Tag Archives: Stradale

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 !

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Faster Than Enzo – Maserati MC12 Stradale

The Maserati MC12 Stradale is the road going variant of the Maserati MC12 Competizione which successfully took Maserati back to the race tracks on the FIA GT Circuit in 2005.

Maserati MC12 Stradale, Desert Classics Concours d'Elegance,

Sharing a chassis, modified motor, running gear and windscreen with the Enzo Ferrari the rest of the body was originally conceived by Giorgetto Giugiaro and stylised with the aid of a wind tunnel by Frank Stephenson.

Maserati MC12 Stradale, Desert Classics Concours d'Elegance,

The two batches of 25 MC12 Stradales built in 2004 and 2005 were only delivered in white and blue, sans radio or even anywhere to fit an after market one, a nod to the exploits of the American Lloyd Perry ‘Lucky’ Casner’s Camoradi team.

Maserati MC12 Stradale, Desert Classics Concours d'Elegance,

In two separate road tests at Dunsfold Aerodrome and on the Nurburgring MC12’s proved to be quicker than the Enzo Ferrari that spawned it. I believe the example seen here in Geoffrey Horton’s photograph’s, taken at last years Desert Classic’s Concours d’Elegance, is one of those built in the 2005 batch.

It appears to belong to the The Riverside International Automotive Museum a non profit corporation run by Ray and Doug Margon dedicated to “Preserving the memory of California’s rich motorsports heritage” which also houses a collection that includes one example of every road going Maserati sold in the US since 1951.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photographs.

Thanks for joining me on this “Faster Than Enzo” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at an early Renault. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Aircon & Electric Windows – Ferrari 250 LM #5995

Today’s featured Ferrari 250 LM chassis #5995 was originally supplied in 1964 to Count Volpi di Misurata patron of Scuderia Serenissima.

Ferrari 250 LM, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Roberto Benelli is believed to have driven the car for the Count in 1964 although at the moment I have no idea exactly when or where. In 1965 Cesare Toppetti and Maurizio Grana started the Targa Florio with it but retired after an accident.

Ferrari 250 LM, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Cesare finished first in class on the 1965 Bologna-Raticosa Hillclimb before sharing the driving with Maurizio to finish 2nd in the 1965 Mugello Grand Prix. This chassis last known event was with Cesare again at the wheel on Trieste-Opicina hillclimb in July ’65 although no result is known for this outing.

Ferrari 250 LM, Goodwood Festival of Speed

At the 1965 Geneva and New York Motor Show’s Ferrari displayed 250LM chassis #6025 as a Stradale variant equipped as a road car carpets, full leather trim, electric door windows and a plexiglass rear window.

Ferrari 250 LM, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Two years later in 1967 today’s featured car was sent back to Maranello to be equipped as the original 250 LM Stradale as a road car with cast magnesium wheels and air conditioning added for further comfort in what must other wise be a an extremely hot interior.

Ferrari 250 LM, Goodwood Festival of Speed

During the 1960’s the #5995 ended up in Maryland where an owner paid $8,000.

Ferrari 250 LM, Goodwood Festival of Speed

In early 1981 the car was offered for sale by it’s British owner for £75,000 @ $120,000 but it did not change ownership until 1996 when it went to an owner in France who had the car painted in Silver with the French Tricolor as seen on in these photographs taken at Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Ferrari 250 LM, Goodwood Festival of Speed

By way of comparison in the last 12 months or so two Ferrari 250 LM’s have come up for auction, the unraced in period #6045 went for a hammer price of over $11 million in August and the 1968 Daytona 24 Hours class winning chassis #6107 fetched a model high $14.3 million in New York last November.

Thanks for joining me on this “Aircon & Electric Windows” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a one off Jaguar powered GT road car. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Fantastic Futurist – Lancia Stratos Stradale

In 1970 Bertone built a futuristic concept car called the Lancia Stratos Zero, the car was so low the windscreen also acted as ‘the’ door !

The following year Bertone showed the Lancia Stratos Prototype at the 1971 Turin Show, this car was a little more practical with two side doors and a mid mounted tranverse mounted V6 as per the Ferrari Dino from which it was sourced.

Lancia Stratos Stradale, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

In all 492 of the road going Lancia Stratos Stradales like the 1974 example seen here at last years Classic Motor Show at the NEC in Birmingham were built between 1972 and 1974 when production of the V6 Dino GT also ceased.

HF competition versions of the Stradale proved particularly versatile in 1974 Gérard Larrousse and Amilcare Ballestrieri drove a Stratos to victory on the Targa Florio.

The Stratos is probably best remembered as a superb rally car, Sandro Munari and Mario Mannucci won the 1974 San Remo Rally on the Sratos World Rally Championship debut. By 1981, 4 years after the Stratos programe had been closed down by FIAT; Jean-Claude Andruet, Björn Waldegård, Bernard Darniche, Markku Alén, Tony Carello and Antonio “Tony” Fassina had all also helped contribute to a total of 18 World Rally Championship wins credited to the Stratos which included 3 consecutive wins for Munari on the Monte Carlo Rally, ’75 – ’77, and five victories each on the San Marino and Tour de Course Rallies.

Franz Wurz became 1976 European Rally Cross champion in a Stratos and sold his car, later fitted with a 3 liter / 183 cui motor V6 to Andy Bentza who won GT Rally Cross Championship in 1978.

In 1973 Sandro Munari and Mario Manucci won the mixed discipline Tour D’France, the following year Jean-Claude Andruet and “Biche” won the similar Giro di Italia with a similar bodied turbocharged example.

The final competition evolution of the Stratos was a turbocharged Group 5 long tail silhouette racer of the type that Carlo Facetti and P. Sodano drove to victory on the 1976 Giro di Italia.

Thanks for joining me on this “Fantastic Futurist” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a couple of Lotus Indy Cars. Don’t forget to come back now !

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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.

ALFA Romeo 33 Stradale, Goodwood FoS

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.

ALFA Romeo 33 Stradale, Goodwood FoS

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.

ALFA Romeo 33 Stradale, Goodwood FoS

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.

ALFA Romeo 33 Stradale, Goodwood FoS

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 !

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