The car was powered by Alfa's own 890T, a 1.5 L turbocharged V8 engine which produced around 780 hp (582 kW) at 10,200 rpm.

On lap 16 of the Monaco Grand Prix, Nelson Piquet in his Brabham-BMW was attempting to pass Patrese along the pit straight.

Notoriously hard to pass, Patrese moved across on his former Brabham teammate and put the Brazilian into the guardrail.

In a shower of sparks, flames and debris famously captured by the television cameras, both the Brabham and the Alfa were destroyed, though both drivers were able to walk away injury free.

It was at Monaco where Cheever achieved the best qualifying position for the 185T when he started from fourth on the grid with a time only 0.279 seconds slower than pole winner Ayrton Senna in his Lotus-Renault.