At the heart of this story lies a car: the Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 Aerodinamica Spider, also known as the extraordinary Jankovits Aerospider. For years, debates swirled around its origins and legitimacy, fueling discussions across countless internet forums. Back in 2012, while researching this model for my book "Quando le Disegnava il Vento" (1), I found myself navigating a labyrinth of conflicting theories. “It has sparked schools of thought and divergent opinions,” I wrote then, “starting with the fundamental question: Is it truly an Alfa Romeo?” (2)
Words and Drawings Massimo Grandi
Today, however, I believe the story has been clarified, thanks to a monumental monograph titled “Alfa Romeo Aerospider” (3) written by its current owner, German collector Georg Gebhard. He dedicated years to research, collecting extensive documentation and introducing a rich array of original materials from the car's creators, courtesy of the son of one of them, who also authored one of the book's prefaces.
Eugenio (Gino) Jankovits was born in Fiume (today Rijeka, Croatia) in 1911, followed by his brother Oscar in 1912. After the premature death of their father, the brothers were raised by the wealthy family of their grandfather, Eugen Fabich, a prosperous timber merchant.
Upon finishing high school, the two young men enrolled at the Polytechnic University of Turin: Eugenio in the Faculty of Engineering, Oscar in Architecture. However, they both shared a passion for engines, automobiles, and speed. They convinced their grandfather to invest in a garage where they could experiment and work on their ideas and projects.
Thus, the “Autorimessa Lampo” was established in Fiume—a garage that was the largest and most modern in the region.
It employed skilled craftsmen, mechanics, coachbuilders, and upholsterers. With space for 100 cars, it also became the exclusive dealership for Alfa Romeo and OM (Officine Meccaniche Brescia) in the Istrian region.
Unable to balance their studies in Turin with work at the garage in Fiume, the brothers decided to leave the university to fully dedicate themselves to their projects. It was 1933. The adventure was about to begin.
At the time, Alfa Romeo was facing challenges in its racing activities with its prestigious and successful P3 GP car due to fierce international competition, particularly from Germany’s Auto Union.
The technical director and head of design at Alfa Romeo was Vittorio Jano. In January 1934, Jano was invited by Ferdinand Porsche to witness the testing of the new Auto Union Type A on the track.
Jano was highly impressed by Porsche's revolutionary car, which featured a tubular frame and a 16-cylinder engine positioned not at the front but behind the driver, in a mid-engine layout.
This configuration wasn’t new to Porsche, who had experimented with it during his collaboration with Edmond Rumpler for the Benz Tropfenwagen in 1923. The Tropfenwagen also had a mid-engine design, was low and streamlined, and, when viewed from the side, resembled a teardrop (in German, “Tropfen”).
Ferdinand Porsche maintained this configuration in all his subsequent Auto Union GP cars and in the Cisitalia Tipo 360.
Jano, already aware of the advantages of a mid-engine layout, was convinced by the Auto Union Type A to pursue a similar project for Alfa Romeo: a 12-cylinder mid-engine GP car that could compete with the German machines.
However, he knew that Alfa Romeo couldn’t handle the simultaneous development of a new engine, chassis, and body, not to mention the financial risk. Unlike Germany, where Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz enjoyed government funding of 300,000 marks each, no such state investments existed in Italy.
Jano understood that Alfa Romeo’s board of directors would never approve his project. Nonetheless, he was determined to proceed. To do so, he needed external facilities, technicians, and, most importantly, funding. This “outsourcing” would also help keep the project hidden from competitors and even Enzo Ferrari, who at the time managed Alfa Romeo’s racing team. Jano was unwilling to risk the project falling into other hands.
Jano had previously met the Jankovits brothers when they were students at the Polytechnic University of Turin, an institution he maintained close ties with from his time at Fiat. The Polytechnic was advanced in mechanical and aerodynamics studies, boasting a wind tunnel and producing top engineering talents. Jano recognized the brothers’ talent, preparation, and passion for engines and racing cars. He had even taken them to the aforementioned Auto Union Type A tests in January 1934.
The Jankovits brothers had everything needed to start the project: a well-equipped garage, the skills and motivation, and the financial means. Jano proposed his idea to them, and they enthusiastically accepted, immediately starting work.
Blueprints and sketches were regularly reviewed and discussed with Jano. Unfortunately, much of the early-stage materials were lost during the war and the Jankovits’ flight from Fiume.
Jano managed to supply the brothers with an Alfa Romeo chassis (#700316), prepared for a 12-cylinder mid-engine layout, along with a temporary 95-horsepower engine, a gearbox, Alfa Romeo suspension components, and racing wheels. Modified Ford 8V rear suspension, Lockheed braking parts from a 1938 Buick, and a differential from a Lancia Dilambda were also used. By 1935, the project had progressed significantly, with the design resembling a sporty spider.
While it was conceived as a single-seat GP car, its design disguised its true purpose to maintain secrecy. Evidence of this is the centrally positioned driver’s seat.
Looking back at the photos taken during the road tests, one cannot help but notice the temporary nose covering the car's radiator—a nose that appears to draw inspiration in its shape from Porsche's Auto Union cars.
One could also, purely as a flight of imagination—just as an exercise of fantasy—try to envision a hypothetical form for Jano's GP car.
The car’s body took shape by 1937, featuring a sleek, aerodynamic profile. Lacking rear lights and fitted with only one headlamp, it was unmistakably a racing car.
But in 1937, Jano left Alfa Romeo, and in his place, engineer Wilfredo Ricart was appointed. Thus, the ambitious GP project fell apart, leaving the Jankovits brothers with a race car that, in its current configuration, had no future.
To recoup their investment, they decided to transform the racing spider into a road-going spider. Between 1938 and 1939, they modified the car’s racing design to make it suitable for street use.
The P1 engine was replaced with a 6C 2300 engine, two passenger seats were added on either side of the central driver's seat, and a large three-piece windshield was installed to protect the two lateral passengers. This windshield, while functional, was not very consistent in size or shape with the sleek and flowing lines of the bodywork. However, it was attached to the body using screws at the base of its supports, making it easily removable. Additionally, rear lights and a license plate were installed, along with two low, round headlights at the front.
With all these modifications, the car was fully homologated for road use. In 1939, the car was truly groundbreaking. Aside from the GP Auto Union cars, no road vehicle featured a mid-engine layout. To see something similar, we must fast forward to 1948 with the creation of the first Porsche 356, the No. 1—a sporty roadster with a comparable architecture: the engine mounted longitudinally at the center of the chassis, between the passenger seats and the rear axle.
Even in its exterior design, the car was absolutely original. Aerodynamically efficient, it vaguely recalled the extreme lines of the German record-breaking vehicles, such as the Auto Union Type C Streamliner of 1932.
The bodywork does not merely clothe the bare mechanics but is shaped based on aerodynamic principles of drag resistance and, above all, the flow of air streams around its mass. Its clean and harmonious lines, low profile, long descending tail, and smooth, rounded flanks all respond exclusively to aerodynamic and fluid-dynamic needs.
The architecture consists of three elements: a central fairing that follows the teardrop shape principle and two pontoon-style fenders with a descending rear profile. The sides are smooth and uninterrupted, with the only exception being the slight protrusion of the rear wheel covers. At the front, there is a low hood beneath the fenders, an air intake designed and cut directly into the body without any grille, and two low, round headlights integrated into the structure. The three volumes blend seamlessly, sculpting an interplay of concave and convex lines in the transverse profile. This integration extended to envelop the entire underbody, preventing turbulence between the road surface and the vehicle’s body.
The overall design concept is that of the "Alaspessa," already present at the end of the 1930s and later widespread in sports cars of the 1940s and 1950s. This concept features a longitudinal airfoil-shaped profile with compact forms, fenders, and headlights integrated into the car's bodywork.
However, unlike other similar designs, the engine is no longer placed at the front but at the center of the vehicle, immediately behind the driver. This change leads to the evolution of this design concept, revolutionizing the form system: the front attachment, or the car's nose, which drops below the fender profiles; the absence of bumpers; and the headlights integrated flush with the bodywork—these are all elements that together help improve aerodynamic penetration and minimize disturbances to the airflow at the front of the car.
In this perfect synthesis of aesthetics and aerodynamics, as previously mentioned, the large windshield in the road version noticeably clashes. While it served to protect the two side passengers from the wind, its size and square shape broke the fluid, streamlined coherence of the bodywork’s design.
Today, after passing through many hands and being restored by its current owner, Professor Georg Gebhart, the Aerospider shines once again. Painted in a deep petrol blue-green, it can be admired at the Technik Museum in Sinsheim, Germany.
An automobile conceived for racing and speed, its every detail reflects a pure functional philosophy. This purity of concept and simplicity of design make the Jankovits Aerospider a timeless masterpiece, nearly 85 years after its creation.
(1) M. Grandi, “Quando le disegnava il vento”, Libreria Automotoclub storico, Torino, 2012
(2) Editor's note: Despite the numerous publications and ongoing discussions surrounding this remarkable car, there remains no definitive proof regarding the exact circumstances that led to its creation. Much of the narrative is based on historical interpretations, but the full story continues to be shrouded in mystery. The details of its conception, design, and development remain elusive, leaving room for further research and exploration.
(3) G. Gebhard, “Alfa Romeo Aerospider”, published by Georg Gebhard, Waldbröl, Germany, 2018
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Massimo Grandi, architect and designer, previously director of the Car Design laboratory at the Design Campus of the Department of Architecture at the University of Florence. Member of the ASI Culture Commission. Among his published works: “La forma della memoria: il progetto della Ferrari Alaspessa”, “Car design workshop”, “Dreaming American Cars”, “Ferrari 550 Alaspessa: dall’idea al progetto”, “Quando le disegnava il vento”, “Il paradigma Scaglione”, “La più veloce: breve storia dei record mondiali di velocità su strada” (with others).
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