2021 Alfa Romeo 33.EVO Stradale

As many of this page know, I’m a huge enthusiast of the Italian designer Franco Scaglione. One of his iconic cars he designed and helped construct was the 1967 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale (Italian for “road going” intended for street usage) upon the Autodelta Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 racing car platform by Carlo Chiti.

My EVO version starts on the basis that instead of the original 13-inch tall magnesium wheels by Campagnolo and the Autodelta platform itself — I’d use modern 20-inch and 21-inch wheels to make use of current tire manufacturing and testing specifications. The drivetrain would also be a modern Alfa Romeo 4.7-liter V8 instead of the original high revving 2.0-liter V8. Radiator cooling dictates would be about 3X more than the original design! Wheelbase (and width) would be changed to get all this packaging within from the 1967 spec 2350mm to a larger 2550mm version along with modern suspension philosophy. [Think about an overall 108% scale sizing change]

Bodywork is an evolution of the Scaglione original but honors his design language but as applied to the larger and modern chassis specifications. My personal dictates were additional cockpit ventilation, a “grille assembly” and a “Coda Lunga” (long tail) iteration. Coachwork instead of the original aluminum skin would be modern carbonfiber composites based from CNC produced molding processes.

25+ years ago, I was part of the restoration team that restored an Autodelta Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 racecar. Beautiful car but it was diminutive at best in comparison to modern cars. It had a stunning engine that made a glorious sound but it made no power below 5500 RPM given the camshafts and small 2.0-liter displacement. Lovely car but nothing that I’d want to drive on the road.

[note: more in the comments below for those interested and an illustration of the size difference]