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Chassis:
Constructed during the War, this is the final 8C 2900 know to have been completed. It was built on a long chassis and fitted with a special streamlined body. This was reportedly penned by engineer Gioachino Colombo, who was better known for his engines designed for Alfa Romeo and subsequently Ferrari. The one-off bodywork earned the car its nickname of Balena, which is Italian for whale. Perhaps not to everyone’s taste aesthetically, it was effective as it beat a similar Touring Spyder bodied example by 20 km/h during a comparison test. It was also test driven by the King of Romania, who would subsequently acquire a sister car with more formal bodywork. Having served its purpose at the factory, the Balena was sold to Argentina. Here it was raced with some success through to 1952.
Following its racing career, it then lay dormant in the Buenos Aires area for over two decades. The experimental car then changed hands several times before it was acquired by Italian Count Vittorio Zanon in the 1980s. He had the car comprehensively restored using the original drawings and the body panels that had survived. Presumably to improve cooling, the radiator grill had been increased in size considerably and the headlights relocated. All this was changed back to how it was when the car was first produced in 1941. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, it had two further custodians before it was acquired by Evert Louwman. Still in full running order, it has since been regularly used when it was not on display in Louwman’s fabulous museum in The Hague, The Netherlands.
| Chassis details |
| Manufactured in |
1941 |
| Engine number |
422043 |
| First owner |
Alfa Romeo |
| Last known location |
Louwman Museum |
| Appearances |
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8C 2900B ‘Balena’
