THE 2.3 Many fine automobiles have been compared over the years to Swiss watches in the jewel-like precision and complication of their mechanical works.

The comparison is seldom more apt than when made to the Alfa Romeo 8C 2300.

Under the car’s long snout was tucked an engine comprised of two four-cylinder blocks, end to end, with twin overhead camshafts and hemispherical combustion chambers.

The 10-main-bearing crankshaft was split in the middle, with a pair of gears at its heart that drove the camshafts, a supercharger, oil and water pumps, and the generator! It was a miraculous piece of engineering, beautiful to behold and, properly set-up, seamless in its operation; an 8C 2300 was a marvelous, swift machine to drive, as witnessed by its impressive roster of victories in the great races of the world during the early 1930s.

Typical of Alfa Romeo in this period, the 2.3, as enthusiasts came to know it, was as often beautiful as fast, with coachbuilders delivering the best of their...