Jankovits Aerospider

Making a car that is both beautiful and fast is no easy task. It takes talent, financial means and a great deal of skill. Gino and Oscar Jankovits, Alfa Romeo dealers in the Croatian city of Rijeka, used all three in the construction of their Aerospider, mixed with an unsolved mystery regarding the origins of their project. We will attempt to shed some light on the matter: the chassis is by Alfa Romeo and it has a very specific number: 700316 and the car was designed to mount a 12-cylinder engine at the rear, again by Alfa Romeo.

No document has been able to prove that the Jankovits Aerospider was a direct collaboration with Alfa Romeo, but its technical layout, including the central driving position, 12-cylinder engine and racing car weight distribution corroborates the theory of a direct involvement of the Milanese company.

However, the car was powered by a six cylinder engine with three dual Weber 36 D 04 carburettors. The period was 1934 and 1935 when the Auto Union Grand Prix cars were leaving their mark on racing circuits around the world, in particular the Type A, 16-cylinder rear engine version. At Alfa Romeo, technical genius Vittorio Jano was developing a V12 engine in an attempt to weaken the German’s unwavering power in the Grand Prix with the front-engined Mercedes, and the new rear-engined Auto Union rivals. This makes it quite plausible that Jano entered a confidential agreement with the trusted dealer from Fiume (and consequently far from Milan) to build a rear-engined sports car, and to experiment with the new engine.