In many ways, the 2900B Lungo Berlinetta was the finest closed car produced in the pre-war era. Built with race-proven engineering and with a style of unsurpassed elegance, these fastback Alfas are among the finest cars in world.
On the track, the 2900 competition cars benefited from a decade of Alfa Romeo progress and became the most successful of their time. A trio of 2900As placed first-second-third at the 1936 Mille Miglia, while three specially built 2900MMs accomplished the same feat at the 1938 edition. The decision to make a road-going variant of these winning designs must have been easy.
Touring of Milan was responsible for almost the entire production of 2900B bodies and their exceptional ‘Coupé Superleggra’ or ‘Coupé Ultraleggro Aeroprofilato’ took advantage of the Lungo chassis and exaggerated it with a huge rear overhang. In total, Touring constructed only around 10 of these masterworks.
The first Berlinetta was built on chassis 412020 in 1937 and shown that year at the Paris Motor Show and at the Milan show. Being the prototype, this car had numerous detail differences such as horns fitted below the headlights, doors that hinged from the front and badging located just behind the hood. It was the first of only five Berlinettas constructed on the 2900B chassis.
The 2900 chassis was outfitted very similar to the competition cars with twin trailing arms up front and a swing-arm suspension in the rear with both friction and hydraulic dampers.
The engine was similar to the Tipo B unit but was made from new castings in aluminum instead of magnesium. They retained a 10-main bearing crankshafts that sat in white metal babbits. The cylinder head was cast integral to the block with hemispherical combustion chambers and domed pistons. The valvetrain and axillary devices were all gear driven.
| type | Series Production Car |
| built at | Italy |
| body stylist | G. Belli |
| coachbuilder | Touring |
| production | 5 |
| price $ | $ 9,457 |
| engine | All Alloy Inline-8 |
| position | Front Longitudinal |
| aspiration | Twin Roots Superchargers |
| ignition | Vertex Magneto |
| valvetrain | Gear-Driven DOHC, 2 Valves / Cyl- |
| fuel feed | Twin Carburettors |
| displacement | 2905 cc / 177.3 in³ |
| bore | 68 mm / 2.68 in |
| stroke | 100 mm / 3.94 in |
| compression | 5.75:1 |
| power | 134.2 kw / 180.0 bhp @ 5200 rpm |
| specific output | 61.96 bhp per litre |
| bhp/weight | 137.4 bhp per tonne |
| redline | 5000 |
| body / frame | Aluminum Superleggera Body on Steel Ladder Frame |
| driven wheels | RWD |
| front tires | 5.5×19 |
| rear tires | 5.5×19 |
| front brakes | Hydrualic Drums |
| rear brakes | Hydrualic Drums |
| front wheels | F 48.3 x 11.4 cm / 19 x 4.5 in |
| rear wheels | R 48.3 x 11.4 cm / 19 x 4.5 in |
| steering | Worm & Sector |
| f suspension | Double Trailing Arms w/Coil Springs over Hydraulic Dampers |
| r suspension | Swing axles w/Radius Arms, Transverse Elliptic Leaf Spring, Hydraulic & Friction Dampers |
| curb weight | 1310 kg / 2889 lbs |
| wheelbase | 3000 mm / 118.1 in |
| front track | 1349 mm / 53.1 in |
| rear track | 1349 mm / 53.1 in |
| length | 5000 mm / 196.9 in |
| width | 1700 mm / 66.9 in |
| transmission | 4-Speed Manual |
| tran clutch | Single Plate |
| gear ratios | 2.44:1, 1.50:1, 1.14:1, 0.88:1 |
| final drive | 4.54:1 |
| top speed | ~185.03 kph / 115 mph |
| fuel econ epa | 21.38 L/100 km or 11 mpg-us |
| fuel capacity | 83.27 litres or 22 |
