STORY OF THE DAY: Nuvolari Salvages Fourth at the Nürburgring

Tazio Nuvolari drove Scuderia Ferrari’s number 22 Alfa Romeo 12C-36 to fourth place in the 1937 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. He completed all 22 laps, finishing 4 minutes 3.9 seconds behind Rudolf Caracciola’s winning Mercedes-Benz W125 and behind Manfred von Brauchitsch and Bernd Rosemeyer. Surviving classifications therefore record a finish rather than a retirement, despite the “R” attached to the supplied title.

The result reflected a changed competitive order from Nuvolari’s celebrated victory at the same circuit two years earlier. The Mercedes-Benz W125 and Auto Union Type C now possessed a decisive performance advantage, leaving the Alfa driver to extract what he could from an outpaced design. Nuvolari nevertheless brought the 12C home ahead of several German entries, turning an unequal contest into a respectable championship finish.

The 12C-36 used a supercharged V12 of approximately 4.1 litres in the Tipo C chassis introduced with the 8C-35. Independent suspension replaced the P3’s rigid axles, but the V12 installation increased weight and the car could not approach the power available from its 1937 German rivals. Its established chassis and Nuvolari’s familiarity with its behaviour nevertheless made it a more dependable proposition than Alfa Romeo’s troubled new 12C-37.

Nuvolari was an Italian from the province of Mantua and one of the central figures of European racing between the wars. A former champion motorcycle racer, he became renowned in cars for his adaptability, tactical instinct and capacity to compete with technically superior machinery. His long association with Scuderia Ferrari made him Alfa Romeo’s principal standard-bearer, and fourth place in Germany showed a different side of his importance: persistence when victory was no longer realistically available.