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Lot Essay
1972 ALFA ROMEO 33DT3
Chassis No. 115.723003
Red
Engine: V-8 by Alfa Romeo, double overhead camshafts per bank. Light alloy block and heads, 4 valves per cylinder, mechanical indirect fuel injection (multipoint) by Lucas. 2998 cc, 440bhp at 9800 rpm. Gearbox: five-speed. Suspension: front: independent with transverse arms, coil springs and anti-roll bar. Rear: independent transverse arms, and longitudinal beam, coil springs and anti-roll bar. Brakes: ventilated discs all round.
Alfa Romeo has a life-long racing history: they have been world champion in Formula 1 twice and European champion with sports and touring cars even more often. In the winter of 1966 their racing department, Autodelta, started a new project, a pure sports-racing car to compete in the world championships for sports prototypes. The Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/2 was born and first shown to the public on 6 March 1967. It was a very fast car and won its first hill climb six days later in Belgium in front of a 4.4 litre McLaren. These early 'Trenta Tre' had a two litre engine, but for the 1969 racing season a three litre unit was developed. The engine was completely new and had a power output of 400bhp at 9000rpm. It had a swept volume of 2992cc (64.4 x 86) and was actually developed for the Formula 1 car. The compression ratio was 11:1 and an interesting item was that the engine had four valves per cylinder, an innovation not seen in an Alfa Romeo engine since the Grand Prix car of 1914! With these cars Alfa Romeo came third in the world championship in 1970 behind Porsche and Ferrari. 1971 showed even better results when the team people from Milan were second, after Porsche but in front of Ferrari. As we all know the Porsche 917 was practically unbeatable in those days and the Alfas therefore had to be content with the second or third placing. They finished second and third behind a 917 in Sebring, third, fourth and fifth, behind 917s at Monza, but won the 1000 km race at Brands Hatch. In the Targa Florio the Tipo 33's even came in first and second! The 6 hours race at Watkins Glen was also a victory for Alfa when Ronnie Peterson and Andrea de Adamich crossed the line first and in front of two Porsche 917s and a Ferrari 512M.
For 1972 the Tipo 33 was completely rebuilt. It now had a tubular frame and was called the 33 TT 3, with the TT standing for Telaio Tubolare. The first cars had a light alloy frame, but this was soon replaced by a much stronger superframe made of steel and titanium and covered again with a fibreglass body. This car was the last construction of Orazio Satta, Alfa Romeo's technical director who had been responsible for the technical design of all postwar racing and production cars of his company. The engine was tuned to develop 440bhp at 9800rpm and the five speed gearbox was mounted between the V8 and the rear axle instead of behind it. This and the fact that the driver was sitting further to the front of the car improved the weight distribution and so the handling of the car.
New rules forbade cars with 5 litre engines for 1972 which left the Porsche 917 out of the running. But Ferrari came with the unbeatable 312 PB and won the championship, with Alfa Romeo second and Porsche third with the 908. In the meantime, Alfa Romeo and Autodelta had started working on a new 12 cylinder engine, which would utlimately win the Championship for them in 1975. To accommodate this powerplant, the chassis needed to be slightly adapted and the car we are delighted to offer is one of these chassis fitted with the 3-litre V8 engine. It was entered in this configuration by the Works in 1972 with the following results:
1000 Km Buenos Aires 4th overall Elford-Marko
Targa Florio 2nd overall Galli-Marko
1000 Km Brands Hatch 7th overall Galli-Marko
24 Hours of Le Mans 3rd in practice, retired after 19 hours when 4th, with clutch problems Stommelen-Hezemans-Galli
In 1973, the same car was driven by Zeccoli, the Works test driver of Autodelta. In 1975, it was acquired by Ottomano, updated with the new 12-cylinder bodywork fitted by Autodelta, but of course retaining its original 8-cylinder engine. In 1978, Palma purchased the car, before selling it to the present owner a year later. The car has now been in the same hands for twenty years and though occasionally used, has never been restored and looks exactly as if it had raced only yesterday. Although supposed to be in good working order, careful recommissioning is strongly advised.
The history of this car is fully documented and it is duly homologated by The Registro Italiano Alfa Romeo. This is an extrememly rare opportunity to acquire a Works car with significant and continuous history.
Chassis No. 115.723003
Red
Engine: V-8 by Alfa Romeo, double overhead camshafts per bank. Light alloy block and heads, 4 valves per cylinder, mechanical indirect fuel injection (multipoint) by Lucas. 2998 cc, 440bhp at 9800 rpm. Gearbox: five-speed. Suspension: front: independent with transverse arms, coil springs and anti-roll bar. Rear: independent transverse arms, and longitudinal beam, coil springs and anti-roll bar. Brakes: ventilated discs all round.
Alfa Romeo has a life-long racing history: they have been world champion in Formula 1 twice and European champion with sports and touring cars even more often. In the winter of 1966 their racing department, Autodelta, started a new project, a pure sports-racing car to compete in the world championships for sports prototypes. The Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/2 was born and first shown to the public on 6 March 1967. It was a very fast car and won its first hill climb six days later in Belgium in front of a 4.4 litre McLaren. These early 'Trenta Tre' had a two litre engine, but for the 1969 racing season a three litre unit was developed. The engine was completely new and had a power output of 400bhp at 9000rpm. It had a swept volume of 2992cc (64.4 x 86) and was actually developed for the Formula 1 car. The compression ratio was 11:1 and an interesting item was that the engine had four valves per cylinder, an innovation not seen in an Alfa Romeo engine since the Grand Prix car of 1914! With these cars Alfa Romeo came third in the world championship in 1970 behind Porsche and Ferrari. 1971 showed even better results when the team people from Milan were second, after Porsche but in front of Ferrari. As we all know the Porsche 917 was practically unbeatable in those days and the Alfas therefore had to be content with the second or third placing. They finished second and third behind a 917 in Sebring, third, fourth and fifth, behind 917s at Monza, but won the 1000 km race at Brands Hatch. In the Targa Florio the Tipo 33's even came in first and second! The 6 hours race at Watkins Glen was also a victory for Alfa when Ronnie Peterson and Andrea de Adamich crossed the line first and in front of two Porsche 917s and a Ferrari 512M.
For 1972 the Tipo 33 was completely rebuilt. It now had a tubular frame and was called the 33 TT 3, with the TT standing for Telaio Tubolare. The first cars had a light alloy frame, but this was soon replaced by a much stronger superframe made of steel and titanium and covered again with a fibreglass body. This car was the last construction of Orazio Satta, Alfa Romeo's technical director who had been responsible for the technical design of all postwar racing and production cars of his company. The engine was tuned to develop 440bhp at 9800rpm and the five speed gearbox was mounted between the V8 and the rear axle instead of behind it. This and the fact that the driver was sitting further to the front of the car improved the weight distribution and so the handling of the car.
New rules forbade cars with 5 litre engines for 1972 which left the Porsche 917 out of the running. But Ferrari came with the unbeatable 312 PB and won the championship, with Alfa Romeo second and Porsche third with the 908. In the meantime, Alfa Romeo and Autodelta had started working on a new 12 cylinder engine, which would utlimately win the Championship for them in 1975. To accommodate this powerplant, the chassis needed to be slightly adapted and the car we are delighted to offer is one of these chassis fitted with the 3-litre V8 engine. It was entered in this configuration by the Works in 1972 with the following results:
1000 Km Buenos Aires 4th overall Elford-Marko
Targa Florio 2nd overall Galli-Marko
1000 Km Brands Hatch 7th overall Galli-Marko
24 Hours of Le Mans 3rd in practice, retired after 19 hours when 4th, with clutch problems Stommelen-Hezemans-Galli
In 1973, the same car was driven by Zeccoli, the Works test driver of Autodelta. In 1975, it was acquired by Ottomano, updated with the new 12-cylinder bodywork fitted by Autodelta, but of course retaining its original 8-cylinder engine. In 1978, Palma purchased the car, before selling it to the present owner a year later. The car has now been in the same hands for twenty years and though occasionally used, has never been restored and looks exactly as if it had raced only yesterday. Although supposed to be in good working order, careful recommissioning is strongly advised.
The history of this car is fully documented and it is duly homologated by The Registro Italiano Alfa Romeo. This is an extrememly rare opportunity to acquire a Works car with significant and continuous history.