Tipo 33/2 Stradale

The Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale is, by almost universal consensus, one of the most beautiful and significant automobiles ever created. Introduced in 1967, it was conceived as a road-going version of the Tipo 33 sports racing car that Alfa Romeo and Autodelta had developed for international endurance racing. The project was championed by Carlo Chiti, the brilliant engineer who had left Ferrari to establish Autodelta as Alfa Romeo's racing department, and who recognized the commercial and prestige value of offering a road-legal version of the racing car.

The Stradale's body was designed by Franco Scaglione, the aerodynamicist and designer who had previously created the legendary B.A.T. concept cars for Bertone and the Giulietta Sprint for Alfa Romeo. For the Tipo 33 Stradale, Scaglione created what many consider his masterpiece — a low, sensuous form that combined extraordinary aerodynamic efficiency with a visual beauty that transcends automotive design and enters the realm of sculpture. The car's butterfly doors, which hinged upward and forward, added a theatrical element to an already dramatic presence. The body was hand-formed in aluminum by Carrozzeria Marazzi, and each of the 18 examples built is subtly different from the others.

The mechanical specification was equally extraordinary. The engine was a 2.0-liter V8 derived directly from the racing Tipo 33, featuring dual overhead camshafts per bank, dry-sump lubrication, and a specific output that was among the highest of any production engine of the era. Producing approximately 230 horsepower at 8,800 rpm — from just two liters of displacement — the engine was a technical tour de force that demonstrated Alfa Romeo's Formula One and sports car racing expertise. The engine was mounted amidships in a tubular space frame chassis, and the car weighed approximately 700 kilograms, giving it a power-to-weight ratio that rivaled contemporary racing cars.

Only 18 Tipo 33 Stradales were built between 1967 and 1969, making it one of the rarest production cars ever manufactured. Several additional Tipo 33 chassis were bodied by other coachbuilders — including Pininfarina, Bertone, and Giugiaro — to create one-off concept cars and show cars, but the Scaglione-designed Stradale is universally considered the definitive version. Today, the Tipo 33 Stradale is among the most valuable cars in the world, with values that reflect its extraordinary beauty, rarity, and significance. When examples appear at auction — an exceedingly rare event — they command prices that place them alongside the most valuable Ferraris and other blue-chip collector cars. The Tipo 33 Stradale represents the absolute summit of Alfa Romeo's achievement as a manufacturer of road cars.