RE: more less-is-more, plus various-

["John Fielding" <johnf@domain.elided>]

John Hertzman detailed various books he has on racing cars.  I y'day borrowed from the
local library a book which is one of my favourites.  On the cover is a magnificient colour
cut away diagram of the Alfa Romeo P3 monoposto with its straight 8 cylinder
twin-supercharged motor of 2654cc.

The book is called "Classic Racing Cars" written by Cyril Posthumous, published by Hamlyn
ISBN 0 600 31909 1.

Also covered in detail are the Alfetta 158 and 159.  The first appearance of the 158 was
in 1938 and they gained a one-two victory in their first outing at Monza.  Later in 1939
season the  Mercedes-Benz team beat them convincingly, however in the 1940 event at
Tripoli (the MB team has won the 1939 race) the Alfetta's took a one-two-three place
victory, albiet MB by now was embroiled in the war and had more important things to worry
about.  These cars before and after the second world war were virtually unbeatable and
when the war broke out the Italians secreted them away (bricked up in a cave ) in a cheese
factory at Melzo, near Milan, high in the alps to prevent the Nazis from getting their
hands on them.  After the war the cars were brought out and prepared for the first GP
after the hostilities, the 1946 event at  St Cloud  saw problems with overheating which
was soon cured and the power output was raised progressively to about 245HP and the events
at Geneva, Milan & Turin were a sweeping success.

The designation 158 refers to the engine capacity 1.5L and the 8 refers to the number of
cylinders.  Alfa Romeo took a year off in 1949 to develop the car further, the 158
becoming the 159 where Alfa Romeo  seems to break the tradition as it still used the
1.5litri 8 cilindri motor of the 158.  The Alfetta's (a name given to them by the fans,
meaning little Alfa) remained dominant up until 1951 when the Ferrari team (in the Ferrari
375, a 4.5L unsupercharged car with 12 cylinders designed by Aurelio Lampredi) finally
managed to break the stranglehold at the British GP at Silverstone.  The formula at that
time permitted either a 4.5L normally aspirated motor or a 1.5L supercharged motor.

The early Ferrari's used the 1.5L twin-supercharged option switching to the 4.5L motor in
1951 when it became apparent that the only way to beat the opposition was to use a more
fuel efficient, lighter and better handling car.  The Ferrari was indeed better handling,
hence less hard on the tyres and allowed it to go further between pit-stops.  When Enzo
Ferrari was informed of his teams victory at the Silverstone GP in 1951 he said "I have
killed my mother!"  Enzo Ferrari had worked for Alfa Romeo for 18 years prior to becoming
a manufacturer himself.

What Ferrari really had done was more important, they had killed the 1.5L supercharged
engine formula. They showed that a bigger engine using less fuel and hence carrying
smaller tanks, would be lighter and could compete with and beat the brittle 1.5L
supercharged cars.

At the end the Alfetta 1.5L twin-supercharged motor was developing a staggering 420HP at
9600rpm, running on an exotic blend of alcohol and consuming fuel at the rate of 2mpg.
Alfa Romeo finally pulled out of GP racing in 1952 when the Italian government was
reluctant to fund the ever increasing costs of national pride.  The Alfetta 158/159 had an
unbroken run of victories from 1940 through to 1951, with the war years of 1941-1945 being
dormant, of 26 with a total of 33 during its long career.  The last victory was by Fangio
in a 159 in 1951 at the Spanish GP when Ferrari made a terrible mistake with its choice of
tyres. This gave Juan Manuel the 2nd world championship, the world championship only being
started in 1950 and won by Ascari.

John

Durban
South Africa
Alfetta 159i - the 1985 version, I wish I has a 1950 model!
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