Four things you may not know about the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/3

It was part of a long dynasty

Tipo 33 was a tag given to all of Alfa Romeo’s sports racing cars for the decade from 1967 onwards. There were even road-going Stradale models of some of the earlier generations. During its life, the Tipo 33 progressed from a V8 to flat 12, from tubular chassis to monocoque. Styling also changed radically in those ten years, from the swoopy organic curves of the 1960s to the sharp-edged purposeful forms of the ’70s.

Its V8 predates the move to F1 powerplants

In what world do you move to Formula 1 V12 engines from an existing V8 powerplant as a money-saving move? The world of 3.0-litre Sports Prototypes, apparently. You can see why, though. While the V8 had a “measly” 400bhp to bother the back tyres, the Carlo Chiti-designed 2,995cc flat-12 that replaced it produced over 500bhp out of the box.

It paved the way for the 3.0-litre formula

The T33/3 during the 1971 season was one of the break-out 3.0-litre machines to move the game on from the monstrous 5.0-litre big-bangers. With Andrea Adamich and Henri Pescarolo at the helm, it won outright at the ’71 Brands Hatch 1,000 kilometers, beating out the seemingly invincible Porsche 917s. The 917 and its 5.0-litre contemporaries would be outlawed for the ’72 season.

It was the middle sibling

While the first of the T33s used a tubular chassis design, and the later TT12 (TT means Tellaio Tubulare) ran a development of that formula, the 33/3 ran an aluminium sheet monocoque. Clothing this was a fibreglass body, the form of which was stark and imposing.

Photography by Jochen Van Cauwenberge