Carlos Arzani was a true all-out racer. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he quickly found his calling out on the cobbled racetracks of the 1930s. After showing his relentless pace and natural ability to wrestle cars toting essentially zero safety features, Arzani would become a prominent figure of the Equipo Argentino, and is perhaps best known for his 8C 35, with its unmistakable lines and bold racing spirit. As a touching celebration of Arzani and his 8C, the team at Officine Fioravanti have created a visual echo of the past, reinterpreted for the present with their 8C M, which wears the same livery as the iconic racer.
Our friends at Officine Fioravanti possess a dedication to preserving the art of driving joy that knows no bounds, something we discovered first hand when we were blown-away by their their manual-converted Alfa Romeo 8C which we were lucky enough to ride shotgun in last year. The Turin-based restomod firm doesn’t seek to imitate the past, but celebrate it, and ensure the next generation of drivers understands its importance and the journey the team have travelled on in order to create their masterpiece.
Visually, the restomodded 8C M bears its new colour scheme with immense pride, its metallic shade of blue brings subtlety to the 8C’s charming looks, while your eye is immediately drawn to the vibrant Giallo bonnet that creates a dramatic ‘V’ shape which flows down into the iconic Alfa Romeo front grille.
The 8C 35 was Alfa’s riposte to the increasingly dominant Silver Arrows. At its heart beat a 3.8-litre straight-eight engine, a supercharged masterpiece producing around 330 horsepower. Boasting ferocious power for the era, especially when paired with a featherweight chassis and leaf-spring suspension that made cornering more ballet than brute force. This very same ethos is exactly what stole the hearts of drivers and enthusiasts around the world when the 8C was launched, and Officine Fioravanti only enhanced this further with their unique creation. 90 years may separate these two Italian powerhouses, and while technology, safety, driving dynamics and usability has certainly changed in those decades, the relationship between the two cars seems closer than ever before. Not in comparison, but as a dialogue between generations, a living demonstration that true passion knows no age!
