When introduced in 1931, the Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 established new standards for high-performance sports cars. Developed by the brilliant engineer Vittorio Jano, who had already delivered Alfa Romeo the highly successful 6C 1750 and P2 Grand Prix, the 8C boasted an all-aluminum, 2.3-liter, twin-cam straight eight, supercharged to produce 145 bhp.

Throughout the early 1930s, the 8C 2300 dominated sports car racing, capturing multiple wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Mille Miglia, and the Targa Florio. In single-seater form, the Monoposto “Tipo B,” or P3, won six races in its debut season, including the major Grand Prix of France, Germany, and Italy. In typical Alfa Romeo fashion, the 8C 2300 was offered to private customers in road-going form, sold as a bare chassis in short- and long-wheelbase variants intended for bespoke coachwork produced by firms like Touring and Zagato.

Another firm famed for its coachwork on the 8C 2300 was Carrosserie Figoni. Established by Italian expatriate Giuseppe “Joseph” Figoni and headquartered in Boulogne-sur-Seine on the outskirts of Paris, this firm rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most influential coachbuilders in Europe. Exceptionally high build quality, fine woodwork, luxurious interiors, and handsome styling characterized Figoni bodies of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Figoni’s later partnership with Ovidio Falaschi led to some spectacular coachwork in the late 1930s, defining the aerodynamic style with flamboyant Art Deco-inspired designs for French luxury manufacturers.

The first body that Figoni built on an Alfa Romeo chassis was a lightweight tourer for Raymond Sommer’s short-chassis 8C 2300. It was an auspicious start, as this car went on to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1932 with Sommer and co-driver Luigi Chinetti. In addition to lightweight racing bodies, Figoni also built elegant, custom coachwork for road-going 2.3s.

Between 1932 and 1935, Figoni built bodies for seven long-chassis 8C 2300s: one faux cabriolet, five cabriolets, and one roadster. Each Figoni-bodied Alfa Romeo was built to order and this striking Cabriolet Décapotable, mounted on the highly developed third-series 8C 2300 chassis, no. 2311239, is certainly no exception. A refined four-seater, this body was constructed with an opulence rarely found among coachbuilt 2.3s, yet the driver accustomed to piloting a Monza would feel right at home behind the wheel.

As detailed in Simon Moore’s definitive book, The Legendary 2.3, this 8C 2300 was first registered in Milan in May 1934 and shipped to Paris to receive Figoni coachwork. According to the coachbuilder’s records, the car was completed in November 1934 at a cost of 21,750 French francs, and delivered to a M. de Calverra of Levallois-Perret, a suburb of Paris.

It is believed that the Alfa Romeo’s first owner was Raoul Calvayrac, who registered the 8C 2300 in Paris as “2205 RJ 8.” Collaboration between French automobile historian Pierre-Yves Laugier and Simon Moore led to the discovery of an early photograph of the Alfa Romeo when nearly new, parked outside Chateau de la Besse in the Dordogne region.

M. Calvayrac reportedly retained the Alfa Romeo through WWII, hiding it on his property to keep it safe. After the war, he relocated to the French Riviera and kept the 2.3 at his residence in Cannes. In 1949, an American artist named Hubert Harmon bought the Alfa Romeo from M. Calvayrac while on holiday and shipped it from Marseille to New York. After six months, he decided the coachbuilt 2.3 was not ideally suited for Manhattan traffic and advertised it for sale in The New York Times.

His advertisement piqued the interest of a young sports car enthusiast named Jim Ibold, who wrote to Mr. Harmon asking for more details. On July 15, 1951, Mr. Harmon sent Mr. Ibold the following reply:

“Dear Sir: In answer to your telegram. The Alfa Romeo engine was brought from Italy to Monsieur Raoul de Calveyrhac [sic], who sent it to Paris where Figoni did the carrosserie. It was hidden in the hay during the German occupation on M. de Calveyrhac’s [sic] estate, and successfully. So it has not very much mileage even tho it is quite old. I bought it in Cannes from its former owner, Therefore it has had just two owners… Here in New York it has been kept in the garage except for one or two sorties since my arrival. It is a car that should be used and is not useful here in the city. That is why I wish to sell it. Also I must point out that the racing engine is tremendously powerful and really should be owned by someone with mechanical knowledge. I do not have that and am at the mercy of Inskip Rolls Royce to look after it for me. Although the car is very chic, I believe to the Knowledgeable mechanic it is the engine that is most interesting. It is supposedly the best engine that Alfa ever made. It has four speeds forward and is a right hand drive. It is painted cream and maroon. The top is maroon. It holds the road as if glued to it. I am told that its original cost was between fourteen and sixteen thousand dollars…”

Smitten with the idea of owning a true thoroughbred, Mr. Ibold took a train to New York City, purchased the 8C for $2,000, and drove it home to Cincinnati, Ohio. For the next 50 years, Mr. Ibold drove, loved, and cared for the Figoni 2.3, keeping it in his garage together with an 8C 2900B Touring Spider that he acquired some years later. In his book The Legendary 2.3, Simon Moore describes Mr. Ibold’s Figoni Cabriolet as “one of the most ‘untouched’ of all the 8Cs, still kept in remarkably original condition.”

In 2004, Patrick Ottis, the renowned Berkeley-based Ferrari specialist, purchased the Figoni Cabriolet from Mr. Ibold. This acquisition represented the culmination of Mr. Ottis’ long-standing goal of owning an 8C Alfa Romeo, a car he regards among the all-time great automobiles.

After displaying the unrestored 2.3 at Pebble Beach in 2005, Mr. Ottis restored the car in an unusually sympathetic fashion, returning it to its original splendor without disturbing its wonderfully original character. While Mr. Ottis carefully restored the mechanical elements of the car, Brian Hoyt’s Perfect Reflections of Hayward, California, refinished the car in its original two-tone color scheme.

In a letter contained in the car’s file, Mr. Ottis explains his unique approach to the restoration of this Alfa Romeo:

“My friend Jim Ibold… nurtured and loved the car for over 50 years. As its next owner I have tried to emulate his care. I inherited a car original down to the smallest fastener and every original finish was here for me to see and document. Even the prelac engravings are still visible on the hood latches… We have chosen not to restore the car just for the sake of restoration. This car was really a time capsule when I bought it, but it did require some minor wood repair to the original Figoni body superstructure. We color matched the original two shades of dark red exactly. The wrinkled dash is absolutely original and untouched. The chassis is original and still has much original red overspray from Figoni in 1934…”

Mr. Ottis’ thoughtful restoration efforts were validated at the 2010 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance®, where the Figoni Cabriolet won First in Class in the Alfa Romeo 8C class, a proud testament to its authenticity, originality, and the sensitive nature of its restoration. Following this outing, the 2.3 was exhibited at the Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance and successfully participated in several 1,000-mile Alfa Romeo 8C tours. During Mr. Ottis’ ownership, the Alfa Romeo returned to Europe for the first time in decades, where it was displayed at the exclusive Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este and then driven to the Calvayrac family chateau, where it resided when new.

Since 2016, this Alfa Romeo has been a fixture in a connoisseur’s collection, where it has been dutifully maintained and exercised, preserving it in concours quality condition. A testament to its quality and significance, the Figoni 2.3 has continued to earn major awards at leading concours, including Best in Class at the 2018 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance and Third in Class at the 2022 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance®.

Not only is this an unusually authentic example of an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300, retaining its original chassis, engine, factory data tags, and open Figoni coachwork, it is also supported by a wealth of important documentation. Included in the car’s exceptional history file are correspondence, service records, and parts orders dating back to 1951, when Jim Ibold purchased the car from Hubert Harmon, plus various French maps and documents from the final years of Calvayrac’s ownership.

A Figoni-bodied 8C 2300 certainly ranks among the most exclusive automobiles of its day – a stylish, luxuriously appointed Cabriolet constructed on the ultimate sporting chassis of the era. The incomparable sound of Alfa Romeo’s gear-driven, supercharged engine is bound to excite any car enthusiast, and even with its opulent coachwork, this is a genuine 100 mph touring car that possesses the dynamic qualities of a true Italian thoroughbred. In 1934, as today, there is little competition, in terms of performance or style, for an eight-cylinder Alfa Romeo.

Presented here is a rare occasion to acquire an exquisite example of a custombodied 2.3, one of the finest of all prewar motor cars, which can only be described in superlatives.

*Please note that this vehicle has a combined acceptance to two Mille Miglia events -- the Warm Up USA Event in October 2024 and the Mille Miglia 2025 -- subject to registration and payment of entry fee.