The world hasn’t felt like an easy place to inhabit recently. Environmental concerns, social issues, financial crises; we’ve had the whole lot.
The “positives” column gets another bullet point today, however, as Alfa Romeo has launched the 33 Stradale – a low-slung, limited-run supercar available in both internal-combustion and electric configurations, created for little more reason than Alfa felt like it.
New Alfa Romeo supercars don’t come along too often. The 4C of 2013 knocked on the door of supercardom, having all the right the proportions but with a four-cylinder engine, which is not really the powerplant to do the tag justice. And back in 2007, Alfa launched the 8C Competizione, inspired by the 1960s and built on Maserati underpinnings. But that was front-engined and, like the related Maserati GranTurismo, more of a… well, a Gran Turismo.
The 33 Stradale, on the other hand, is a proper, red-blooded supercar. Alfa won’t admit it publicly, but there’s more than likely a Maserati MC20 under there, not just because the two are not dissimilar in proportion, but because the Alfa uses a distinctly similar-sounding 90-degree, twin-turbocharged V6 in its internal-combustion form, with a claimed “more than 620PS” (612bhp) output, to the MC20’s 621bhp. Call it about the same on that front. Either way, if the MC20’s a supercar, so too is the 33.
That’s the petrol-powered one, obviously, but Alfa intends to build an electric 33 Stradale, too, making 740bhp and running on 800-volt architecture—again, notably similar numbers to the electric powertrain in the Maserati Folgore sports car, based on the new GranTurismo. It’s all one big happy family out there in northern Italy.
The petrol car is capable of 207mph or, if you’re on the continent, 333 km/h, which seems more appropriate. The EV’s a little slower, at “more than 193mph,” while both claim 0–62mph acceleration in under three seconds, which won’t set any records these days but should not be considered anything other than plenty.
The top speed is impressive given Alfa claims a so-so drag coefficient of 0.375, suggesting there’s definitely a focus on style over substance to the 33’s classic, late-1960s 33 Stradale–inspired lines. Weight, meanwhile, is claimed to be under 1500kg for the V-6, and under 2100kg for the EV. You also get a carbon tub, double wishbones, and Brembo by-wire carbon-ceramics at all four corners, while the wheels are 20 inches in diameter at both ends.
The new 33 is not as small as the 4C, as you might expect for a supercar (4.6 metres long, 2.1 metres and change with the mirrors out, and a touch over 1.2 metres tall, against the 4C’s 4.0m, 2.1m, and sub-1.2m height), but Alfa has used every bit of it to draw the eye, from the new interpretation of the company’s ‘Scudetto’ grille design, to the front and rear clamshells and top-hinged doors, just like the original.
The interior is stripped back and the owner’s choice of either Tributo or Alfa Corse specification determines the trim – aluminium and leather in Tributo, and carbon and Alcantara in Alfa Corse. Interior images suggest a Le Mans–style goldfish bowl view out, too, which will only make it feel more special.
Alfa has committed to building 33 copies of the 33, and they’ve all been sold already. And given this low-production, high-concept brief, the chances of seeing one out and about seem fairly low. Maybe we could bump the new 33 into the “bad news” column for that, but heck, if a new Alfa supercar isn’t considered good news, we’re all really in trouble.
