ALFA 40/60 GP or GP (Grand Prix) was a fully working early racing car prototype made by the company now called
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...
. Only one example was built in 1914, which was later modified in 1921. This was the creation of
Giuseppe Merosi and was the first Alfa Romeo
DOHC
An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...
engine. It had four valves per cylinder, 90 degree valve angle and twin spark ignition. Usually Alfa Romeo DOHC engines are thought to be
Vittorio Jano
Vittorio Jano ( hu, János Viktor; 22 April 1891 – 13 March 1965) was an Italians, Italian automobile designer of Hungarian people, Hungarian descent from the 1920s through 1960s.
Jano was born ''Viktor János'' in San Giorgio Canavese, in ...
's creations but the first one was Merosi's GP car. This kind of engine architecture was very new for the time, originating from 1912/1913
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
designed by Swiss engineer
Ernest Henry. The history of this engine architecture is unclear, but other cars with dual overhead camshafts were made by
Sunbeam,
Delage and
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between t ...
. This 1914 GP car was intended to take part in the
French Grand Prix
The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...
of that year, but for reasons unknown this never happened. In 1921
Giuseppe Campari
Giuseppe Campari (8 June 1892 – 10 September 1933) was an Italian opera singer and Grand Prix motor racing driver.
Racing career
Born near the city of Lodi southwest of Milan, as a teenager he went to work for the Alfa Romeo automobile compa ...
took part in the Gentlemen G.P. in
Brescia
Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...
with the modified GP car, but was forced to retire due to a leaking radiator.
The GP engine had a displacement of 4.5 litres (4490 cc) and produced at 2950 rpm and after modifications in 1921 at 3000 rpm. The top speed of this car was 88-93 mph (140–149 km/h). It was not until the 1920s when these
DOHC
An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...
engines came to Alfa road cars like the
Alfa Romeo 6C.
Notes
References
VeloceToday.comRetrieved on 2007-04-26.
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{{Alfa Romeo Pre War Timeline
40 60 GP
Grand Prix cars