Cars from 1920 to 1950 - The golden age of the car
Alfa Roméo Type 12C
1938
Code 1119
Body style: two-seat racer
Alfa Romeo needed to counter the growing racing threat of Auto Union and Mercedes and developed a 12-cylinder sportscar, whose power was close to 370 hp, but which still wasn’t strong enough to compete. This spectacular model, Code 1119, of which only four units were built, nonetheless won the Antwerp Grand Prix in 1939, with Farina at the wheel. In the post-war period, Swiss driver Peter Daetwyller won several European Hill Climb Championship prizes with the 12C, kitted out with a new body. The engine of this magnificent car was discovered by Fritz Schlumpf as the outboard motor of a boat. Only one other example exists, in the Alfa Romeo Museum in Arese (Italy).
