The 1967 to 1969 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale

One Of Alfa Romeo's Greatest Classics

 

 (Later example of the car. Possibly a 96 year model.)

 

 

     Hello everyone. Today I'll be talking about another classic sports car. This one comes from Alfa Romeo, aka the company upon which you must own at least one of their cars to become a true car lover according to many automotive experts. Today's car might just be able to defend that right because it was so fast and futuristic looking for it's time throughout 1967 to 1969. That car is the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale. Let's talk about that engine and other stuff that made it way ahead of it's time.

     The Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale is an Italian sports car equipped with a 2.0 liter naturally aspirated V-8 that delivers 230 hp from the street version, and 270 hp from the race version. Top speed of either the street or race version is 160 mph which was very good for it's time considering that other Italian sports cars like the Lamborghini Miura had a larger engine but didn't deliver power like the 33 Stradale did. Naught to 60 takes 5.5 seconds which is also impressive for it's time. Both the street and racing versions of this car use a 6-speed Colotti manual.

     Now for a very cool fact about the 33 Stradale. It was the very first car to use dihedral doors or butterfly doors as they're also known. 

     As for the car's build, the 33 Stradale uses an aluminum body on an aluminum tubular chassis. Every 33 Stradale was built entirely by hand which meant each was unique in some way in it's creation. The first 33 Stradales used twin headlights, whereas the later ones used single headlights. Other things that changed with time on the 33 Stradale where the position and number of windscreen wipers, and the addition of air vents behind the front and rear wheels to improve cooling. The 33 Stradale uses Girling disc brakes on all four corners of the car.

     Back in the day the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale cost $17,000 which was very expensive back then. Today the 33 Stradale costs over $10 million estimated.

     This is a very nice car to look at and fun to drive as well. I hope Alfa Romeo gets the courage one day to make a new modern version of this car. Traditionally such a remake should use another naturally aspirated V-8. However if Alfa decides to copy the size of the original somewhat I can also expect a V-12. If that happens we could have either a new Alfa Romeo 12C or a car with a name to celebrate the heritage of the 33 Stradale. Would you like to see a remake of the 33 Stradale some day? I certainly do.