The past few years haven’t been the prettiest era for supercars so far. Take a look around and you’ll see seven-figure mingers as fast as they are difficult to look at. The Lamborghini Sian is a caricature of a Lamborghini, the McLaren Senna looks as if Edward Scissorhands violated the clay model, and the Pagani Utopia has a facial expression like it accidentally signed up for a lifetime wet willy subscription. However, out of the muck known as turn-of-the-’20s excess come signs of attractive supercars returning, and even common brands are starting to get in on the action. Say hello to the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale. No, not the breathtakingly gorgeous old one, but the unexpectedly attractive new one.
Obviously, the form of the original 33 Stradale is almost impossible to achieve in a street car these days, but Alfa Romeo seems to have put great attention into getting the curves over this carbon-tubbed rocket right. From the arcs over the fenders to the swoosh of the quarter panel air intakes, the 33 Stradale cuts a beautiful silhouette. I really like the canopy-style butterfly doors with their absolutely fantastic skylights. Sensational stuff.
Look a little closer, and you’ll find an interesting clash between the classic and modern. The forward lighting silhouettes cut an organic figure, but the detailing is all straight lines piling up to look busier than a beehive. Torpedoes emerging from the flanks contain the taillights, a bold move that recalls vent locations on the original car. It all feels very Zagato-influenced, but that’s a good thing. It’s the sort of beauty that isn’t immediately obvious, instead sparking studious discussion.
Powering the new 33 Stradale is a mid-mounted turbocharged V6 with more than 620 horsepower. Surprisingly, it’s not Maserati’s Nettuno engine snagged from across the Stellantis parts bin using an old-timey barbershop quartet cane, but rather a high-output version of the 2.9-liter V6 in the Giulia Quadrifoglio. Intriguingly, it’s a 90-degree design, meaning this exceedingly rare supercar should sound like the world’s fastest Pontiac Grand Prix. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Hitched to an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transaxle from ZF, it should make the 33 Stradale plenty quick. If that’s not for you, Alfa Romeo is happy to provide customers with an electric option, a tri-motor array pumping out a dizzying 750 combined horsepower. Reckon it’s congestion charge-exempt in London?
Regardless of whether a customer chooses red meat or Beyond Meat power, the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale should click off solid figures. Alfa Romeo claims zero-to-60 in less than three seconds and a top speed of 207 mph. That’s supercar quick by any standards. Reeling this objet d’art back down from serious speeds falls under the responsibilities of carbon ceramic Brembo brakes with electro-hydraulic actuation. Yes, this thing is brake-by-wire, a curious choice but not a surprising one given the Giulia Quadrifoglio. I wouldn’t question their effectiveness, seeing as how Alfa Romeo claims the 33 Stradale can haul itself down from 62 mph to a dead stop in less than 108 feet.
Figures alone aren’t necessarily a sign that a car will be quite good, but the origin of this supercar offers some hope. The reborn 33 Stradale didn’t happen on a corporate whim, but rather with love by its side. As per Alfa Romeo:
The new 33 provides an exciting driving experience and the immortal charm of an icon to a very small circle of enthusiasts who have been involved from the beginning. The new 33 Stradale was developed at the recently created Alfa Romeo “Bottega,” where the brand’s designers, engineers and historians initially met with potential buyers to create each car, as in Renaissance artisan boutiques and workshops of renowned Italian coachbuilders
What we’re looking at here is a low-volume car tailored for individual enthusiasts, and that’s rather cool. However, because of that nature, the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale will be an elusive beast in the wild. Alfa will only make 33 of these cars, and all have been spoken for. However, the brand has hinted that this isn’t the last high-end limited-production car it will build. I guess we’ll just have to hold onto our hats as we wait to find out what’s next.
(Photo credits: Alfa Romeo)
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It is my humble opinion that the ass end looks great, but the front looks like ass.
Correct opinion, that. Those headlamps remind me of those stick-on car eyelashes in a bad way.
Stick shifts please… otherwise, why?
These kinds of things are getting boring. V6 turbo is maybe the lamest engine configuration for a supercar.
Could do without the cocaine eyelashes under the headlights, but a can candy-apple red Krylon should fix that.
By contemporary standards, which as Thomas points out, is a very low bar, it’s a reasonably pleasant design.
Yawn. Pretty, but completely irrelevant. It’s not something where the innovative styling, technology, or manufacturing methods will flow down to mass-market vehicles. It’s just another oligarch’s keepsake.
The comment section sounds like car reviews as written by early pilgrims. It has shiny bits and speaks of a lack of modesty…..
This comment needs all the likes. Also, it needs to be a monthly feature: Puritan Car Reviews
The steering wheel is big eyed and it’s sticking it’s tongue out at me, but in a friendly way. I do not normally anthropomorphize cars.
I meant bug eyed.
I can’t un-see that now…
Even its ass looks angry.
I’m convinced that no one can design a pretty car any more
Why should we care about something nobody who hasn’t bought one already can buy?
Has a demand been made of you?
This would not likely even crack the top 10 fastest Pontiac Grands Prix in the world:
https://www.tapouttuning.com/3800-rankings/
But what’s the top speed of the cars on that list?
quickest is not fastest
You guys are taking a light-hearted jab pretty seriously.
Yikes, what a mess. This does not deserve the 33 name. Whose idea was it to put distracting white stripes around the headlights? They make it hard to decide which end is worse and should be parked up against a wall, the front or rear.
Hello. I agree that the embedded photos depict an attractive motorcar.
Hey! I just noticed the lead picture has no exhaust, and then the other two rear views show quad. What gives ?
edit;OK that’s the electric option, thought they meant hybrid.
Are those real gauges, or an animation of gauges played on an LCD screen? If the former, good for Alfa for not cheaping out on that.
Sure, it’s pretty, but I really want to know how much does it weigh?
The Maserati MC20 is ~3300lbs with a tank of fuel.
I’d reckon this will be in that ballpark.
So for a modern car with presumably large, beefy components, actually reasonable.
Another vanity piece for the 1% dick measuring competition
*dismissive wanking gesture*
Yeah man i don’t give a single F about supercars anymore. We should start eating rich people.
Good thing there will be only an exclusive run; that gimmicky speedometer could cause accidents in anything besides highly collectible garage queens!
This is a good (not great) looking car. I wish the back didn’t have the angry brow look to it.
This. I don’t hate the design, but I don’t love it. The rear end, however, just looks…off, and you are exactly right that it’s the grumpy brow.
Why can’t make something like this in EV form with similar specs to a Model 3 and sell it for $90,000. It would be sporty enough and people would line up to throw money at the dealer. Instead, you either pay eleventy million dollars for this or you get a 4 door hatchback/CUV/Accord or Camry.
Very much this. I’m sick of everything high performance and pretty being deliberately made to be “exclusive” toys for rich people. It doesn’t have to be this way, but it appears to be some unwritten rule within the entire auto industry that makes it so. Historically, only outliers like Lotus were willing to buck that trend, but their funds were limited, and thus too was their ability to mass produce their vehicles, and now they’ve been taken over by a firm that cares more about maximizing shareholder returns than what the actual product is.
*Corvette has entered the chat*
At first glance I thought this was about a 207HP Alpha. And for that moment I thought it was refreshing to see a beautiful and exotic looking car that didn’t need insane HP and all the cost associated with that.
I was actually more excited to read about a beautiful and fun car that was more about looks then about performance and was hoping for a reasonable price. For some reason I’m now disappointed that this thing is more of the usual.
I read it the same way and had to scroll up to read it again LOL
Well… How many takers have they had for the Alfa Romeo 4c, or even the reborn Fiat spider for that matter? Not surprising that they reached up instead of down….
‘car enthusiasts’: “Give us lightweight, fun to drive, affordable sportcars!”
later: “The 4C is too uncomfortable and loud, the Fiat Spider has a Fiat badge! Imma buy a Highlander cause my wife told me to”
Alfa makes a new 33 Stradale for $3million each, all 33 sold before they were even unveiled.
Yet people are surprised carmakers continue to go for the latter approach rather than go bankrupt??
The 4c is great, and there are over 9,000 on the road today.
Not surprised they’d go after the money. But I would be a little more excited about 9,000 good looking cars on the road then 33 trophies in some rich persons collection.
I don’t think anyone is surprised.
Oh, yea, the fiat spider is nothing special. I wouldn’t mention it in the same sentence as the 4c.
The Fiat Spider was affordable compared to the 4C, and, important to some, came with 3 pedals. It was cheaper than a Miata (they were always discounted), with a more tuner-friendly engine, better sounding (at least the Abarth version) and (subjective, I know) better looking. Somehow no one bought it.
Yeah, I was thinking like the 4c. Definitely not the spider… good car but not exotic looks in any way.
They sold about 9,000 4C. Many more then this thing.
Nobody is surprised with what they actually produced.
IMHO, the original Scaglione design is in the pantheon of beautiful automotive design. This iteration is not bad, but nowhere near what a 33 Stradale looks like.
Maybe a different name?
Dig it, think turning down the contrast would help. Perhaps a slightly darker hue of body color instead of black, or just monochrome.
From the rear 3/4 view I love how the taillights align with the intakes in the fenders, really looking like jet engines.
I hate to be Debbie Downer, but I find the design to be badly overwrought.
Let’s see what our man Adrian Clarke has to say. He’s the arbiter of such things!
Yes. Our Cool Goth Uncle needs to pass judgement on this.
My professional considered opinion is it’s fucking dogshit. Over-wrought, over-done and over-weight. I’m a bit pressed for time as I’m heading to Italy tomorrow, Maybe I should swing by Centro Stile and give them a withering look.
A withering look, followed by a great post for us to read, enjoy, and learn from!
I agree, I have certainly seen worse but I wouldn’t say it’s great either..
As the arbiter of bad taste, I think it’s gorgeous.
Well, they can’t all be Canadian-spec 1960 DeSoto Adventurers.
Well played!
Agreed. I think the De Tomaso P72 is a way better interpretation of a futuristic take on this era of sports car design.
I’ve seen the De Tomaso P72 (rumour is there’s only one and they keep repainting it) in the flesh, and while it’s better than this it’s really not great. Bit caricature.
I said better 🙂 Overall I’m not a huge fan of any of these retro ‘rebirths’, they’re always going to be caricature because you just can’t make a modern car as delicate or simple as the original.
This begs the question of which way modern supercar design. I saw the P72 in person as well. It’s a clean homage to the original 33/246 Dino era cars, but it’s too backwards looking. Yet too many “new edge” supercars are Edward Scissorshand (shamelessly stealing the perfect phrase) meets Liberty Walk. What’s the right way forward?
Lotus Emira?
I’ve seen a few, and they always look good.
I’m also very easily swayed so if Adrian hates them I’ll hate them too.
But I would still very much like an Evora 410. Love the front, love the carbon slats over the engine. I might just like them because it was such a massive step forward from the original Evora.
The Emira is a great car in many ways, but not sure if I would call it beautiful, especially those gashes in the hood.
Yeah, those are the worst bit.
I had a S1 Elise and the massive vent above the horizontal radiator at the front would allow rain water to sit in the rad and steam off like the radiator had leaked. So at least the Emira won’t suffer from that continual panic.