Monza Magic: Returning to 1933 with Wimille's Alfa

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When in possession of an historic racing car, there is a great burden of responsibility attached to the question of how (or if) it should be restored. The present owner of this Alfa Romeo Monza, chassis 2211138, acquired it ready-restored, but in a generic way which afforded no insight into its fascinating past. Being in a position to return it to its original guise, he did what any of us would have done and set about obsessively researching its early years for the sake of a restoration which allows us, the enthusiasts of today, to appreciate it as racing’s spectators of 90 years ago would have done.

It now appears in the distinctive and attractive livery of French racing blue with a maroon stripe, the colours of its first owner, 25-year-old ace Jean-Pierre Wimille. He had been given a Monza to race in 1932, and that prompted his purchase of 2211138 for the 1933 season. Though victory eluded him, he frequently led races in the Monza until being poached by Bugatti for 1934.

That wasn’t the end of 2211138’s career and it raced elsewhere with new owners, first in France and then in Portugal, before going to Brazil in 1937. There it enjoyed a long racing life until being retired and stashed away in 1953. Mick Walsh tells the full story of this remarkable car, including how Amazonian Indians clandestinely floated it across the Quaraí River on a lashed-together raft, in the May issue of The Automobile, on sale now.

Words by Zack Stiling, photographs by Tony Baker

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