An icon of Italian supercars as well as the most sought-after Alfa among collectors is going under the hammer and we guess it’ll attract lots of attention.

This car is the extremely rare Tipo 33 Stradale. Launched in 1967, it is considered one of the very first supercars, along with the Lamborghini Miura. In fact, the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale was world’s most expensive car at the time, with a retail price of 9,750,000 lire in Italy, when the average wage was 150,000 lire per year. A Miura was priced back then at 7,700,000 lire…

Alfa Romeo built just 18 examples, with five of them converted to concept cars. Add to this the fact that only a handful of the original cars survive to this day and you suddenly get why this car right here represents an once-in-a-lifetime chance for a serious collector to get his hands on one of the most exclusive and beautiful automobiles ever made.

The 33 Stradale was powered by a detuned version of the racing Tipo 33’s 2-litre V8. Featuring twin overhead camshafts and fuel injection, this dry-sump motor was capable of revving up to 10,000rpm producing 230hp (down from the 270hp of the race car’s) and was mated to a six-speed Colotti gearbox. With a kerb weight of just 700kg, the 33 Stradale could accelerate from zero to 60mph (0-96km/h) in 5.5 seconds and a top speed of 160mph (262km/h).

The one for sale is titled as a continuation model but not in the broad sense of the term. Its chassis uses the front and rear sections of the original Tipo 33 Stradale chassis number #02 as well as several parts of the suspension with documents proving it.

Giovanni Giordanengo, one of Italy’s finest artisans in recreating Italian sports cars, built a new aluminum body to the exact standards after Alfa Romeo loaned him their Tipo 33 museum car to perfectly copy the beautiful bodywork. It is estimated that Giordanengo has built six of these continuation models.

As you can see, it is nearing completion, featuring a finished body, a full interior, suspension and brakes fitted as well as the electrical system and wiring loom. The only thing left was the engine; finding an original motor was out of the question but the seller was able to source an original Tipo 33 crankcase, cylinder heads and six-speed gearbox which have been assembled and fitted to the car. A correct Tipo 33 crankshaft is also available, along with the pistons and the seller will also supply a later 3.0-litre Montreal V8 engine.

“Once, on the autostrada to Venice, I ran it for 4 km at its 10,000 rpm rev limit in sixth,” Henry Wessells II, the first private owner of a Tipo 33 Stradale said in the past. “I clocked it at 180 mph. Amazingly below 150 mph there was little engine noise, but past 160 it became really intense inside. The car was fantastically stable – even in crosswinds it still ran brilliantly straight.”

The car will be offered at COYS ‘Legend et Passion’ auction in Monaco on Saturday, May 14. Alfa Romeo’s unicorn comes straight from an age where Alfa Romeos were teaching a few tricks to Ferraris on how it’s done. Do we smell a serious bidding war here?

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