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.