[Video] A closer look at the new Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale | GRR
The Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale was a mid-engined sportscar, of which 18 were originally built between 1967 and 1969. It has since been heralded as one of the most beautiful road-going cars ever made. It was derived from the Tipo 33, a sports prototype that raced for ten years between 1967 and 1977. Now, 56 years after the birth of the original, we’ve just had the chance to take a closer look at a brand-new Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, and we can’t help but feel this car might be the first step on an exciting new chapter for the legendary Italian brand.
Aside from the obvious name-sharing, the inspiration for this new car is clear. Looking at it from the front, Alfa has chosen to snub the modern way and give the new 33 Stradale a more traditional look with large glass headlight surrounds. There’s a small, 3D-style Scudetto laid into the grille, and the glass in the sleek butterfly doors stretches up over the roof, just like on the original.
Some modern tweaks have been made in line with advances in aerodynamic know-how, so there’s now a carbon-fibre front splitter, side sills and several air intakes for both cooling and drag reduction.
The engine is the same, albeit slightly fettled, 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged V6 found in the Giulia Quadrifoglio, it’s mounted longitudinally in the middle of the car, and produces 620PS (456kW) through an eight-speed automatic gearbox to the rear wheels. There’s a limited slip differential, double wishbone suspension on all four corners and carbon ceramic brakes, controlled by an F1-style brake-by-wire system, for ultimate performance.
Interestingly, this car is also set to be made available in EV specification, where electric motors will produce 750PS (552kW). The top speed in both cases will be 207mph, or 333kph.
The 33 lucky buyers of these cars will also have plenty of customisation options. Alfa Romeo has formed a select committee called ‘Bottega’ made up of various heads of department who will be inspecting each request to decide whether or not to allow such an option to be included. This could be anything from paint colour to interior styles.
The intention is for each of the 33 Stradales to be built to be utterly unique from one another. They will be manufactured by Touring Superleggera and we’re waiting for the day when we might come across one once they’re out on the road. Perhaps we can get one down to Goodwood.