The Origins of the P2

Designed by Vittorio Jano, the P2 is considered one of the best Grand Prix cars of the 1920s. Vittorio Jano had joined Fiat at the age of 20, working as a junior draughtsman under Carlo Cavalli, the then head of the Fiat design section.

Meanwhile, Alfa Romeo’s development of the P1 had turned out to be a big disappointment following its poor performance in the 1923 Monza Grand Prix against Fiat. It was after this that Vittorio Jano, recommended by test driver Luigi Bazzi (former Fiat test driver and associate of Jano), was hired in 1923 by Alfa Romeo, to assist Secondo Molino, another ex-Fiat engineer, in designing a completely new car from scratch... the P2 was the result.

Making its debut in Northern Italy at the 200-mile race at the 2nd Circuit of Cremona in 1924, the P2 won the race with an incredible speed of over 98mph, and went on to win the speed trial at 121mph. Following this success, the P2 went on to win multiple races for the next six years including winning the World Championship title.

A Tinplate Toy...

The French Toy Manufacturer, Compagnie Industrielle du Jouet (C.I.J), began making Toy Car Replicas of the iconic Alfa Romeo P2 between 1924 to around 1935. 

The first series of these tinplate P2s had distinctive un-treaded rubber ‘Balloon’ tyres, and were painted in colours representative of the racing countries – red for Italy, green for Great Britain, white for Germany and blue for France, amongst others. The later series of these toys was released from 1930, this time with treaded Pneu Michelin tyres. The colours of these models were diversified to keep up with the tastes and style of the new era, and later models were even produced with working battery headlights.

P2s Sold at C&T

The later version blue, silver and red tinplate Alpha Romeo P2 clockwork racing car (shown below) is coming up in our 11th September Vintage & Collectible Toy auction! 🏎️  View the lot here...

Click here for the full auction catalogue!