September 2, 2025 • 34 mins
This year will mark the 100th anniversary of the iconic Alfa Romeo P2’s debut. Designed by the legendary Vittorio Jano, the P2 went on to dominate Grand Prix racing in the final two years of the 2-Liter formula. In 1925, Alfa won the first World Championship after which the team duly withdrew from the sport. However, privately owned Alfa P2s continued to participate in racing and win races up until 1930. The sporting achievements of the Alfa P2s are well known, as is the role the car played in establishing Alfa Romeo as Italy’s most famous racing marque up until the advent of the Second World War.
Less known is the broader significance of the P2 that went well beyond the racetrack. Informed by the history of objects developed by cultural historians, this paper argues that the P2’s significance was industrial, cultural, and ultimately political. The achievements of the P2 and the emergence of the Milanese based Alfa company coincided with the establishment of Mussolini’s dictatorship in Italy. The Fascist regime used the Alfa’s successes to celebrate the rise of Fascist Italy as an industrial and sporting power. Moreover, the unique characteristics of the P2 came to embody the values promoted by fascism such as speed and dominance. Both the design and performance of the car, as well as the men who raced it, came to shape not only Grand Prix racing in the 1920s, but also impacted the role played by the sport in the political and cultural context of Fascist Italy.
Paul Baxa is Professor of History at Ave Maria University in Florida. Parts of his most recent book, Motorsport and Fascism: Living Dangerously have been presented at past Argetsinger Symposia. He was privileged to have presented at the first symposium in 2015.
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00:00 The Alfa Romeo P2: A Racing Legend 00:53 The P2's Broader Significance: Fascism and Motorsport 03:00 Historical Context: Italy in the 1920s 04:21 The P2's Racing Achievements 05:11 Design and Engineering of the P2 06:40 The P2 and Italian Industrial Culture 07:34 The P2's Impact on Italian Motorsport 22:11 The P2's Legacy and Continued Influence 26:47 Q&A Session; Closing Remarks and Credits====================
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(00:00):
Break Fix's History of MotorsportsSeries is brought to you in part
by the International Motor RacingResearch Center, as well as the
Society of Automotive Historians,the Watkins Glen Area Chamber of
Commerce, and the Argo Singer family.
The P two Alpha Fascist Icon by Paul Bax.
(00:20):
This year, we'll mark thehundredth anniversary of the
iconic Alpha Romeo's P two's debut,designed by legendary Vitor Yano.
The P two went on to dominateGrand Prix racing in the final two
years of the two Leader Formula.
In 1925, alpha Romeo won the firstWorld Championship, after which the
team dually withdrew from the sport.
However, privately owned Alpha PTwos continue to participate in
(00:42):
racing and win races up until 1930.
The sporting achievements of the AlphaP twos are well known as is the role the
car played in establishing Alpha Romeoas Italy's most famous racing mark.
Up until the advent of the SecondWorld War, less known is the broader
significance of the P two thatwent well beyond the racetrack.
Informed by the history of objectsdeveloped by cultural historians.
(01:04):
This paper argues that the Ptwo significance was industrial,
cultural, and ultimately political.
The achievements of the P two and theemergence of the mil based alpha company
coincided with the establishment ofMussolini's dictatorship in Italy.
The fascist regime used the successesto celebrate the rise of fascist Italy
as an industrial and sporting power.
(01:24):
Moreover, the unique characteristicsof the P two came to embody the values
promoted by fascism such as speed anddominance, both the design and performance
of the car, as well as the men who raced.
It came to shape not only Grand Prixracing in the 1920s, but also impacted the
role played by the sport in the politicaland cultural context of fascist Italy.
Paul Baxa is a professor of historyat Ave Maria University in Florida.
(01:46):
Parts of his most recent book, motor Sportand Fascism Living Dangerously have been
presented at past Argen Singer Symposia.
He was privileged to have presentedat the first symposium in 2015.
Thanks everybody.
I'd like to introduce you to our nextspeaker, Paul Baxa, who's going to talk
about the P two Alpha fascist icon.
Thank you, Kip.
(02:10):
Thank you all.
Uh, I wanna thank Don Kas and BobBarr and Duke Kininger and everyone
who make this great event happen.
It was my privilege to be atthe first one back in 2015 and
it's amazing how this has grown.
Thank you for having me.
Just, uh, before I get to my presentation,Jim had a, uh, slide showing the
program for the 1980 US Grand Prix.
(02:31):
I had the privilege of being atthat race back in October of 1980.
I came down with my dad.
I remember.
Bruno Giac in the Alfa Romeo GettingPole position, and I came from a
family of Tizi, but my dad told methat weekend, he said a, you know, a
real Italian racing fan knows that AlfaRomeo is really the team to cheer for.
And that leads me actuallyto today's presentation.
(02:53):
Actually.
My dad grew up in fascist Italy, so hemay have been influenced by some of the
things I might be talking about today.
So on Sunday, August 3rd, 1924,the fascist party of Italy was
holding an emergency meetingin the Palazzo Venetia in Rome.
It was the height of the Maticrisis, and Mussolini's government
was facing an uncertain future.
(03:14):
The body of the socialist deputy,Giacomo Mati was still missing
after he was kidnapped by agroup of fascist thugs in June.
Although his fate was unknown,the expectation was that Mati
had been assassinated andthat Mussolini was to blame.
At 5:00 PM during a series of tenseexchanges and speeches, calling
for Mussolini to crack down onhis enemies, the radical fascist.
(03:36):
Francesco Junta interrupted theconference to announce that Giuseppe
Camp driving a P two Alfa Romeo had justwon the European Grand Prix at Leon.
The next day, the front page of Italy'smost important national newspaper carried
two items, the PNF meeting and the GrandPrix in its report of the party meeting,
(03:57):
the article noted Junta's announcement.
It was a bright light and anotherwise darkening situation
from Mussolini and his government.
10 days after camp stirring victory,Mattel's body was discovered in
a shallow grave north of Rome.
As it turned out, Mussolini's regimenot only survived the crisis, but it
became the jumping off point for hisdismantling of Italian democracy and the
(04:19):
establishment of the fascist dictatorship.
In the meantime, the P two alphas wouldgo on to dominate Grand Prix racing
during the two liter formula and beyond.
To be sure the victories of theAlphas led by the charismatic Antonio
Ascotti served as a distractionfrom the tumultuous events in Italy.
They were also used by Mussolini toexalt the New Italy that he and his
(04:41):
fascists were in the process of building.
In the pages of Italy's most ReadIllustrated magazine, the lead editorial
in the next edition noted how the commonman was more interested and excited by
the exploits of the Alphas than they wereby the sorted events of Roman politics.
Victory at Leon was far more importantit seemed than the disappearance
(05:03):
of a socialist politician.
The car at the center of thiswas the P two Alfa Male's First
Grand Prix winning machine.
Designed by Vittorio Yano and Record Time.
The car was introduced at theRemona Grand Prix in June of 24.
Results was an easy victory inthe hands of Antonio Ascotti.
With it came a new speed record onthe circuit's 10 kilometers straight,
(05:25):
clocked at 121 miles per hour.
The car and the company that builtit quickly became a symbol of Italy's
rebirth under the sign of fascism.
This paper will demonstrate thecorrelation between the P two,
its design and its successes withthe rise of Italian fascism in the
decisive years between 1924 and 1930.
(05:47):
In those years, Mussolini consolidatedhis dictatorship and promoted sport as
one of the regimes greatest achievements.
At the Party Congress in August, Mussolinigave a speech where he declared that it
was time for Italians to live dangerously.
Present at that meeting was RobertoFarci, the violent fascist chief
of Cremona and leader of theintransigent wing of the party.
(06:11):
Faade Naci was also a some timerace car driver and promoter
of the Remona Grand Prix.
Apart from Mussolini, no oneembodied fascist violence and the
cult of speed more than Faade.
Naci, a man who approved theTIS assassination and called
for even more bloodshed.
The fact that the P two beganits legendary run of successes
(06:31):
on his patch of lumber de.
Seemed fitting, especially as the RemonaRoad Course was known for being one of
the fastest racetracks in the world.
In his book, objects of Desire, astudy of Italian industrial culture in
the late 19th and early 20th century,Luca Tini has argued that objects
are culture makers mediating devices.
(06:52):
And vehicles of meaning.
In the 1920s, Kini argues Italianindustrial design reached a peak of
expressive energy that was found mostlyin the aviation and automobile industries.
Two modern activities exalted by fascism.
In addition, thanks to designtheorists like Joe Ponti, Italian
industrial products became works ofart as well as commercial objects.
(07:14):
I would add that they also becamepolitical objects, vehicles to draw
Italians to Mussolini's dictatorshipin the late 1920s, precisely the period
that Kini points out as the culminationof Italy's developing industrial
culture and entrance into modernity.
No object expressed thisnetwork of relations.
I argue more than the P two.
(07:34):
The link between the successes ofthe Alpha Maleo P two and national
industrial political revival waseven noted by foreign journalists.
After a crushing demonstration ofdominance in the 1925 European Grand
Prix at spa, the Dean of FrenchMotorsport, writers Shao Faru, exclaimed
how the Alfa Romeo Squad embodiedthe Italian National Renaissance.
(07:58):
Those are the words that he used.
Before I came to represent Italy'spolitical shift, the P two caused a
qualitative shift for its company anda major shift in Italian motorsport.
Based in Milan, Italy's emergingindustrial and financial capital.
Alpha's victory in the 24 FrenchGrand Prix effectively knocked fiat
out of Grand Prix racing for good.
(08:18):
Although, to be fair, I think Fiatwas, had already essentially made
the decision to leave before that.
Fiat had represented racing successfor Italy since the early 19
hundreds, and was the country'sleading automobile manufacturer
aspiring to become Italy's Ford.
Ali's company was based in TarinMilan's rival for industrial prowess.
(08:39):
Alpha's victories, therefore notonly represented success on the
track, but also symbolized Milan'schallenge to the Piedmontese capital.
In doing this, alpha was accomplishingan industry what Mussolini's
movement was doing in politics.
Like Alpha Fascism was born inMilan, a city that presented itself
as a more dynamic and youthful onecompared to the state city of Turin.
(09:01):
A city described by some fascists asfilled with sticks in the mud quote.
After winning the 1924 Italian GrandPrix, the Fascist magazine, LA Vista del
Popolo contrasted the young audaciousalpha with the old Fiat end quote.
Like the cities, the twocompanies were often presented in
(09:22):
contrasting ways by the fascists.
Turin and Fiat were throwbacksto the old liberal Italy.
Well, alpha and Milan were partof the new avant-garde Italy.
Fascism's relationship with Turrinand Fiat was a difficult one.
Giovanni Ali, Fiat's founder wasnot a fascist, and the company's
labor force was mostly anti-fascist.
(09:42):
Alpha, on the other hand, was a smaller,younger company, and its labor force
would become home to former black shirts.
Fiat was the past, alpha was the future.
Nothing embodied this morethan the P two project.
Everything about the P two, themen who built and raced it, and the
successes on the track correspondedto Mussolini's new image for Italy.
(10:03):
Up until 1924, Alfa Romeo had limitedsuccess on international racetracks.
Its success seemed to coincidewith the rise of the regime.
Alpha's first major victorycame at the Targa Florio in
1923, international victory.
Only a few months afterMussolini became Prime Minister
of Italy, which of course is.
Pure coincidence, but it was somethingthat was commented upon that same year.
(10:26):
The design and engineering departmentof the Mil outfit was completed with
the arrival of Vittorio Yano from Fiat.
It was Yano and his team ofengineers who put together the
P two project in record time.
Both the speed of the project and theyouthfulness of the team fit in with
Fascism's cultivation of speed and youth.
Both Yano and Luigi Basi,who had also come over from
(10:48):
Fiat were in their thirties.
Meanwhile, the man most responsible forbringing these men into the alpha fold.
Enzo Ferrari was only 25 yearsold, according to Peter Hall and
Luigi Fuzzi Ferrari was the drivingforce by an alpha's assembling
of a crack designing team.
Ferrari represented everything thatMussolini's regime, ext stalled in Italy.
(11:09):
He held from the same region as Mussoliniand came from a similar modest background.
After serving in the First World War,Ferrari had applied for a job at Fiat,
but was turned down in later years.
He would describe this moment as aturning point in his life as fate would
drive him to Milan, where he eventuallyjoined the fledgling Alpha Company.
Ferrari's story thus resembled the profileof the ideal fascist in some ways, as one
(11:34):
who was rejected by the establishment andthen turned that frustration into revenge.
In Ferrari's case, the revenge camewith knocking Fiat out of racing.
The development of the P two was bornout of a similar set of frustrations.
Yano was part of the design team thathad put together the Fiat 8 0 5 a car
that was the class of the field in1923, but it failed to win the French
(11:57):
Grand Prix, which is the most importantinternational race at the time.
Aware of the car's weaknesses, Yanowas not able to rectify them due to his
subordinate position within the team.
At Alpha, he would use the P twoproject to improve on the Fiat.
In his time at Fiat, Yano was shackledby the corporate structure of the company
and the fact that Fiat emphasized.
(12:18):
Its production cars over racing.
Alpha, on the other hand, wassmaller with an increasing emphasis
on high performance sports cars.
At Alpha Yano was able to instill amilitary-like discipline that suited
the type of rhetoric that was beingpumped out by Mussolini's, Italy.
He joined the team in September of23, and the first drawings for the
car were completed by mid-October.
(12:40):
The following March saw the firstengine put on the test bed, and in
June, the first example was takento Monza and tested by Antonio
Scottie and Giuseppe Compati just afew days before it won at Cremona.
The speed of the car's productionwas helped by the fact that Yano was
merely perfecting the Fiat 8 0 5.
He had worked at in Turin, modificationson engine and suspension design helped
(13:04):
produce a car that was more powerful andultimately faster than the 8 0 5 without
the reliability issues aesthetically.
The P two was almost a carbon copyof the Fiat, but the modifications
to the engine were significant to thepoint where Yano later claimed that
the car was a completely new design.
That was his claim.
In this case, unintentionally, the Ptwo did resemble Mussolini's movement.
(13:27):
Fascism two was largely derivative,appropriating preexisting
ideas and concepts whileclaiming to create a new Italy.
P two's successes on the track however,appeared to usher in a revolution while
the REM Grand Prix demonstrated thenew car's potential, it was the Grand
Prix Leon that consecrated the P twoin the eyes of Mussolini's New Italy.
(13:48):
The stage could not havebeen more appropriate.
Beginning in 1923, the governingbody of Motorsport anointed
one National Grand Prix.
To have the title of European Grand Prixin 1924 was the turn of the Grand Prix
de France, or the Grand Prix de la cf.
Strictly speaking, ALS knownas the French Grand Prix.
Furthermore, the 1924 edition of theRace was a special one since it marked
(14:12):
the 10th anniversary of the Epic 1914race that saw the French and German teams
battle on the track only weeks beforethe outbreak of the First World War.
As a commemoration of that event, therace returned to the Leon Vo circuit,
the scene of that historic race in 1914.
The event thus served to remembera great race, but also served
(14:34):
as a memorial to the war.
A fact that fed the fascist regime'sown exaltation of the war experience.
The resulting race was nearlyas epic as its 1914 predecessor
on the Spectacular Road Course.
It wasn't exactly the same by the way.
They cut it in half, so they usedhalf of the original course, but
they used the most exciting parton The Spectacular Road Course.
(14:56):
Alfa Romeo Fiat, Sunbeam de Lodge,and Bugatti battled for over seven
hours in a race that went back andforth with numerous lead changes with
Compati Alpha emerging triumphant.
Giuseppe Camp's Victory at Leon MadeAlfra Romeo a national name and was
able albia briefly to serve as adistraction from the mati crisis.
(15:16):
As I already mentioned, the carappeared in ads for the company and
for Pelli the tire manufacturer.
This poster calls the racethe Olympiad of engines.
The P twos triumphant, Leon encourageda more bullish attitude on the part of
Italy's representatives at the sportingCommission of the A-I-A-C-R, which
(15:37):
is the forerunner of the FIA, takingadvantage of a procedural loophole.
The Italian representatives triedto convince the commission to award
the title of European Grand Prix in1925 to Italy and not to Belgium as
had been approved by the A-I-A-C-Rin its previous general meeting.
Claiming that Italy had the strongerracing tradition proven by office victory.
(15:59):
At Leon Arturo Meti, one of the tworepresentatives argued that Italy
deserved the race, not Belgium.
The challenge which caused some frictionat the sporting commission's meeting
in the fall of 24, was unsuccessful.
However, the Italian delegation didsucceed in persuading the sporting
commission to create a worldchampionship for manufacturers in 1925.
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The desire to use Alpha's triumphs toelevate Italy's international motorsport.
Prestige mirrored the fascist regime's,attempts to make Italy into a world power.
In 1925, Mussolini turned to thedismantling of the Italian liberal state
in the wake of the Mati assassination, anevent that should have been his end, but
instead marked the beginning of fascist.
(16:44):
Italy's rise to power.
The new secretary of the fascist partywas none other than Roberto Farci,
the patron of the Cremona Grand Prix.
An intransigent fascist whonow aim to activate Mussolini's
call for living dangerously.
The events on the racetracks ofEurope reflected the radical and
violent shift in Italian politics.
(17:05):
1925 was to be the last year of thesuccessful two leader formula and
alpha set its sight on dominatingthe opposition in three races.
The European Grand Prix at spa, theFrench Grand Prix at the new Mulla Auto
Drum and the Italian Grand Prix at MonzaAlpha's approach to these races involved
a degree of swagger and even arrogance.
(17:25):
They lapped the field at spa promptingjeers from the partisan crowd.
After crossing the line, Scotty's car hada giant Italian flag placed on the hood.
Uh, there is a story about this race thatI didn't find any of the contemporary
accounts, but it kind of was told laterby Motorsport historians that in order
to taunt the crowd, the alphas, becausethey had lapped everybody and I think
(17:49):
all the French cars had dropped out.
Actually, and so there was justtwo alphas kind of circulating
in the last part of the race.
At one point they made such alengthy pit stop that they took out
a table and laid out a food spread.
Um, it's a great story.
It might be apocryphal though, becauseI didn't find it in contemporary
counts, and Giovanni kind of Sini waskind of one of the Dean of Motorsport.
(18:10):
Historians later said it wasn'treally like that, it was just
simply, you know, they had somepanini, you know, sandwiches ready.
Pit stops took a bit longer than usual.
So it, you know, Scotty and Camptihad timed it down a, you know, a
sandwich and that's really all it was.
But it's one of those wonderfulstories, but it might be apocryphal.
Whatever, though it still shows acertain degree of swagger, whatever it
(18:31):
was, uh, on the part of the Alpha team.
The Alphas were also dominating the FrenchGrand Prix until Antonio Ascotti crashed
and was killed while leading the race.
Prompting the team to withdraw from therace as a final gesture of defiance,
the two remaining alphas revved theirengines loudly before leaving the race,
and that is in a contemporary account.
(18:52):
Uh, so they stopped in the pits andthey started revving their engine.
Now that was probably a salute to aScotty, but again, you can't interpret
that as kind of a defiant gesture.
It was, uh, Bri Petty Gu, BLI Petty whogave Alpha the World Championship when he
won the Italian Grand Prix in September.
No one represented the new order in GrandPrix racing better than Antonio Hasti.
(19:14):
His name became synonymous with theP two and with the Living Dangerously
motto promoted by Mussolini and Fad naci.
It had given the P two, its verseof Victory at Cremona and one at
Manza in 1924 and its SPA in 1925.
More than his victories.
He came to embody a certainaggressiveness in his driving.
He would be the first example ofwhat would later be called the
(19:35):
Gati Baldino approach to racing.
That's a reference to Giuseppe Gatibdi, the guy who helped unify Italy.
This Gati Baldino tag is most famouslyembodied by the likes of Tatio NTI in
the 1930s, but as Scotty really was thefirst to kind of get that reputation.
In short, he took risks.
Amanza in 1924, his driving prompteda rebuke from the race director
(19:59):
who instructed Alur to slow himdown or they would call him in.
This is the telegram that was sentfrom the race director who was
Arturo Meti to the Alur MEO PIPsaying, tell us Gotti to slow down.
Otherwise we're gonna call him in.
It's 'cause he was on the banking.
He was going too close tothe guardrail at the top.
His style of driving ultimatelyproved his undoing while
(20:20):
dominating the French Grand Prix.
In 1925, he continuously brushed theapex of a fast left hand turn, coming
with an inches of a wooden fence.
On lap 22, he came too close,clipping the fence and rolling
the car, which led to his death.
A Scotty's death and Moni resulted in anoutpouring of grief and a state funeral.
(20:40):
In Milan, he became fascist.
Italy's first racing martyr, andthat word was in fact used when his
body returned to Italy on a train.
A large wreath from Mussolini wasplaced on the casket across the
wreath that was donated by Mussoliniwere the words repi the intrepid.
The funeral card repeated Mussolini'sepithet with a message that read Antonio
(21:04):
Ascotti, the Intrepid one, who sacrificedhimself defending with undefeated faith,
the colors of the Fatherland and Italianindustry, although he had been racing
since the 1910s, as Scotty's memoryis indelibly marked with the P two.
Not only did the car symbolize Trium.
But it now also created martyrs speedand death in the service of glory.
(21:26):
Found echoes in fascist rhetoric.
The response to a Scotty's death andhis depiction as a martyr to speed
became the response template for thenumerous Italian drivers killed in
Grand Prix racing over the next decade.
But none of them would be as celebratedas a Scottie, which showed a great
deal to the Alpha Romeo P two.
And in fact, um, I don't.
(21:46):
Have a hard number in my head, butItaly probably produced more dead
race drivers in the late twenties andthirties than any other country, but
I, I can't say that for certainty,but there were a number of Italian
drivers who were killed in that period.
Unwilling to build a new car for the newone and a half liter formula Introduced in
1926 and troubled by financial problems.
(22:07):
Alpha withdrew from Grand Prixracing after the 25 season.
The legend of the P two continued onthough as the car would enjoy an afterlife
that kept it winning races until 1930.
Mostly run by the SC Ferrari.
In 1928, the A-I-A-C-R introducedthe formula Libra Rules, which
allowed this car to enter theofficial Grand Prix races.
(22:29):
It was in this era that the legendof the car actually deepened in
the late twenties Grand Prix racingentered a period of doldrums.
Indicative of this was the factthat there was only one Grand
Prix race held in 1928 at Manza.
It would not be an exaggeration to saythat Italy saved the sport or Grand Prix
racing in particular in these years withthe P two right at its center at Manza.
(22:53):
All the attention of the Italian press,especially the newspapers closely
associated with the fascist party,focused on the P two, driven by Akili Zi.
In 1929, the cars were run by thenew Kuia Ferri, where former Alpha
personnel like Ferrari and Luigi Batiwere reunited with the P twos in 1930.
(23:15):
The P twos are driven byAkili, Zi and Tazi nti.
Thus launching what was to become the mostlegendary driver rivalry in Italian motor
sports in the 1930s, probably of all time.
One last epic victory came at the TargaFlorio in 1930 in the hands of Akili Tazi.
By 1930, the P two had beensubstantially modified.
(23:36):
This included the adoption of theflat slanted radiator taken from the
Alpha 1,517 50 sports car models.
These cars, which brought alphamore glory in the Mil Melia races
were directly inspired by the P two.
According to the Alpha Romeo historianPeter Hall, this made Alpha the only mark,
which directly transferred Grand Prixtechnology to sports cars and vice versa.
(23:58):
That's.
Peter Hall's claim the introduction of thehigh performance six cylinder sports cars.
Also designed by Vito Ano made alphathe most prestigious Italian maker
of sports cars into the 1930s inItaly and worldwide, possibly thus
establishing itself as the markmost suitable to the fascist era
and Mussolini's regime building aprocess that was completed by 1929.
(24:20):
As the modified P twos raced intotheir swansong year of 1930, fascism
had completed the dismantling ofthe liberal state, and sport had
become completely fasc size fiat.
In the meantime, after an abortedattempt to return to Grand Prix
racing in 1927 turns its attentionto mass produced utility vehicles.
A turned to the masses that wouldshape fascist policy in the thirties.
(24:44):
As fascist Italy entered the decadeof the thirties, alpha Romeo become
closely identified with Mussolini.
He called Alpha Romeo our best nationalproduct, and it was increasingly
seen at the wheel of an alpha.
Here he is driving, I believe,let's say 1750 around the new,
um, litorial Autodrome in Rome,which is a purpose built track
(25:05):
in Rome, which no longer exists.
It's now an airport.
In 1951 with Italy embroiled in awar that was going from bad to worse.
Alfa Romeo's magazine published aretrospective on the P two written
by Rado Filip, one of Italy'sleading Motorsport journalists.
This article summed up the importance ofthe P two for Italy's national prestige.
(25:25):
The two years of Alpha Domination in 24and 25 were characterized by Filip as the
most spectacular era of Italian genius.
Ignoring the fact that the P two waslargely based on the Fiat 8 0 5, the
retrospective claim that the P two hadset a new standard for race car design,
calling it authentically avant-garde.
(25:46):
For NY proof of the car's greatnesscame in the 28 19 30 period when this
older car was beating newer cars.
Sometimes.
Moreover, NY was confident thatthe car could even hold its own
against contemporary competition.
That would be auto unions and Mercedes.
So.
Make of that what youwill hyperbole aside.
(26:06):
A Philipp's article demonstrated thecontinued legacy of a car that had
elevated Italy to the top of GrandPrix racing in an era when Mussolini's
fascist regime was being constructedin peace time Alfa Mayo contributed
to the triumphs of Italy on the track.
In 1941, Alpha's production wasdirected to the war effort, and
although the Italians are strugglingon the battlefield, its access
(26:28):
partner was walking all over Europe.
For Philippines readers memoriesof the P two could be harnessed in
the hope that Italian technologycould once again triumph, while
history would demonstrate otherwise.
Thank you.
Thank you Paul.
That was fascinating.
Anyone have questions?
(26:49):
We have a question from the internetfor Paul Terry Johnson writes, are there
any P two alphas currently appearingat vintage and or historic events?
Uh, I don't know if they appearat events, but I think there
are still two in existence.
There's a, an original P two,the first spec of the P two in
the Alpha Mayo Museum in re.
(27:09):
And there is one of the later P twosat the um, automobile museum in Torino
or Turin, so I know that they exist.
I don't know if they takethem out on the track though.
I'm just interested in your commentaryon the state sponsorship of Alpha Rome
or other Italian motor manufacturingand how this episode plays into that.
If it does or if it does not.
Yeah, that's an important question.
(27:30):
The fascist regime did not subsidizethe racing teams the way the Nazi
regime did, but Mussolini didintervene on a few occasions to
save the company from bankruptcy.
In 1933 though, uh, alpha Mayowas taken over by the, it was
bailed out by the IRI, which wasthe state run bailout institution.
So after 33, it did become a state owned.
(27:53):
Team, but it wasn't racingofficially as a works team.
Alphas were always raced by the Ferrari.
However, in 1938, they did come backas an official team, alpha corse.
So in that sense, yes it wasbecause it was effectively owned
by the state at this point.
So.
I dunno if that answersyour question, Paul.
It turns out I have something of afollow up question, which is to compare,
(28:14):
if not narrowly, regarding finances,the Nazi use of symbolism in racing
during this time with the Italians.
In, in what sense are they equally active,more successful in using, uh, auto racing
as a a means of political expression or.
Oh yes.
Yeah.
Uh, absolutely.
The Nazi regime, of course, wouldvery much celebrate its victories.
(28:34):
Uh, the, the German cards, victories,and, um, Italy did the same for the, um,
Motorsport magazines, but even in thenational newspapers, there would always be
front page coverage when Alpha won a race.
So you did have a similartype use of propaganda.
For the races.
Absolutely.
When Fascist, Italy no longer existed,did Alpha Romeo struggle to shift any
(28:55):
kind of negative associations with it,or was it relatively smooth sailing?
They were able, I think, to shiftrather easily into the postwar, and
that that goes with any sporting hero.
Actually under fascism.
Even the great cyclists like Bartleyand the soccer teams, they were all
able to really easily transition.
Uh, Simon Martin, uh, asports historian, non Italian.
(29:17):
Sports history makes this argument.
I mean, it shows that the sportingheroes were able to create their
own kind of popularity or their ownniche in the Italian imagination
that transcended fascism.
So perhaps going back to Jim'searlier question that shows that
maybe the regime was not as successfulultimately in making it truly fascist.
I have to say though, that themanaging director of Alfa Romeos
(29:40):
name was Ugo GoTo, and he was,uh, he was appointed by Mussolini.
After the state took over thecompany in 33, he was assassinated
by the Italian resistance in 1945.
And so not to be cynical, but Ithink by getting rid of him, even
though he was not, as far as I know,he was not a convinced fascist.
In fact, he had an industrial background.
He had worked for Fiat.
(30:00):
He had actually designed thelingo Hotel factory in Tur,
if you're familiar with that.
But he kind of paid the price,if you will, for Al Alpha Rome's
association with the regime.
So maybe that was enoughto make others forget.
And keep cheering for Al Romeo.
Afterwards.
Al Romeo remained a state run companyuntil the 1980s, and then it was taken
over by Fiat, if I'm not mistaken.
(30:20):
Ruby, Joanne Wright.
Were there any drivers that feltunhappy about Italy's fascism back then?
Great question.
There is no one that comes to mind.
I don't know of any driver that comesto mind that was either anti-fascist.
Or in some way bothered by the regime.
Not to say that these guyswere fascists necessarily.
(30:40):
Antonio Skai, I think, belonged to alocal fascist cell in Milan, Gaston,
really, Perry, whom I mentioned, he's theone that won the 25 Italian Grand Prix.
I think he was, he had a, hewas known to be a, a fascist,
actually politically active.
Fascist.
As for the others, they were, I, Iwould argue they were neither fascists
or anti-fascists, as far as I know.
(31:01):
Again, we don't know enough.
This is a gap in the research.
I think we don't know enough about alot of these drivers during the fascist
era because they didn't write much.
Uh, n Vladi did write a couple ofarticles, had it written for him, I
don't know, but his name was attached tothem in some of the sporting magazines
where he used some fascist language.
Enzo Ferrari actually in the newsletters,would write periodically articles
(31:22):
that exalted Mussolini's regime.
But you have to remember too, thatafter the war, there was a lot of post
hoc refashioning or sanitizing of alot of this, and a lot of drivers,
and a lot of people who carried overdid not really talk much about that
past politically Anyway, so we, we, wedon't know enough on that topic, but
it's, it's a, it's a great question.
Thank you, Paul.
(31:43):
That was terrific.
Thank you.
Thank you.
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(32:04):
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The P two Alpha Fascist Icon by Paul Bax.
(00:20):
This year, we'll mark thehundredth anniversary of the
iconic Alpha Romeo's P two's debut,designed by legendary Vitor Yano.
The P two went on to dominateGrand Prix racing in the final two
years of the two Leader Formula.
In 1925, alpha Romeo won the firstWorld Championship, after which the
team dually withdrew from the sport.
However, privately owned Alpha PTwos continue to participate in
(00:42):
racing and win races up until 1930.
The sporting achievements of the AlphaP twos are well known as is the role the
car played in establishing Alpha Romeoas Italy's most famous racing mark.
Up until the advent of the SecondWorld War, less known is the broader
significance of the P two thatwent well beyond the racetrack.
Informed by the history of objectsdeveloped by cultural historians.
(01:04):
This paper argues that the Ptwo significance was industrial,
cultural, and ultimately political.
The achievements of the P two and theemergence of the mil based alpha company
coincided with the establishment ofMussolini's dictatorship in Italy.
The fascist regime used the successesto celebrate the rise of fascist Italy
as an industrial and sporting power.
(01:24):
Moreover, the unique characteristicsof the P two came to embody the values
promoted by fascism such as speed anddominance, both the design and performance
of the car, as well as the men who raced.
It came to shape not only Grand Prixracing in the 1920s, but also impacted the
role played by the sport in the politicaland cultural context of fascist Italy.
Paul Baxa is a professor of historyat Ave Maria University in Florida.
(01:46):
Parts of his most recent book, motor Sportand Fascism Living Dangerously have been
presented at past Argen Singer Symposia.
He was privileged to have presentedat the first symposium in 2015.
Thanks everybody.
I'd like to introduce you to our nextspeaker, Paul Baxa, who's going to talk
about the P two Alpha fascist icon.
Thank you, Kip.
(02:10):
Thank you all.
Uh, I wanna thank Don Kas and BobBarr and Duke Kininger and everyone
who make this great event happen.
It was my privilege to be atthe first one back in 2015 and
it's amazing how this has grown.
Thank you for having me.
Just, uh, before I get to my presentation,Jim had a, uh, slide showing the
program for the 1980 US Grand Prix.
(02:31):
I had the privilege of being atthat race back in October of 1980.
I came down with my dad.
I remember.
Bruno Giac in the Alfa Romeo GettingPole position, and I came from a
family of Tizi, but my dad told methat weekend, he said a, you know, a
real Italian racing fan knows that AlfaRomeo is really the team to cheer for.
And that leads me actuallyto today's presentation.
(02:53):
Actually.
My dad grew up in fascist Italy, so hemay have been influenced by some of the
things I might be talking about today.
So on Sunday, August 3rd, 1924,the fascist party of Italy was
holding an emergency meetingin the Palazzo Venetia in Rome.
It was the height of the Maticrisis, and Mussolini's government
was facing an uncertain future.
(03:14):
The body of the socialist deputy,Giacomo Mati was still missing
after he was kidnapped by agroup of fascist thugs in June.
Although his fate was unknown,the expectation was that Mati
had been assassinated andthat Mussolini was to blame.
At 5:00 PM during a series of tenseexchanges and speeches, calling
for Mussolini to crack down onhis enemies, the radical fascist.
(03:36):
Francesco Junta interrupted theconference to announce that Giuseppe
Camp driving a P two Alfa Romeo had justwon the European Grand Prix at Leon.
The next day, the front page of Italy'smost important national newspaper carried
two items, the PNF meeting and the GrandPrix in its report of the party meeting,
(03:57):
the article noted Junta's announcement.
It was a bright light and anotherwise darkening situation
from Mussolini and his government.
10 days after camp stirring victory,Mattel's body was discovered in
a shallow grave north of Rome.
As it turned out, Mussolini's regimenot only survived the crisis, but it
became the jumping off point for hisdismantling of Italian democracy and the
(04:19):
establishment of the fascist dictatorship.
In the meantime, the P two alphas wouldgo on to dominate Grand Prix racing
during the two liter formula and beyond.
To be sure the victories of theAlphas led by the charismatic Antonio
Ascotti served as a distractionfrom the tumultuous events in Italy.
They were also used by Mussolini toexalt the New Italy that he and his
(04:41):
fascists were in the process of building.
In the pages of Italy's most ReadIllustrated magazine, the lead editorial
in the next edition noted how the commonman was more interested and excited by
the exploits of the Alphas than they wereby the sorted events of Roman politics.
Victory at Leon was far more importantit seemed than the disappearance
(05:03):
of a socialist politician.
The car at the center of thiswas the P two Alfa Male's First
Grand Prix winning machine.
Designed by Vittorio Yano and Record Time.
The car was introduced at theRemona Grand Prix in June of 24.
Results was an easy victory inthe hands of Antonio Ascotti.
With it came a new speed record onthe circuit's 10 kilometers straight,
(05:25):
clocked at 121 miles per hour.
The car and the company that builtit quickly became a symbol of Italy's
rebirth under the sign of fascism.
This paper will demonstrate thecorrelation between the P two,
its design and its successes withthe rise of Italian fascism in the
decisive years between 1924 and 1930.
(05:47):
In those years, Mussolini consolidatedhis dictatorship and promoted sport as
one of the regimes greatest achievements.
At the Party Congress in August, Mussolinigave a speech where he declared that it
was time for Italians to live dangerously.
Present at that meeting was RobertoFarci, the violent fascist chief
of Cremona and leader of theintransigent wing of the party.
(06:11):
Faade Naci was also a some timerace car driver and promoter
of the Remona Grand Prix.
Apart from Mussolini, no oneembodied fascist violence and the
cult of speed more than Faade.
Naci, a man who approved theTIS assassination and called
for even more bloodshed.
The fact that the P two beganits legendary run of successes
(06:31):
on his patch of lumber de.
Seemed fitting, especially as the RemonaRoad Course was known for being one of
the fastest racetracks in the world.
In his book, objects of Desire, astudy of Italian industrial culture in
the late 19th and early 20th century,Luca Tini has argued that objects
are culture makers mediating devices.
(06:52):
And vehicles of meaning.
In the 1920s, Kini argues Italianindustrial design reached a peak of
expressive energy that was found mostlyin the aviation and automobile industries.
Two modern activities exalted by fascism.
In addition, thanks to designtheorists like Joe Ponti, Italian
industrial products became works ofart as well as commercial objects.
(07:14):
I would add that they also becamepolitical objects, vehicles to draw
Italians to Mussolini's dictatorshipin the late 1920s, precisely the period
that Kini points out as the culminationof Italy's developing industrial
culture and entrance into modernity.
No object expressed thisnetwork of relations.
I argue more than the P two.
(07:34):
The link between the successes ofthe Alpha Maleo P two and national
industrial political revival waseven noted by foreign journalists.
After a crushing demonstration ofdominance in the 1925 European Grand
Prix at spa, the Dean of FrenchMotorsport, writers Shao Faru, exclaimed
how the Alfa Romeo Squad embodiedthe Italian National Renaissance.
(07:58):
Those are the words that he used.
Before I came to represent Italy'spolitical shift, the P two caused a
qualitative shift for its company anda major shift in Italian motorsport.
Based in Milan, Italy's emergingindustrial and financial capital.
Alpha's victory in the 24 FrenchGrand Prix effectively knocked fiat
out of Grand Prix racing for good.
(08:18):
Although, to be fair, I think Fiatwas, had already essentially made
the decision to leave before that.
Fiat had represented racing successfor Italy since the early 19
hundreds, and was the country'sleading automobile manufacturer
aspiring to become Italy's Ford.
Ali's company was based in TarinMilan's rival for industrial prowess.
(08:39):
Alpha's victories, therefore notonly represented success on the
track, but also symbolized Milan'schallenge to the Piedmontese capital.
In doing this, alpha was accomplishingan industry what Mussolini's
movement was doing in politics.
Like Alpha Fascism was born inMilan, a city that presented itself
as a more dynamic and youthful onecompared to the state city of Turin.
(09:01):
A city described by some fascists asfilled with sticks in the mud quote.
After winning the 1924 Italian GrandPrix, the Fascist magazine, LA Vista del
Popolo contrasted the young audaciousalpha with the old Fiat end quote.
Like the cities, the twocompanies were often presented in
(09:22):
contrasting ways by the fascists.
Turin and Fiat were throwbacksto the old liberal Italy.
Well, alpha and Milan were partof the new avant-garde Italy.
Fascism's relationship with Turrinand Fiat was a difficult one.
Giovanni Ali, Fiat's founder wasnot a fascist, and the company's
labor force was mostly anti-fascist.
(09:42):
Alpha, on the other hand, was a smaller,younger company, and its labor force
would become home to former black shirts.
Fiat was the past, alpha was the future.
Nothing embodied this morethan the P two project.
Everything about the P two, themen who built and raced it, and the
successes on the track correspondedto Mussolini's new image for Italy.
(10:03):
Up until 1924, Alfa Romeo had limitedsuccess on international racetracks.
Its success seemed to coincidewith the rise of the regime.
Alpha's first major victorycame at the Targa Florio in
1923, international victory.
Only a few months afterMussolini became Prime Minister
of Italy, which of course is.
Pure coincidence, but it was somethingthat was commented upon that same year.
(10:26):
The design and engineering departmentof the Mil outfit was completed with
the arrival of Vittorio Yano from Fiat.
It was Yano and his team ofengineers who put together the
P two project in record time.
Both the speed of the project and theyouthfulness of the team fit in with
Fascism's cultivation of speed and youth.
Both Yano and Luigi Basi,who had also come over from
(10:48):
Fiat were in their thirties.
Meanwhile, the man most responsible forbringing these men into the alpha fold.
Enzo Ferrari was only 25 yearsold, according to Peter Hall and
Luigi Fuzzi Ferrari was the drivingforce by an alpha's assembling
of a crack designing team.
Ferrari represented everything thatMussolini's regime, ext stalled in Italy.
(11:09):
He held from the same region as Mussoliniand came from a similar modest background.
After serving in the First World War,Ferrari had applied for a job at Fiat,
but was turned down in later years.
He would describe this moment as aturning point in his life as fate would
drive him to Milan, where he eventuallyjoined the fledgling Alpha Company.
Ferrari's story thus resembled the profileof the ideal fascist in some ways, as one
(11:34):
who was rejected by the establishment andthen turned that frustration into revenge.
In Ferrari's case, the revenge camewith knocking Fiat out of racing.
The development of the P two was bornout of a similar set of frustrations.
Yano was part of the design team thathad put together the Fiat 8 0 5 a car
that was the class of the field in1923, but it failed to win the French
(11:57):
Grand Prix, which is the most importantinternational race at the time.
Aware of the car's weaknesses, Yanowas not able to rectify them due to his
subordinate position within the team.
At Alpha, he would use the P twoproject to improve on the Fiat.
In his time at Fiat, Yano was shackledby the corporate structure of the company
and the fact that Fiat emphasized.
(12:18):
Its production cars over racing.
Alpha, on the other hand, wassmaller with an increasing emphasis
on high performance sports cars.
At Alpha Yano was able to instill amilitary-like discipline that suited
the type of rhetoric that was beingpumped out by Mussolini's, Italy.
He joined the team in September of23, and the first drawings for the
car were completed by mid-October.
(12:40):
The following March saw the firstengine put on the test bed, and in
June, the first example was takento Monza and tested by Antonio
Scottie and Giuseppe Compati just afew days before it won at Cremona.
The speed of the car's productionwas helped by the fact that Yano was
merely perfecting the Fiat 8 0 5.
He had worked at in Turin, modificationson engine and suspension design helped
(13:04):
produce a car that was more powerful andultimately faster than the 8 0 5 without
the reliability issues aesthetically.
The P two was almost a carbon copyof the Fiat, but the modifications
to the engine were significant to thepoint where Yano later claimed that
the car was a completely new design.
That was his claim.
In this case, unintentionally, the Ptwo did resemble Mussolini's movement.
(13:27):
Fascism two was largely derivative,appropriating preexisting
ideas and concepts whileclaiming to create a new Italy.
P two's successes on the track however,appeared to usher in a revolution while
the REM Grand Prix demonstrated thenew car's potential, it was the Grand
Prix Leon that consecrated the P twoin the eyes of Mussolini's New Italy.
(13:48):
The stage could not havebeen more appropriate.
Beginning in 1923, the governingbody of Motorsport anointed
one National Grand Prix.
To have the title of European Grand Prixin 1924 was the turn of the Grand Prix
de France, or the Grand Prix de la cf.
Strictly speaking, ALS knownas the French Grand Prix.
Furthermore, the 1924 edition of theRace was a special one since it marked
(14:12):
the 10th anniversary of the Epic 1914race that saw the French and German teams
battle on the track only weeks beforethe outbreak of the First World War.
As a commemoration of that event, therace returned to the Leon Vo circuit,
the scene of that historic race in 1914.
The event thus served to remembera great race, but also served
(14:34):
as a memorial to the war.
A fact that fed the fascist regime'sown exaltation of the war experience.
The resulting race was nearlyas epic as its 1914 predecessor
on the Spectacular Road Course.
It wasn't exactly the same by the way.
They cut it in half, so they usedhalf of the original course, but
they used the most exciting parton The Spectacular Road Course.
(14:56):
Alfa Romeo Fiat, Sunbeam de Lodge,and Bugatti battled for over seven
hours in a race that went back andforth with numerous lead changes with
Compati Alpha emerging triumphant.
Giuseppe Camp's Victory at Leon MadeAlfra Romeo a national name and was
able albia briefly to serve as adistraction from the mati crisis.
(15:16):
As I already mentioned, the carappeared in ads for the company and
for Pelli the tire manufacturer.
This poster calls the racethe Olympiad of engines.
The P twos triumphant, Leon encourageda more bullish attitude on the part of
Italy's representatives at the sportingCommission of the A-I-A-C-R, which
(15:37):
is the forerunner of the FIA, takingadvantage of a procedural loophole.
The Italian representatives triedto convince the commission to award
the title of European Grand Prix in1925 to Italy and not to Belgium as
had been approved by the A-I-A-C-Rin its previous general meeting.
Claiming that Italy had the strongerracing tradition proven by office victory.
(15:59):
At Leon Arturo Meti, one of the tworepresentatives argued that Italy
deserved the race, not Belgium.
The challenge which caused some frictionat the sporting commission's meeting
in the fall of 24, was unsuccessful.
However, the Italian delegation didsucceed in persuading the sporting
commission to create a worldchampionship for manufacturers in 1925.
(16:22):
The desire to use Alpha's triumphs toelevate Italy's international motorsport.
Prestige mirrored the fascist regime's,attempts to make Italy into a world power.
In 1925, Mussolini turned to thedismantling of the Italian liberal state
in the wake of the Mati assassination, anevent that should have been his end, but
instead marked the beginning of fascist.
(16:44):
Italy's rise to power.
The new secretary of the fascist partywas none other than Roberto Farci,
the patron of the Cremona Grand Prix.
An intransigent fascist whonow aim to activate Mussolini's
call for living dangerously.
The events on the racetracks ofEurope reflected the radical and
violent shift in Italian politics.
(17:05):
1925 was to be the last year of thesuccessful two leader formula and
alpha set its sight on dominatingthe opposition in three races.
The European Grand Prix at spa, theFrench Grand Prix at the new Mulla Auto
Drum and the Italian Grand Prix at MonzaAlpha's approach to these races involved
a degree of swagger and even arrogance.
(17:25):
They lapped the field at spa promptingjeers from the partisan crowd.
After crossing the line, Scotty's car hada giant Italian flag placed on the hood.
Uh, there is a story about this race thatI didn't find any of the contemporary
accounts, but it kind of was told laterby Motorsport historians that in order
to taunt the crowd, the alphas, becausethey had lapped everybody and I think
(17:49):
all the French cars had dropped out.
Actually, and so there was justtwo alphas kind of circulating
in the last part of the race.
At one point they made such alengthy pit stop that they took out
a table and laid out a food spread.
Um, it's a great story.
It might be apocryphal though, becauseI didn't find it in contemporary
counts, and Giovanni kind of Sini waskind of one of the Dean of Motorsport.
(18:10):
Historians later said it wasn'treally like that, it was just
simply, you know, they had somepanini, you know, sandwiches ready.
Pit stops took a bit longer than usual.
So it, you know, Scotty and Camptihad timed it down a, you know, a
sandwich and that's really all it was.
But it's one of those wonderfulstories, but it might be apocryphal.
Whatever, though it still shows acertain degree of swagger, whatever it
(18:31):
was, uh, on the part of the Alpha team.
The Alphas were also dominating the FrenchGrand Prix until Antonio Ascotti crashed
and was killed while leading the race.
Prompting the team to withdraw from therace as a final gesture of defiance,
the two remaining alphas revved theirengines loudly before leaving the race,
and that is in a contemporary account.
(18:52):
Uh, so they stopped in the pits andthey started revving their engine.
Now that was probably a salute to aScotty, but again, you can't interpret
that as kind of a defiant gesture.
It was, uh, Bri Petty Gu, BLI Petty whogave Alpha the World Championship when he
won the Italian Grand Prix in September.
No one represented the new order in GrandPrix racing better than Antonio Hasti.
(19:14):
His name became synonymous with theP two and with the Living Dangerously
motto promoted by Mussolini and Fad naci.
It had given the P two, its verseof Victory at Cremona and one at
Manza in 1924 and its SPA in 1925.
More than his victories.
He came to embody a certainaggressiveness in his driving.
He would be the first example ofwhat would later be called the
(19:35):
Gati Baldino approach to racing.
That's a reference to Giuseppe Gatibdi, the guy who helped unify Italy.
This Gati Baldino tag is most famouslyembodied by the likes of Tatio NTI in
the 1930s, but as Scotty really was thefirst to kind of get that reputation.
In short, he took risks.
Amanza in 1924, his driving prompteda rebuke from the race director
(19:59):
who instructed Alur to slow himdown or they would call him in.
This is the telegram that was sentfrom the race director who was
Arturo Meti to the Alur MEO PIPsaying, tell us Gotti to slow down.
Otherwise we're gonna call him in.
It's 'cause he was on the banking.
He was going too close tothe guardrail at the top.
His style of driving ultimatelyproved his undoing while
(20:20):
dominating the French Grand Prix.
In 1925, he continuously brushed theapex of a fast left hand turn, coming
with an inches of a wooden fence.
On lap 22, he came too close,clipping the fence and rolling
the car, which led to his death.
A Scotty's death and Moni resulted in anoutpouring of grief and a state funeral.
(20:40):
In Milan, he became fascist.
Italy's first racing martyr, andthat word was in fact used when his
body returned to Italy on a train.
A large wreath from Mussolini wasplaced on the casket across the
wreath that was donated by Mussoliniwere the words repi the intrepid.
The funeral card repeated Mussolini'sepithet with a message that read Antonio
(21:04):
Ascotti, the Intrepid one, who sacrificedhimself defending with undefeated faith,
the colors of the Fatherland and Italianindustry, although he had been racing
since the 1910s, as Scotty's memoryis indelibly marked with the P two.
Not only did the car symbolize Trium.
But it now also created martyrs speedand death in the service of glory.
(21:26):
Found echoes in fascist rhetoric.
The response to a Scotty's death andhis depiction as a martyr to speed
became the response template for thenumerous Italian drivers killed in
Grand Prix racing over the next decade.
But none of them would be as celebratedas a Scottie, which showed a great
deal to the Alpha Romeo P two.
And in fact, um, I don't.
(21:46):
Have a hard number in my head, butItaly probably produced more dead
race drivers in the late twenties andthirties than any other country, but
I, I can't say that for certainty,but there were a number of Italian
drivers who were killed in that period.
Unwilling to build a new car for the newone and a half liter formula Introduced in
1926 and troubled by financial problems.
(22:07):
Alpha withdrew from Grand Prixracing after the 25 season.
The legend of the P two continued onthough as the car would enjoy an afterlife
that kept it winning races until 1930.
Mostly run by the SC Ferrari.
In 1928, the A-I-A-C-R introducedthe formula Libra Rules, which
allowed this car to enter theofficial Grand Prix races.
(22:29):
It was in this era that the legendof the car actually deepened in
the late twenties Grand Prix racingentered a period of doldrums.
Indicative of this was the factthat there was only one Grand
Prix race held in 1928 at Manza.
It would not be an exaggeration to saythat Italy saved the sport or Grand Prix
racing in particular in these years withthe P two right at its center at Manza.
(22:53):
All the attention of the Italian press,especially the newspapers closely
associated with the fascist party,focused on the P two, driven by Akili Zi.
In 1929, the cars were run by thenew Kuia Ferri, where former Alpha
personnel like Ferrari and Luigi Batiwere reunited with the P twos in 1930.
(23:15):
The P twos are driven byAkili, Zi and Tazi nti.
Thus launching what was to become the mostlegendary driver rivalry in Italian motor
sports in the 1930s, probably of all time.
One last epic victory came at the TargaFlorio in 1930 in the hands of Akili Tazi.
By 1930, the P two had beensubstantially modified.
(23:36):
This included the adoption of theflat slanted radiator taken from the
Alpha 1,517 50 sports car models.
These cars, which brought alphamore glory in the Mil Melia races
were directly inspired by the P two.
According to the Alpha Romeo historianPeter Hall, this made Alpha the only mark,
which directly transferred Grand Prixtechnology to sports cars and vice versa.
(23:58):
That's.
Peter Hall's claim the introduction of thehigh performance six cylinder sports cars.
Also designed by Vito Ano made alphathe most prestigious Italian maker
of sports cars into the 1930s inItaly and worldwide, possibly thus
establishing itself as the markmost suitable to the fascist era
and Mussolini's regime building aprocess that was completed by 1929.
(24:20):
As the modified P twos raced intotheir swansong year of 1930, fascism
had completed the dismantling ofthe liberal state, and sport had
become completely fasc size fiat.
In the meantime, after an abortedattempt to return to Grand Prix
racing in 1927 turns its attentionto mass produced utility vehicles.
A turned to the masses that wouldshape fascist policy in the thirties.
(24:44):
As fascist Italy entered the decadeof the thirties, alpha Romeo become
closely identified with Mussolini.
He called Alpha Romeo our best nationalproduct, and it was increasingly
seen at the wheel of an alpha.
Here he is driving, I believe,let's say 1750 around the new,
um, litorial Autodrome in Rome,which is a purpose built track
(25:05):
in Rome, which no longer exists.
It's now an airport.
In 1951 with Italy embroiled in awar that was going from bad to worse.
Alfa Romeo's magazine published aretrospective on the P two written
by Rado Filip, one of Italy'sleading Motorsport journalists.
This article summed up the importance ofthe P two for Italy's national prestige.
(25:25):
The two years of Alpha Domination in 24and 25 were characterized by Filip as the
most spectacular era of Italian genius.
Ignoring the fact that the P two waslargely based on the Fiat 8 0 5, the
retrospective claim that the P two hadset a new standard for race car design,
calling it authentically avant-garde.
(25:46):
For NY proof of the car's greatnesscame in the 28 19 30 period when this
older car was beating newer cars.
Sometimes.
Moreover, NY was confident thatthe car could even hold its own
against contemporary competition.
That would be auto unions and Mercedes.
So.
Make of that what youwill hyperbole aside.
(26:06):
A Philipp's article demonstrated thecontinued legacy of a car that had
elevated Italy to the top of GrandPrix racing in an era when Mussolini's
fascist regime was being constructedin peace time Alfa Mayo contributed
to the triumphs of Italy on the track.
In 1941, Alpha's production wasdirected to the war effort, and
although the Italians are strugglingon the battlefield, its access
(26:28):
partner was walking all over Europe.
For Philippines readers memoriesof the P two could be harnessed in
the hope that Italian technologycould once again triumph, while
history would demonstrate otherwise.
Thank you.
Thank you Paul.
That was fascinating.
Anyone have questions?
(26:49):
We have a question from the internetfor Paul Terry Johnson writes, are there
any P two alphas currently appearingat vintage and or historic events?
Uh, I don't know if they appearat events, but I think there
are still two in existence.
There's a, an original P two,the first spec of the P two in
the Alpha Mayo Museum in re.
(27:09):
And there is one of the later P twosat the um, automobile museum in Torino
or Turin, so I know that they exist.
I don't know if they takethem out on the track though.
I'm just interested in your commentaryon the state sponsorship of Alpha Rome
or other Italian motor manufacturingand how this episode plays into that.
If it does or if it does not.
Yeah, that's an important question.
(27:30):
The fascist regime did not subsidizethe racing teams the way the Nazi
regime did, but Mussolini didintervene on a few occasions to
save the company from bankruptcy.
In 1933 though, uh, alpha Mayowas taken over by the, it was
bailed out by the IRI, which wasthe state run bailout institution.
So after 33, it did become a state owned.
(27:53):
Team, but it wasn't racingofficially as a works team.
Alphas were always raced by the Ferrari.
However, in 1938, they did come backas an official team, alpha corse.
So in that sense, yes it wasbecause it was effectively owned
by the state at this point.
So.
I dunno if that answersyour question, Paul.
It turns out I have something of afollow up question, which is to compare,
(28:14):
if not narrowly, regarding finances,the Nazi use of symbolism in racing
during this time with the Italians.
In, in what sense are they equally active,more successful in using, uh, auto racing
as a a means of political expression or.
Oh yes.
Yeah.
Uh, absolutely.
The Nazi regime, of course, wouldvery much celebrate its victories.
(28:34):
Uh, the, the German cards, victories,and, um, Italy did the same for the, um,
Motorsport magazines, but even in thenational newspapers, there would always be
front page coverage when Alpha won a race.
So you did have a similartype use of propaganda.
For the races.
Absolutely.
When Fascist, Italy no longer existed,did Alpha Romeo struggle to shift any
(28:55):
kind of negative associations with it,or was it relatively smooth sailing?
They were able, I think, to shiftrather easily into the postwar, and
that that goes with any sporting hero.
Actually under fascism.
Even the great cyclists like Bartleyand the soccer teams, they were all
able to really easily transition.
Uh, Simon Martin, uh, asports historian, non Italian.
(29:17):
Sports history makes this argument.
I mean, it shows that the sportingheroes were able to create their
own kind of popularity or their ownniche in the Italian imagination
that transcended fascism.
So perhaps going back to Jim'searlier question that shows that
maybe the regime was not as successfulultimately in making it truly fascist.
I have to say though, that themanaging director of Alfa Romeos
(29:40):
name was Ugo GoTo, and he was,uh, he was appointed by Mussolini.
After the state took over thecompany in 33, he was assassinated
by the Italian resistance in 1945.
And so not to be cynical, but Ithink by getting rid of him, even
though he was not, as far as I know,he was not a convinced fascist.
In fact, he had an industrial background.
He had worked for Fiat.
(30:00):
He had actually designed thelingo Hotel factory in Tur,
if you're familiar with that.
But he kind of paid the price,if you will, for Al Alpha Rome's
association with the regime.
So maybe that was enoughto make others forget.
And keep cheering for Al Romeo.
Afterwards.
Al Romeo remained a state run companyuntil the 1980s, and then it was taken
over by Fiat, if I'm not mistaken.
(30:20):
Ruby, Joanne Wright.
Were there any drivers that feltunhappy about Italy's fascism back then?
Great question.
There is no one that comes to mind.
I don't know of any driver that comesto mind that was either anti-fascist.
Or in some way bothered by the regime.
Not to say that these guyswere fascists necessarily.
(30:40):
Antonio Skai, I think, belonged to alocal fascist cell in Milan, Gaston,
really, Perry, whom I mentioned, he's theone that won the 25 Italian Grand Prix.
I think he was, he had a, hewas known to be a, a fascist,
actually politically active.
Fascist.
As for the others, they were, I, Iwould argue they were neither fascists
or anti-fascists, as far as I know.
(31:01):
Again, we don't know enough.
This is a gap in the research.
I think we don't know enough about alot of these drivers during the fascist
era because they didn't write much.
Uh, n Vladi did write a couple ofarticles, had it written for him, I
don't know, but his name was attached tothem in some of the sporting magazines
where he used some fascist language.
Enzo Ferrari actually in the newsletters,would write periodically articles
(31:22):
that exalted Mussolini's regime.
But you have to remember too, thatafter the war, there was a lot of post
hoc refashioning or sanitizing of alot of this, and a lot of drivers,
and a lot of people who carried overdid not really talk much about that
past politically Anyway, so we, we, wedon't know enough on that topic, but
it's, it's a, it's a great question.
Thank you, Paul.
(31:43):
That was terrific.
Thank you.
Thank you.
This episode is brought to youin part by the International
Motor Racing Research Center.
Its charter is to collect,share, and preserve the history
(32:04):
of motor sports spanningcontinents, eras, and race series.
The Center's collection embodiesthe speed, drama and camaraderie
of amateur and professional motorracing throughout the world.
The center welcomes seriousresearchers and casual fans alike
to share stories of race drivers.
(32:25):
Race series and race cars captured ontheir shelves and walls and brought
to life through a regular calendar ofpublic lectures and special events.
To learn more about the center,visit www.racing archives.org.
This episode is also brought to you bythe Society of Automotive Historians.
(32:48):
They encourage research into anyaspect of automotive history.
The SAH actively supports thecompilation and preservation of papers,
organizational records, print ephemera,and images to safeguard, as well as to
broaden and deepen the understanding.
Of motorized wheeled landtransportation through the
(33:09):
modern age and into the future.
For more information about theSAH, visit www.auto history.org.
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