Car Features
The Alfa Romeo Stradale nameplate reborn in 2023
On 31st August, 1967, the 33 Stradale made its debut at the Monza GP. On the same date and in the same place, some 56 years later, the latest 33 Stradale was launched.
Planned production of the 2023 model was only 33 exclusive units, using a unique artisan process. The new two-seater coupé was unveiled in the pit lane, with two Alfa Romeo drivers, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu and the entire Alfa Romeo team in attendance.
It’s the same track where Alfa Romeo won the first title in the history of Formula 1 on 3rd September, 1950, with Nino Farina at the wheel of the Tipo 158 Alfetta.
The original Stradale
Derived directly from the Tipo 33 racing car, but with 100mm longer wheelbase, the 1967 33 Stradale immediately aroused admiration for its exhilarating performance and sculptural silhouette by Franco Scaglione. The bodywork was executed by Carrozzeria Marazzi.
Two prototypes were built, with dual headlights, but production cars had single headlights. Marazzi claims to have built 18 chassis, of which at least five were used for concept cars that appeared until 1971.
The 33 Stradale was one of the first production vehicles to feature forward-hinging butterfly doors and windows that curved into the roof.
The car had a hand-built aluminium body on an aluminium tubular chassis. Each example differed from the others in some details, including windscreen wiper positioning. Also, the late models had vents behind the front and rear wheels, to allow hot air from the brakes to escape.
The car had Campagnolo magnesium wheels: 8×13 at the front and 9×13 at the rear. Girling discs were fitted, with the rears being inboard.
The suspension system was straight from the race cars, with upper and lower control arms in front and double trailing arms in the rear, along with anti-sway bars.
The race-bred engine was closely related to the Alfa Montreal V8, but with reduced capacity, a flat-plane crankshaft, dry sump and a much higher state of tune. It was very oversquare at 78mm x 52.2mm bore and stoke.
Target output from this two-litre eight was 227bhp at 8800rpm, with peak torque of 206Nm at 7000rpm, thanks to fuel injection, four coil and 16-plug ignition. However, each hand-built engine had slightly different characteristics and at least one was dyno’d at 254bhp/9400rpm, with an open exhaust.
As on the racing car, the transmission was a six-speed Alfa Romeo transaxle.
Performance claims were verified by the German Auto, Motor und Sport magazine, which measured a top speed of 252km/h and 24 seconds for the standing kilometre, making it the fastest commercially available car over this distance.
The little Alfa did all this with an engine around half the size of those powering supercars of the time.
Although its footprint was small, its price was anything but: around 50-percent more lira than a Lamborghini Muira! However, it would still have made a fine investment, because its rarity has made it one of the most valuable collector cars in the world.
The 2023 Tipo 33 Stradale
The Alfa Romeo team set itself the ambitious goal of offering the driving experience of a track car, in a vehicle suitable for everyday use on the road, without compromising on comfort and safety.
The 33 Stradale was fitted with a V6 twin-turbo engine delivering over 620bhp, or a battery electric vehicle (BEV) configuration with over 750bhp.
Performance is outstanding in both versions. The top speed is 333km/h and it accelerates from 0 to 100km/h in under three seconds.
The double-arm suspension, with active shock absorbers, incorporates a front axle lift that raises the front ground clearance for speed bumps and spoon drains. The Alfa Romeo brake-by-wire braking system and Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes offer high-level performance.
An aluminium H-frame and carbon fibre monocoque body guarantee rigidity and lightness. The roof structure has been engineered in carbon fibre and aluminium, with hinged butterfly doors. The window frames are also made of carbon fibre and the rear window is polycarbonate.
Doubtless all 33 examples will become collector cars in time and all were sold pre-release.
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