Alfa Romeo Coupe - e-Journal | E002

The legendary Alfa Romeo 8c2300 is more often pictured as a race car such as the open-wheeled Monza or the very sporty Spider. For many enthusiasts it comes as a surprise that the 8c 2300 was built on two chassis lengths and clothed in a full range of bodies, from sedans to touring cars. It takes a true cognoscenti to know that among these offerings there were a handful of very sporty Coup spider bodies which could go toe-to-toe with the Monzas and Spiders when it came to sportiness. These remarkable cars are not well known because few survived the war, and the last remaining Coup 211053, was rebodied in 2000. We have the people at Pocher to thank if the Coup's are known at all.

The Pocher Coup spider is clearly based on this last remaining coup and is largely correct in dimensions and proportions, even carrying the same color scheme of white with black leather roof covering and red interior. The later Pocher Tuxedo version.?íȉۡó»_All black with steel wheels in lieu of wire wheels is a bit more fanciful, but it too captures the look of several of the other coup spiders as they appear in period photographs, although wheel disks would be more likely than stamped steel wheels. Even so, we must thank the fine folk at Pocher for immortalizing these rare and little known sports cars.

The designation "coupe-spider"is apt; the small dimensions and rudimentary finish of the interior of these cars assured that the driver and passenger were treated to driving experience more like an open roadster than like that of a luxury enclosed car. What the coup spider lacked in wind buffeting it made up for in heat and claustrophobia and noise.

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