The History of the March-Alfa Romeo Indy Cars

The first March-Alfa Indy cars

In the late 1980s, hoping to boost sales of its new 164 and the Milano (better known in Europe as 75), Alfa decided to participate in the CART PPG IndyCar World Series Championship. The project would have to be developed quickly and to meet deadlines imposed by the leadership of the Fiat Group, it was decided to concentrate only on the engine and partner with an outside chassis constructor.

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Recalling that season, driver Roberto Guerrero told this author: “The 1989 season was a special season for me. Johnny Caples contacted me in late 1988 about an Alfa Romeo-Indy car. After the first test of the car at Monza, the car seemed good but, of course, needed a long process of development, so that was not ready for the race scheduled for the debut, the Indianapolis 500.” Instead, the new March-Alfa Romeo 89CE, driven by Guerrero, made its impressive debut at the Detroit Grand Prix on June 18th where he completed the race in eighth place. But in subsequent races, the team failed to achieve similar results. Today, one of the chassis is in the Alfa Romeo Museum and the other reported to still be with Caples.

March stopped the partnership with Capels and entrusted the management of its cars to the Patrick Team, managed by Chip Ganassi. This agreement, signed in September 1989, provided for the supply of four new chassis designated the March 90CA.

The March-Alfa CA90

Designed by John Baldwin, the new March-Alfa Romeo 90CA employed a monocoque made of aluminum honeycomb and carbon fiber, pushrod suspension with Koni gas shocks and a braking system consisting of four ventilated discs with Brembo with four-piston brake calipers. The transmission was a 6-speed gearbox + reverse to handle the Alfa Romeo engine, fed with 100% methanol and boosted by a Garretts turbocharger that at the maximum pressure of 45 inches Mercury could produce about 680 hp at 11,500 rpm.

March-90CA-001 had its shakedown on the track in Memphis in mid-March. Later the car was tested at Phoenix a week before the season. On this occasion the chassis powered by the V8 Alfa Romeo was about half a second faster than the March powered by a Porsche. Alfa was ready to go racing at the Brickyard once again.

Thanks to the data made available by Donald Davidson (Indianapolis Motor Speedway historian), Ron McQueeney (Director and Photography IMS) and the Dutch journalist and historian Henri Greuter, we have been able to confirm that three Alfa March cars were entered for the 1990 Indianapolis 500.

90CA-001, with the race number 40, and the white-gold livery of Miller High Life, was entrusted to the expert Al Unser Sr., winner of the 1987 Indy.
90CA-002 with the race number 20 with black-gold livery of Miller Genuine Draft for Roberto Guerrero. (Never repaired after crash at Indy).
90CA-003 with the race number 20T with gold-white livery. (Now restored, see below)

On May 14th during the test session while Roberto Guerrero was driving 90CA-002, he had a heavy impact with the wall at Turn 3. The car was permanently damaged. Guerrero recalled for us the accident. “While I was driving the car, the rear wing failed, caused the complete loss of grip and went up against the wall at turn three. It was one of the most devastating accidents of my career.” Fortunately the driver was uninjured, and Guerrero used the T car, the 90CA-003, for the qualifying session.

After the scrutineering, the 90CA-003 made the qualification test with white-gold livery, the number of tender and 20T, and under the rules of the period, the USAC identification number displayed on the roll-bar; ‘1982’. During qualifying, 90CA-003 did about 102 laps, and on May 19th Guerrero posted his best time, finishing with the average of 212.650 mph (342.227 kilometers per hour) and gaining the 28th position of the grid. Then after the qualify test sessions and before ‘Carb Day’, the 90CA-003 was painted with the black and gold livery, the same colors as 90CA-002 had before the accident.

On race day during the 107th lap, the 90CA-003 allowed Guerrero to get the 20th fastest lap with a time of 43.190 and an average of 208.382 mph (335.358 kilometers per hour). After a pit stop, the suspension had problems that forced the 90CA-003 to retire on the 118th lap. Unser went on to finish a reasonable 13th with 90CA-001.

For a variety of reasons, Patrick did not want to use a March chassis again, and later reached an agreement with Lola for the provision of two T90.00 chassis to be used with the Alfa Romeo engine and continued the remaining championship races.

On July 15th, 1990 during the Marlboro Grand Prix of Meadowlands, legal problems between Patrick and the March Engineering stopped the Alfa-March adventure, and the March-Alfa Romeo 90CA-003 was raced for last time. Driven by Guerrero, it started from 19th place and finished in 15th. Guerrero finished 16th place in the points standings, with a best finish of 5th place.

1991 the team switched to a Lola chassis. At Indy, Danny Sullivan retired as the Patrick Alfa had turbo problems but was classified as 10th. He finished 11th in the season points, with a best finish of 4th at Australia with the last of the Alfa engined Indy cars.

And then it was over.

The Return of the Indy March-Alfa Romeo

During Alfa Romeo’s 100th year celebration, and exactly twenty years after its last race, the March-Alfa Romeo CA90-003 has returned for us to see and hear. Driven by Roberto Guerrreo, CA90-003 had qualified at the Indy 500 in 1990 and became the symbol of Alfa Romeo’s fascinating adventure in the CART world.

The owner and restorer of this car is Dydo Monguzzi. He is the founder of Dywa Racing, a tiny company based in Canegrate, 30 km from Milan, which deals in the building and development of racing cars.

The March-Alfa Romeo 90CA-003, whose restoration is now being completed, is equipped with M191 V8 engine with special cast iron cylinder liners, titanium connecting rods and a Weber-Marelli injection with a single injector per cylinder. These characteristics allowed to the Alfa Romeo engines to achieve the reliability during in the first year of racing. At the moment, the Alfa Romeo engine 2648.815 cc (86 x 57 mm) is capable of over 700 hp at 11,500 rpm. The engine is coupled with a 6-speed gearbox, supported by an AP Borg and Beck clutch with three discs.

The car, in ‘Indy 500 Qualifications’ livery, has a wheelbase of 2850 mm, and front and rear tracks of 1715 and 1613 mm, weighs 703 kg and stands on tires measuring 25.5/10-15 on the front and 27/14-15 on the rear.

To prove the authenticity of the car, in addition to the documentation provided by historians, the 90CA-003 retains the same chassis N° plate and USAC identification serial number ‘1982’ located inside the car, photographed in the upside down position during scrutineering before the Indy 500 in 1990.

The March-Alfa Romeo IndyCar 90CA-003 never won a race, however it is a car of great historical value. It is able to excite thousands of fans. In the near future the 90CA-003 will be back on the track with its unmistakable sound of the Italian V8 still able to conjure up those faithful enthusiasts.