The 1970 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/3 is an exceedingly important car in the back-catalogue of Alfa Romeo cars, it’s often overlooked because it didn’t enjoy the same successes as its successor, the 1971 Tipo 33/3, but much of the success of the ’71 chassis was down to the development and track testing done throughout the 1970 season on the car you see pictured here.
Fitted with a fire-breathing 2998cc (183 cubic inch), 400hp engine the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/3 was an exceptionally quick motor car. For the 1970 racing season it was competing against the 5.0 litre engines in the Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512, despite the shortfall in engine capacity and power the 33/3 managed an impressive third overall at Sebring, and De Adamich and Pescarolo won their class in the 1000km Zeltweg, finishing second overall.
Later in 1970 Steve McQueen chose one of the 33/3s to appear in the now iconic film, Le Mans (which was released in 1971).
By 1971 the new 33/3 cars had been tweaked to perfection and they would go on to take class wins at the 1000km Buenos Aires, Sebring, Monza and Spa. Outright wins were taken at the 1000km Brands Hatch and the Targa Florio, leaving the formerly invincible Porsche 917s in the dust.
The first impression given by the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/3 is a sense of singularity of purpose. Nothing on this car is superfluous, every vent, wing and inlet has been tested tirelessly and exists to serve a single purpose. The twin radiator inlets on each side of the car are gargantuan even by modern standards, the exposed transmission is flanked by dual exhausts angled upwards to pump as much gas into the area of low pressure behind the car as possible – making it a tiny bit quicker.
If you’d like to buy yourself the car you see here I have some good news for you, it’s available and it’s coming up for sale with RM Auctions at the London Auction on the 8th of September 2013. If you’d like to read more or see more of the car, you can click here.
Photo Credits: Courtesy of RM Auctions
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