This 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Could Fetch up to $5 Million at Auction

Like many a star athlete, Italian automaker Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (A.L.F.A.), helmed by Nicola Romeo, displayed signs of greatness early on. After what soon became known as Alfa Romeo was launched in 1910, its cars quickly dominated such famed endurance races as the Targa Florio, the Mille Miglia, and even Le Mans during the first three decades of the marque’s existence.

Alfa Romeo’s rich legacy is owed in part to its 8C model line—debuted with the 8C 2300 in 1931—which remains on the short list of long-standing blue-chip collector cars. On May 22, a piece of that lineage will find a new steward when this 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Lungo Cabriolet crosses the auction block through RM Sotheby’s in Milan.

“The Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 is a landmark model and true supercar of the era, so it’s always special when one of these rare cars comes up at auction,” says Greg MacLeman, director of content for RM Sotheby’s in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Produced until 1933, only 188 examples of the 8C 2300 were made. The nomenclature for the model comes from the engine’s number of cylinders and its volume—in this case a straight-eight mill with a little over 2,300 cc of displacement (2,336 cc to be exact). The supercharged power plant was developed by renowned engineer Vittorio Jano, and it propelled the model to victory in the 1931 Targa Florio with racer Tazio Nuvolari behind the wheel. Nuvolari and teammate Giuseppe Campari later piloted an 8C 2300 to a first-place finish at that year’s Italian Grand Prix.

The example on offer, chassis No. 2211075, is a Lungo Cabriolet. The “Lungo” moniker refers to the fact that it’s a long-chassis variant, as opposed to the short-chassis Corto version, and this one continues to wear its original bodywork by Pinin Farina (the renowned coachbuilder later consolidated its name to Pininfarina). According to the auction house’s lot description, “almost nothing of this car’s early history was known until recent research by Archivio Targhe”—the latter comprising a small team of specialists in the process of creating a database of classic Italian cars from the 1920s through the ‘50s.

What is now known is that the vehicle was acquired new by Prince Filiberto, the Duke of Pistoia and Genoa at the time, who entered it in the 1933 Monte Carlo Concours d’Elegance where it was runner-up for the top honor. Four years later, racer Vittorio Belmondo bought the car from the duke and had modifications made that reportedly included a new grille and wings. This 8C 2300 traded hands at least a couple of times again until it found a home with automotive connoisseur Brian Eckersley for more than four decades.

Acquiring the car soon after Eckersley’s passing in 1999, the present owner commissioned a comprehensive restoration that included taking the Alfa apart piece by piece—a five-year task performed by Modena-based Cremoni Classics. As mentioned in the auction notes, the components were either restored, newly fabricated to original specs, or replaced with period-correct counterparts.

The painstaking attention to detail and authenticity has enabled the baronial convertible to be shown at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este and Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, as well as participate in the Coppa della Perugina road rally. And it remains a candidate for all of those and more. “With such impeccable provenance and fresh history from 1932 through 1949 having recently come to light, chassis 2211075 seems perfectly poised for another big concours appearance,” says MacLeman.

As for the state of the market in regard to the model in general, an example of a 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Cabriolet—with coachwork by Castegna—sold for $4.515 million at Gooding & Company’s 2023 Pebble Beach Auctions. Subsequently, an 8C 2300 Lungo Spider—with a body by U.K.-based Eagle Coach Works—fetched $4.075 million through RM Sotheby’s in Monterey last year. In the case of this Pinin Farina–bodied beauty, it carries an estimate of between $3.9 million and $5 million.

Click here for more photos of this 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Lungo Cabriolet.