Most Sensuous Car Shapes Ever Designed

Italian Stylists in the 60s:
Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, by Franco Scaglione - 1967



Continuing the string of simply enchanting designer bodies for Alfa Romeo in the 50s and 60s (see for example the Pininfarina custom body for Alfa Romeo 33 revealed at Paris show in 1969 and discussed in our previous article) - Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale ("Street") is another curvaceous beauty, as desirable as it is rare.

The street version of the Alfa-Romeo Tipo 33 racing car was designed by Franco Scaglione, a major talent who just left Bertone studio, and went free-lancing, apparently losing none of his master touch.











The first production vehicle to have "butterfly" doors, the first mid-engined Alfa Romeo road car appeared at Milan Motorshow in 1967. Its voluptuous, nicely proportioned shape many consider to be one of the most beautiful designs ever:








On a racing track the car was intended to lock horns with Ferrari (then promoting its famous Dino 206S) and a line of 910s from Porsche. The 33 model performance was called "unprecendented" : considering it went from 0 to 60mph in just 6 seconds, and could reach maximum speed of 162 mph (260 km/hr) - making it a true supercar at the time, perhaps even better than Ferrari Daytona.






Only 18 such cars have been built, mostly due to their astronomical price. Some versions had an entirely different front-end styling (I find it much tamer and less flamboyant):





The 33 Series Alfa-Romeo chassis proved to be attractive to numerous stylists, among them Bertone, Pininfarina, Ital Design from 1968 to 1976. In the future issues of the series we will try to cover these rarities, as well.



"Muscular, aggressive and sensual, the 33 Stradale was magnificently sculpted"