1938 2.9 Alfa Romeo Le Mans Coupe by Touring.

 
 

The Le Mans Coupe created by Touring on Mille Miglia chassis 412033  for the 1938 Le Mans - this for me is an ambition fulfilled as I have been waiting almost thirty years to create a miniature of this outstanding car.  It is one of only three cars that I have built but have never seen, the photos and data, from which I drafted the plans, having been passed to me by John Middleton - an outstanding model making - who happened to see the car on display in the Science Museum in London.  Not being one to miss such a chance he obtained permission to photograph the car and collect as much data as he wanted, and then very generously shared it with me.   412033 raced at Le Mans on the 19/20th of June 1938, at about the half way point it was leading the field,  being 11 laps in front of the second car when a front tyre burst while travelling at over 130 mph on the Mulsanne straight - it had previously set a record of 150 mph on this same section of the track - the tyre ripped through the front fender but the car was nursed back to the pits where the wheel was replaced and the Coupe re-entered the race,  but several laps later had to withdraw from the race permanently due to a transmission problem.  It is considered my many that the early Ferraris design and performance owe much to this outstanding machine.   The car raced with number 19 emblazoned on the front grill, top of the hood and on each side of the rear body.  I  prefer to show the car with out these, as they distract from the overall beauty of the design.   I am indebted to Simon Moore and his unparalleled research for constructive comment and advice during my research before creating this model, and recommend his tremendous book, ‘The Immortal 2.9’ to all who admire this family of cars.  The miniature has full engine, chassis and body frame detail and is built to a scale of one to fifteen  Over 400 photos showing the construction of this miniature will feature in ‘Current Project’ following on after the 2.9 Alfa Spider comes to an end.