Alfa Romeo P3 Tipo B, Italian GP 1932 #8, weathered

Vittorio Jano's Tipo B made its debut at Monza on 5 June 1932, in the Italian Grand Prix, and won. It is regarded as the first genuine single-seat Grand Prix car: a slim monoposto body over a 2,654 cc straight-eight fed by twin Roots superchargers, good for 215 hp. Tazio Nuvolari drove it for five hours and 83 laps against Luigi Fagioli's sixteen-cylinder Maserati and the Bugattis of Louis Chiron and Achille Varzi, the lead changing hands through the pit stops, and crossed the line first with Fagioli second. It was the beginning of the most successful single-seater of its day.

This example is finished as the car might have looked as it came in from those five hours. The red is dulled and speckled, the cream #8 on cowl and tail worn back at the edges, the nose and grille scuffed, the tyres grey with dust and the chassis rails, exhaust and suspension dark with oil and road grime. The patina is an applied finish over the full mechanical detail beneath: the louvred bonnet still opens on both sides to the supercharged eight, and the wood-rimmed wheel and leather seat show matching wear. The base model is CMC's M-219, built at 1:18 from 1,805 parts. This example has been weathered by hand to look race-worn, and was made in Germany.