Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale (1969) (1967–1969)

every.autos editorialconfidence: high

A race car made road-legal — and, to many eyes, the most beautiful car ever built.

The 33 Stradale is what happens when a manufacturer builds a road car with almost no compromise from its racer. Alfa Romeo took its Tipo 33 sports-prototype — chassis, high-revving V8 and all — and had Franco Scaglione clothe it in aluminium. The brief was that the road car should deliver almost all of the racer's performance, and it very nearly did.

At its centre was a jewel-like 2.0-litre V8 that spun to extraordinary speeds, in a car so light and low it looked poured rather than built. Scaglione's body, with its sculpted curves and butterfly doors, is regularly cited among the most beautiful ever drawn. It was also fiendishly expensive to build, which is why so few were made: just 18, between 1967 and 1969.

The 33 Stradale is the high-water mark of the coachbuilt Italian dream — a competition car reshaped into pure sculpture, and almost impossibly rare.

Written and fact-checked for every.autos · every claim checked against the sources below · 2026-07

Sources (2)

Background

The Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale is a mid-engine sports car built by Italian automobile manufacturer Alfa Romeo. It was the fastest commercially available car for the standing kilometer upon its introduction. 18 examples were produced between 1967 and 1969. "Stradale" is a term often used by Italian car manufacturers to indicate a street-legal version of a racing car; indeed the 33 Stradale was derived from the Tipo 33 sports prototype. Built in an attempt by Alfa Romeo to make some of its racing technology available to the public, it was also the most expensive automobile for sale to the public in 1968 at US$17,000.

Text adapted from “Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale” on Wikipedia ↗ · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗ · retrieved 2026-07

Specification