Alfa Romeo P2 factory racer Giuseppe Campari 1924 French Grand Prix Lyon Formula

Description: A superb and rare photo of the famous Giuseppe Campari in his Alfa Romeo P2 factory racing car on his way to victory in the 1924 French Grand Prix which was ridden on the circuit of Lyon in 3RD of August, 1924. Giuseppe Campari is seen on his way to victory with his magnificent Alfa Romeo P2, a magnificent racing car which at the time had an impressive top speed of 140 mph (225 km/h)! The French Grand Prix was also known as the ACF Grand Prix, ACF being the Auto Club of France. Giuseppe Campari was born in 1892 near the Italian city of Lodi, close to the city of Milan. As a teenager he went to work for the Alfa Romeo automobile company. Campari's job eventually involved test driving factory cars and his skills and interest led to his participation in competitive hillclimbing events. In 1914 the 21-year-old rookie showed his abilities with a fourth place finish at the Targa Florio. Unfortunately, his career was just getting going when World War I broke out and European racing came to a halt. Following the Armistice that ended the war, racing resumed and in 1920 Campari earned his first major race win and the first for the Alfa Romeo company when he drove to victory at Mugello in Tuscany. He repeated as champion at Mugello the next year and took third place at the Targa Florio but did not earn another major championship until he captured the French Grand Prix in 1924 when he was part of a powerful three-man Alfa Romeo team with Count Gastone Brilli-Peri and Antonio Ascari in the P2 cars designed by Vittorio Jano. The 1925 racing season was less than successful for Campari as he and the Alfa Romeo team withdrew from the French Grand Prix in July after Ascari crashed and died. In 1926, Maserati came out with the Tipo 26, its first highly competitive race car that led to Maserati winning the Constructors' title and Ernesto Maserati taking the Italian driving championship in 1927. Despite Maserati's strong performances, Campari claimed victory for Alfa Romeo in the 1927 Coppa Acerbo. The 1928 season saw Giuseppe Campari win his second consecutive Coppa Acerbo and his first at the Mille Miglia. He earned a second-place finish in the Targa Florio, a race he entered several times and although he frequently finished near the top, he never managed a win. The following year he repeated as champion at the Mille Miglia and along with top drivers such as Malcolm Campbell and Rudolf Caracciola, he traveled to Ireland to compete in the inaugural Irish International Grand Prix at Phoenix Park in Dublin. Run in front of more than 100,000 spectators, Campari was hit in the eye by a flying small rock but was successfully treated in hospital and the race was won by the Russian émigré, Boris Ivanowski. Campari also raced in the Tourist Trophy Races at the Ards course in Belfast where he finished second to Caracciola's Mercedes. In 1930, Tazio Nuvolari joined Campari on the Alfa Romeo team. After a sensational debut season, Nuvolari and Campari combined to win their first Italian Grand Prix, a victory that made them national heroes for taking the championship from the French who had won it for the past three years. That same year, Campari won his third Coppa Acerbo but for 1933 he became part of the Maserati team with Baconin Borzacchini and Luigi Fagioli. Campari won his second French Grand Prix driving for Maserati, but at age 41 was ready to retire at the end of the season. The Italian Grand Prix on September 10, 1933 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Italy was to be his last race. After 20 years without any major accidents, disaster stuck in one of the blackest days in Grand Prix racing history. While leading the race, Campari was instantly killed when his car crashed after skidding in a sharp turn on a patch of leaked engine oil. In addition to his love of automobile racing, Giuseppe Campari had two other passions: food, in great quantities that he liked to prepare himself, and the opera. Blessed with a great baritone voice from the depths of an expansive paunch, he took singing lessons and while still racing began to sing professionally. The Alfa Romeo P2 won the inaugural Automobile World Championship in 1925, taking victory in two of the four championship rounds when Antonio Ascari drove it in the European Grand Prix at Spa and Gastone Brilli-Peri won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza after Ascari died while leading the intervening race at Montlhery. Although 1925 brought drastic changes of regulations, from 1924-1930 the P2 was victorious in 14 Grands Prix and major events including the Targa Florio. It was one of the iconic Grand Prix cars of the 1920s, along with the Bugatti Type 35, and enabled Alfa Romeo, as world champions, to incorporate the laurel wreath into their logo. The P2 was introduced by Alfa Romeo for the Circuit of Cremona in northern Italy in 1924, where Antonio Ascari won at over 158 km/h (98 mph), and then went on to win the speed trial at 195 km/h (121 mph). The car was the first creation of Alfa’s new designer Vittorio Jano who had been recruited from Fiat by Enzo Ferrari when Nicola Romeo scrapped the P1 after its poor performance in the 1923 Monza Grand Prix against Fiat. The P2 was powered by Alfa’s first straight-8 cylinder supercharged engine with 2 carburettors placed after the compressor. The 1,987 cc engine of the P2 featured a common crankcase and four plated steel two cylinder blocks. Only 2 of the 6 original models survive, and they can be seen in the Alfa Romeo museum in Arese and the Turin Automobile Museum. The P2 had two body styles using either a cut off or long rear. The company that became Alfa Romeo was founded as Società Anonima Italiana Darracq (SAID) in 1906 by Cavaliere Ugo Stella, an aristocrat from Milan, in partnership with the French automobile firm of Alexandre Darracq. The firm initially produced Darracq cars in Naples, but after the partnership collapsed Stella and the other Italian co-investors moved production to an idle Darracq factory in the Milan suburb of Portello, and the company was renamed A.L.F.A. (Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili). The first non-Darracq car produced by company was the 1910 24 HP, designed by Giuseppe Merosi. Merosi would go on to design a series of new ALFA cars with more powerful engines (40-60 HP). ALFA also ventured into motor racing, drivers Franchini and Ronzoni competing in the 1911 Targa Florio with two 24 HP models. However, the onset of World War I halted automobile production at ALFA for three years. 1916 saw the company come under the direction of Neapolitan entrepreneur Nicola Romeo, who converted the factory to produce military hardware for the Italian and Allied war efforts. Munitions, aircraft engines and other components, compressors and generators based on the company's existing car engines, and heavy locomotives were produced in the factory during the war. When the war was over, Romeo took complete control of ALFA and car production resumed in 1919. In 1920, the name of the company was changed to Alfa Romeo with the Torpedo 20-30 HP becoming the first car to be badged as such. Their first success came in 1920 when Giuseppe Campari won at Mugello and continued with second place in the Targa Florio driven by Enzo Ferrari. Giuseppe Merosi continued as head designer, and the company continued to produce solid road cars as well as successful race cars (including the 40-60 HP and the RL Targa Florio). In 1923 Vittorio Jano was lured away from Fiat, partly thanks to the persuasion of a young Alfa racing driver named Enzo Ferrari, to replace Merosi as chief designer at Alfa Romeo. The first Alfa Romeo under Jano was the P2 Grand Prix car, which won Alfa Romeo the inaugural world championship for Grand Prix cars in 1925. For Alfa road cars Jano developed a series of small-to-medium-displacement 4, 6, and 8 cylinder inline power plants based on the P2 unit that established the classic architecture of Alfa engines, with light alloy construction, hemispherical combustion chambers, centrally-located plugs, two rows of overhead valves per cylinder bank and dual overhead cams. Jano's designs proved to be both reliable and powerful. This is a very nice and very rare non period photo that reflects a wonderful era of Alfa Romeo ‘s automotive history in a wonderful way. This is your rare chance to own this photo, therefore it is printed in a nice large format of ca. 8" x 12" (ca. 20 x 30 cm). It makes it perfectly suitable for framing. Shipping costs will only be $ 7.00 regardless of how many photos you buy. For 5 or more photos, shipping is free! (Note: A. Herl, Inc. does not appear on photo, for ebay purposes only) No copyright expressed or implied. Sold as collectable item only. We are clearing out our archives that we have gathered from various sources. All items always sent well protected in PVC clear files and board backed envelopes. We have photographs that came from professional collections and/or were bought from the original photographer or press studio! They are all of professional and excellent quality. After many decades of professionally collecting photographs and posters we are clearing out our archives. They make the perfect gift and are perfectly suited for framing. They will look gorgeous unframed and will be a true asset nicely framed with a border. They are a gorgeous and great asset in every home, workshop, workplace, restaurant, bar or club! First come - first served. And you can always contact us for your requests. Please ask any questions before the auction ends.

Price: 9.75 USD

Location: Utr.

End Time: 2024-11-13T09:00:38.000Z

Shipping Cost: 7 USD