BEAUTY (RE)INCARNATE

An Alfa Romeo T33 Stradale tribute worthy of the name: Octane - exclusively - is first to drive the Automotive Artisans R33

- James Elliott

Has there ever been a model so enigmatic yet charismatic, so awash with magical beauty and talent as the Alfa Romeo Type 33? On the track, Carlo Chiti's 1966 design took a couple of years to find its feet the first incarnation was a four-cylinder before Autodelta upped it to the 2.0-litre V8 - but it came to life with the T33/2 that in 2.0-litre or 2.5-litre forms dominated its class in endurance racing in 1968, while larger-engined Porsches still stole the headlines. Variants kept running until the late 1970s, winding up with a 3.0-litre flat-12, by when it was already a legend, having accrued the 1975 World Championship of Makes in imperious fashion and the 1977 World Championship of Sports Cars. For the Alfisti, however, it never got better than Vaccarella and Hezemans taking the 1971 Targa Florio in a T33/3 and then Vaccarella and Merzario repeating the feat in 33TT12 in 1975.

In the studio the T33 was the foundation of the most fascinating and influential design exercise of that or any other era. Blue-chip carrozzerie were given T33 chassis and a free hand and they came up with masterpieces: from Gandini at Bertone the Carabo (the birth of his wedge design language) and Navajo, ItalDesign's Iguana (by Giugiaro and his debut with brushed aluminium), plus a trio from Pininfarina, Paolo Martin's P33 Roadster and Cuneo, and Fioravanti's Coupé Speciale.

On the road, the T33 Stradale - the 10cm longer tubular aluminium chassis of which was the basis for those concepts - was most notable for its rarity (just 18 chassis were built), its cost (at £6100 in 1967 it was the most expensive car in the world), its speed (no road car was quicker over a standing kilometre) and its astonishing beauty (thanks to the old master Franco Scaglione).