 1935 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, in the heartland of the Mercedes and Auto-Union empire. In the race, Nuvolari punctured a tyre early on while leading, but after his next pitstop he carved back through the field until the last lap when Manfred von Brauchitsch, driving the more powerful Mercedes Benz W25, suffered a puncture, leaving Nuvolari to win the race in front of 300,000 stunned Germans.

The P3's agility and versatility enabled it to win 16 of the 39 Grands Prix in 1935, cementing its status as a truly great racing car.


Technical data

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Technical data 1932 1934 1935
Engine:  Front mounted 8-cylinder in-line engine
displacement 2654 cm³ 2905 cm³ 3822 cm³
Bore x stroke:  65 x 100mm 68 x 100mm 78 x 100 mm
Max power:  215 hp 255 hp 330 hp
Valve control:  2 overhead camshafts, 2 valves per cylinder
Upload 2 Roots compressors
Gearbox 4-speed manual 3-speed manual
suspension front:  Stiff front axle Individual, type Dubonnet
Front suspension:  Longitudinal leaf springs Coil springs
suspension rear:  Stiff rear axle
Rear suspension:  Longitudinal leaf springs Cantilever Suspension
Brakes Hydraulic drum brakes
Wheelbase 264 cm 267 cm
Dry weight About 700 kg
Top speed:  230 km/h ? km/h ? km/h

Drivers

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Notes

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  1. ^ "Alfa Romeo P3". ddavid.com. Archived from the original on 13 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
  2. ^ "Alfa Romeo Tipo A Monoposto". ultimatecarpage.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-04.

References

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