‘World’s best vintage sports car’ dating back to 1938 expected to sell for $20 million – only 5 of its kind still exist

A VINTAGE car originally designed for racing is a decorated motorsports winner, and heading towards the auction block.

It could be yours for the jaw-dropping starting price of $20 million.

Courtesy of Gooding & Company

Courtesy of Gooding & Company

Courtesy of Gooding & Company

The 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider is one of five prewar cars designed by the Italian automaker specifically to win races and win races it did.

It took 10 years for the company to develop, and Vittoria Jano saw the incredible car cross the finish line several times.

The car has a handful of Grand Prix wins, a few 24 Hours of Le Mans wins, a win at the Mille Miglia, the Targa Florio, and the 24 Hours of Spa.

It also won first place at the Watkins Glen Road Race .

The 2.9-liter engine was developed in 1931, and with an average race speed of 132 mpg, it was one of the fastest race cars of its era.

Of course, speed was the purpose, but Carrozzeria Touring saw that it didn’t pass other race cars without Italian style.

The chassis was built to be incredibly light by using steel tubes wrapped with aluminum panels.

Many of the race cars of the era were made of heavy wood, making the Alfa lighter on its feet and easier to handle.

Simon Moore, the author of a book covering the car bumper to bumper, wrote a “majority of these fabulous cars were fitted with bespoke bodywork by Carrozzeria Touring, both in closed Berlinetta form and as open spiders.”

He surmised that eight long-chassis Touring Spider versions of the 8C 2900B were ever built, wrote Robb Report .

The example being auctioned off by Gooding & Company is one of five authentic models produced between 1935 and 1936.

Chassis No. 412027 was exported to Egypt sometime in the 1940s by Major Raymond Flower, a proprietor of the Cairo Motor Company.

Just after the war ended, it was then shipped to Germany to Hans Ernst, a pilot – who kept the car until 1953.

The Alfa didn’t make its way to the states until 1955.

Once here, it transferred owners many times until it was bought by Dr. Fred Simeone towards the end of the 1970s.

Stats of the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider

The Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider is regarded as the best race car of its era, due to the design, construction, and engine.

The specifications for the incredibly rare car are as follows:

• 2.9-liter twin supercharged inline eight-cylinder engine, making up to 225 horsepower, depending on the tune
• Produced between 1935 and 1936
• Four-speed manual transmission, with reverse
• Curb weight of 2,755.8 lbs

In 1994, Lukas Hüni paid for a full restoration of the car.

After the restoration, he earned first place at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in 1996 before being sold to Oscar David in 1998.

In 2000, he won first place at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

When David died in 2021, it was sold to a private collector in Florida.

Now, the vehicle will hit the auction block to go to its next owner at the Gooding & Company auction in Monterey, California, on August 16 and 17.

Courtesy of Gooding & Company