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Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider by Touring Heading to Auction

During an era when photographs were black and white and there was no SiriusXM Radio, Alfa Romeo used to make cars like this fellow here. Care to guess how much an 8C 2900B Lungo Spider is worth nowadays? Prepare for a jaw drop, a really huge jaw drop.
Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider by Touring 46 photos
Photo: Darin Schnabel, Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
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I won’t beat around the bush. If you want to own this black-painted beauty from the dusk of the Interwar Period, you’d better pony up anything between $20,000,000 and $25,000,000. That’s the estimate from RM Sotheby’s, the outfit which will try to sell the Italian counterpart of the Bugatti 57SC Atlantic.

One of just about 12 Touring Spider examples still in existence, the 8C 2900B Lungo here is presented as “the first Immortal 2.9 to be offered at public auction this century.” The exterior design is to die for, if I’m to be brutally honest. By comparison, the 8C Spider of the 21st century looks something like a kitchen appliance next to its lionized forerunner from the '30s.

The interior also looks as if it belongs in art gallery. The two Veglia gauges do it for me. But great styling alone doesn’t cut it. Under the long, imposing hood, the Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider by Touring hides one of the most acclaimed engines of the 1930s - a straight-eight tower-of-power displacing 2.9 liters. The said power plant prides itself on bundles of racing heritage, dual Roots-type superchargers, dual overhead cams, and 180 bhp.

And yes, the man who developed this engine is none other than Vittorio Jano, a lad who also worked for Lancia and Ferrari. Moving on, the current owner describes this car as “a pleasure to drive way beyond its years.”

Sam Mann also mentions that “most supercars today don’t have a place for glasses or a jacket, and here in 1939, you have a car that has substantial performance along with convenience and elegance for a weekend drive – or to cross Europe.” Considering that this old Alfa Romeo can be pushed beyond 105 miles per hour even today, almost eight decades after its beautiful body shell was completed by Carrozzeria Touring, I can’t argue with that.

Given these circumstances, is there anybody out there who can lend me $25 million without interest? Much appreciated, thanks!
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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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