1967 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale Prototipo

The Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale is a mid-engined sports car built by Alfa Romeo of Italy. “Stradale” (Italian for “road-going”) is a term often used by Italian car manufacturers to indicate a street-legal version of a sports car. The car was introduced at the Sport Car Show at Monza, Italy in September 1967. Only 18 have been made. The prototype (chassis No. 750.33.01) was sold to private Gallery Abarth, Japan, a magnesium bodied Stradale replica (chassis No. 105.33.12) built in late 1970s and the five concept cars are now part of the Alfa Romeo Museum. In Top Gear’s 100 Sexiest Cars list, the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale was featured as number 15.

The 33 Stradale, first built in 1967, was based on the Autodelta Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 racing car. The car, designed by Franco Scaglione, and built by Carrozzeria Marazzi, made its debut at the 1967 Turin Motorshow. The 33 Stradale is the first production vehicle to feature dihedral doors, also known as butterfly doors. The car has aluminium body on aluminium tubular chassis. As a result of being built by hand, each model differs from the others for some details.

Built in an attempt by Alfa to make some of its racing technology available to the public, it was the most expensive automobile for sale to the public in 1968 at US$17,000 (when the average cost of a new car in 1968 was $2,822). In the same year, in Italy, the retail price for a 33 Stradale was 9.750.000 lire. Just to make a comparison, the Lamborghini Miura was sold for 7.700.000 lire, while the average worker’s wage was about 150.000 lire.