Tag Archives: 33

Monterey ALFAs – Rolex Monterey Motorsposts Reunion

For our fifth visit to this years Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion I’ll be looking at some of the ALFA Romeo cars present snapped by kindly snapped for us by Karl Krause.

ALFA Romeo Monza, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

From 1932 the battle worn 8 cylinder ALFA Romeo Monza, of the type that won the 10 hour 1931 Italian Grand Prix driven by Giuseppe Campari and Tazio Nuvolari, the #31 seen here is owned and driven by Peter Giddings.

ALFA Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

Seven years later ALFA Romeo built the 120 hp 6C 2500 Super Sport owned and driven by Conrad Stevenson, the development and production of the 6C 2500 continued after the 1939-’45 hostilities until 1952.

ALFA Romeo Guilia Spyder, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

ALFA Romeo introduced the Giulia Spyder alongside the Giulia Saloons / Sedans in 1962 although they were actually more closely related to the Giulietta’s that remained in production from 1954 to 1965, the 1963 Giulia Spyder above is owned and driven by Peter Inshaw.

ALFA Romeo TZ1, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

In 1963 ALFA Romeo launched the Giulia TZ also known as the TZ1 to replace the Giulietta SZ, unlike the Giullia Spyder the Giulia TZ was based on the chassis pan and running gear of the Giulia Saloons / Sedans, pay attention at the back I shall be asking questions later ! The #3 ’63 Giulia TZ is owned and driven by Joe Colasacco.

ALFA Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

The sinuous curves and dihedral opening butterfly doors all made the 1968 ALFA Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale one of the worlds most expensive cars in 1968, which maybe why the one seen above is one of only 18 built.

ALFA Romeo GTV, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

Jon Norman started racing ALFA’s in 1968 and in 1971 started racing this 1971 ALFA Romeo GTV in the Trans Am series 44 years later he is still racing it in historic events.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for organising these photographs for me and to Karl Krause for their execution.

Thanks for joining me on this “Monterey ALFAs” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a turbocharged Formula One Lola. Don’t forget to come back now !

The Ultimate 25 – Lotus 33 #R10

The Coventry Climax V8 powered Lotus 33 was developed from the 1963 Championship winning Lotus 25 for the 1964 Formula One season to take advantage of the latest 13 inch diameter broad tread tyres which had been developed by Dunlop.

Lotus 33, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham,

Designer Len Terry described the 33 as “stronger, stiffer, lighter, simpler” than the 25 and noted it was “a lot quicker too”.

Lotus 33, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham,

After problems with hydrogen embritteld chrome plated suspension had been over come Jim Clark used the Lotus 33 to score a season high 5th in his 4 1964 Lotus 33 starts, after winning 3 1964 Championship races in the older Lotus 25, similarly Walt Hangsen finished 5th in the 1964 US Grand Prix at the wheel of a 33.

Lotus 33, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham,

By 1965 Lotus had got it’s act together again and after Jackie Stewart gave today’s featured chassis R10 it debut in the non championship 1964 Rand Grand Prix, where he retired from heat one for which he qualified on pole and finished 1st in heat two after recording fastest lap, team leader Jim Clark took over the car for the 1965 championship opening South African Grand Prix for which he qualified on pole, set fastest lap during the race and won.

Lotus 33, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham,

Jim repeated the feat of pole, fastest lap and winning driving R10, seen in these photographs at the Autosport International earlier this year, in the 1st heat of the non champinship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch but understeered, push, off at Bottom Bend while being chased down by Dan Gurney in heat two bringing R10’s in period racing career to a premature end.

Lotus 33, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham,

Jim Clark missed the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix opting instead to start and win the 1965 Indianapolis 500 with the Len Terry designed Ford Fairlane powered Lotus 38.

Lotus 33, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham,

On returning to the 1965 Formula One championship trail Jim drove Lotus 33’s to five consecutive victories in Belgium, France, Britain, The Netherlands and Germany which was enough to secure the 1965 World Drivers Championship despite the fact that he posted retirements in the final 3 races of the season !

Jim Clark remains the only man to have won the Indianapolis 500 and the World Drivers Championship in the same season, of the other Indy 500 winners only Graham Hill, Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi and Jacques Villeneuve have also won World Drivers titles.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Ultimate 25” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be taking a break from Maserati Monday’s to bring you an unusual Hot Champ. Don’t forget to come back now !

Molto Bello – ALFA Romeo 33 Stradale

In 1967 ALFA Romeo developed the T33 ‘Periscope’ for racing in the 2 litre / 122 cui sports car category, while the V8 engine designed by Orazio Satta and Giuseppe Bosso was extremely powerful the cars were badly prepared and lethal suffering many reliability issues, though one did win an insignificant hill climb in Belgium on it’s debut and another won an equally unimportant sports car race at Vallengua.

Despite the lack of any significant international success and the deaths of Jean Rolland and Leo Cella in testing accidents ALFA Romeo decided to defray the costs of their competition efforts by building a road car based on the T33.

The resulting Tipo 33 Stradale road car with a wheel base 6 inches longer than the racer is one of the most alluring vehicles ever seen, featuring unusual dihedral opening butterfly doors.

The racing pedigree of the 33 Stradale is patently obvious in every every sinuous detail and the car has the performance to match the looks, from test the car reaches 60 mph in 5.5 seconds when required and a top speed of 160 mph should be possible.

All of this technology came with a $17,000 price tag making the 33 Stradale the most expensive car on the market in 1968. Only 18 of these cars were built along with the one off 33.2, Iguana, Carabo and Navajo concept cars.

Thanks for joining me on the lawn at Goodwood House, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !