Alfa 308 / 312 / 316 Monopostos

[Patrick Italiano <P.Italiano@domain.elided>]

I'm afraid that historical notes on rare Alfas interest only a marginal
part of the digesters, but, even if it's a 'specialists' thread, it's so
much of a pleasure to share such infos...

I've done some research on those cars for the remarkable dutch review
'Klaverblaadje' last year, thus I can add something to John's comments on
the 308. A complete article is due to be published in a forthcoming issue
of 'Klaverblaadje'.


>The 308 is covered, briefly, in Simon Moore's book on the 2.9s. It is not 
>mentioned in "Le Alfa Romeo di Vittorio Jano", which is a sad indication of 
>its modest place in Alfa Romeo's certainly rich history.

I can't agree with the statement of a 'modest place'. The car is simply out
of focus in a Jano related book, because the car was developed in 1938,
after Jano's departure, even if it used most Jano's components, as did most
of Alfas up to 1950. Race histories of 308s are numerous and succesful
especially in Argentina, the subject being rather well covered in Hull and
Slater's History. It has anyway a more obvious place in Moore's book, since
chassis and engine are very closely linked with 2.9s, more than with 8C35s.
Moore mentions that some Mille Miglia 8C 2.9 did use Tipo 308 engines,
which are tuned-up 2.9s.

>The 308 was an expedient modification of the 8C 1935 for the new three liter 
>formula while the three liter 12 was being developed; 

That's close to exactness, but in fact all three, 308, 312 and 316 were
developped simultaneously. All three car types were entered in the Tripoli
Grand Prix early 1938 (don't recall the date by memory - no archive at hand
quite here). The confusing point is that the 316 entered only in practice
had a 308-like body, i.e. taller and narrower than later cars. Exhausts
prevents from misidentification, while pictures of that actual car are
wrongly described in several books as a 308.

All those racers were built from existing parts and chassis, as emergency
solutions.
Even engines were all three quick adaptation of existing engines: John is
right about the in-line-8 story, but the 312 had a bored down, 3-litre
version of Jano's 4.4-litre V12 from the 12C 37, and the V16 wasn't other
than a couple of 158 engines, with dual crankshafts in a single crankcase,
as John mentioned.

>Recapitulating the chassis, the 8C 1935 monoposto, 12C 1936, 8C 2900 A and B 
>sports cars, 12C 1937, 308, 312 and 316 (with two 158 engines on a single 
>crankcase) all had extremely similar chassis with swing axles[...]

That's the only point on which I have to question John's post, because
there are two completely different chassis involved. On one hand, there's a
C-shaped chassis used in the first mentioned cars: 8C35, 12C36, 2.9 A and
B. But Jano developped for the 12C37 a brand new, completely different and
lower chassis, even retaining the same suspension principles.
It's commonly admitted that the failure of that car induced Jano's
dismission. The car did indeed very bad in 1937, but was entered under
political pressure while not at all raceworthy. Nuvolari refused to drive
it, preferring an outdated 12C36 instead, and it was said that Jano's
project was completely wrong. 
It's that chassis, sorted out for 1938 (the most evident difference is a
completely different steering) that was then used for both 312 and 316 in
1938, no more criticism being spent about it. The best results were a
second place at Monza GP, 1938 for the 316, and race leading for half
Belgian GP at Francorchamps, 1939.

My humble opinion is that, while little known and successful, 312 and 316
are amongst the most beautiful pre-war racers.

Hope I didn't bother...

Patrick Italiano
Belgium

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