Who would ever have imagined a comeback for the legendary Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale? “We bridged a 57-year gap with a project born out of the dreams of the entire Alfa Romeo Style centre”, Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos, head of Alfa Romeo design who we met up with in Turin at the Alfa Style Centre, told us. “Anyone who does what we do would leap at the chance to engage at least once with such a special car, and we ourselves didn’t hesitate before this unique opportunity”.
33 cars all different
Before us is the Fuoriserie designed by Alfa Romeo’s designers for thirty-three élite customers and which until fourteen months ago had just been a beautiful sketch. “We all wanted to have a hand in such an exclusive model, but of course its sustainability was crucial. So at the 2022 Monza Grand Prix we showed the drawings to early fans and potential customers to see their reactions: it was a rousing success”, Mesonero continued.
Natural evolution
The project was guided by a pivotal principle: do not fall into the trap of retro-design: “What the two projects have most in common is precisely the spirit in which they came to life. Today, as then, the 33 Stradale is a beautiful, high-performance car. We wanted a natural evolution, as though production of the legendary 1967 model had never stopped but only evolved, generation after generation. We had to innovate, not emulate”. A philosophy that belongs to the history of legendary cars, objects that have become true icons, that have enchanted enthusiasts for decades, such as the Fiat 500, the Porsche 911, and the Mini.
Unmistakable front end
However, the new 33 Stradale has many points in common with its ancestor: from the formal clean-cut surfaces to the muscular volumes and other stand-out features like the butterfly doors, the ability to open the entire car (hood, doors and engine compartment) and the reinterpretation of the headlights in a modern key. “The whole of the front design makes it unique. Those headlights so close to the road (just 20 centimetres separate them from the asphalt, ed.) are unmistakable and the same goes for the aluminium shield set in the centre”.
Reducing to the essentials
The 33 Stradale was created comparatively quickly (only one styling model was milled) and with the active participation of customers, an èlite selection of Alfa Romeo aficionados and collectors from every part of the world. One of the most widely shared demands was to retain a substantial formal cleanliness both inside and out: “We had to reduce all possible appendages to the essentials, while the spoiler was absolutely banned. This is why production was entrusted to Touring Superleggera in Arese and Turin: such a level of craftsmanship could only be achieved by the most experienced coachbuilders”.
‘Real’ materials
Customers demanded their contact with the car should be as physical as possible. Goodbye, then, to big displays; in the cabin we find only digital instrumentation encased in the telescope panel and a retractable touch panel on the centre tunnel. “They were looking for a car to drive, to touch, to feel as part of them”. A direction that also influenced the choice of materials: “Aluminium, carbon, leather, Alcantara: everything is real. No compromise on either materials or performance”. Speaking of performance, the attention to aerodynamics was manic and challenging, despite starting from a noble base (the platform and some technical components are shared with the Maserati MC20).
(Full article in A&D no. 263)
