© Perry Stern, Automotive Content Experience
Top Honors
On a gorgeous afternoon at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance — the world’s preeminent collector car competition — the coveted Best of Show trophy was awarded to David and Ginny Sydorick for their stunning 1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta. This particular Alfa Romeo was first revealed at the 1937 Paris Auto Salon. Later that year the car was shown in Milan, and then the following year at the 1938 Berlin Auto Show. When asked what it was like to be standing on the award ramp at the Pebble Beach Concours next to his Best of Show winning car, Sydorick exclaimed, “It’s the World Cup. It’s beyond Best of Show. It’s fantastic!”
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© Perry Stern, Automotive Content Experience
Highly Advanced
The Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 was one of the most technically advanced sports cars that money could buy in the 1930s. This Pebble Beach Best of Show-winning 8C features Superleggera coachwork, incorporating a more steeply raked front grille and no running boards, which set it apart from later 8Cs. Featured in magazines at the time, this 8C was referred to in the Alfa Romeo sales brochure as “Coupé Leggero.”
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© Rod Hatfield
Elegant Technology
Sydorick described his winning Alfa as a “piece of automotive architecture mounted on a Grand Prix chassis that has technology that was top of the line.”
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© Perry Stern, Automotive Content Experience
Lovely Color
The Alfa’s dark blue paint looked almost black in the dawn light as cars rolled onto the 18th fairway of the Pebble Beach Golf Links to begin the day’s competition, but in the afternoon sun the blue paint possessed a brilliant sheen.
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© Mike Meredith, Automotive Content Experience
Sports Car
The 8C 2900B is powered by a 2.9-liter inline 8-cylinder engine that produces about 180 horsepower. Sydorick told us that it’s “very nice” to drive. The couple drove the Alfa in the Tour d’Elegance a few days earlier and it performed perfectly. “Wonderful to drive, easy to be in, very powerful, very nimble — it’s a large 2-passenger sports car,” Mr. Sydorick quipped.
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© Rod Hatfield
Previous Winner
This Alfa is believed to have been in Germany through the 1950s until it was brought to the United States in 1956. The first restoration of this 8C took place in the 1990s, and in 2001 it was named the Most Elegant Closed Car at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
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© Rod Hatfield
Restoration Specialist
This time around the restoration was performed by RX Autoworks based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Sydorick told us that RX has now restored three of these vehicles, and there are only five in total, so they clearly know what they’re doing. Sidorik’s Alfa was restored back to the specification when it was shown at the 1938 Berlin show.
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© Perry Stern, Automotive Content Experience
Choosing a Winner
More than 200 cars filling almost 30 different classes colorfully adorned the 18th fairway of the Pebble Beach Golf Links during the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d’ Elegance. The Best of Show winner is chosen from among the class winners by a field of expert judges. Sidorik’s Alfa beat the two runners up: a 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport Figoni Fastback Coupé and a 1929 Duesenberg J Murphy Town Limousine.
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© Rod Hatfield
First Win After 25 Years
After 25 years of entering cars at Pebble Beach, this was Sydorick’s first Best of Show win. As he explained, most of the vehicles he shows are post-war, and its very unusual for a post-war vehicle to take the top honor. “So this was my shot today, and it worked,” he noted with a tinge of triumph mixed with relief.
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta
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Interesting to note, this car was the Paris and Turin show car of 1937 or 8. Also the first Touring 8C 2900B berlinetta. Note the unique sharp intersection of top of “A” pillar to roof rail – all the others were radiused in this area.