Alfa Romeo Tipo 33

Arturo Merzario at the wheel of 1975 Alfa Romeo 33 TT 12 at the 2006 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 was a sports racing prototype raced by the Alfa Romeo factory-backed team between 1967 and 1977. These cars took part for Sport Cars World Championship, Nordic Challenge Cup, Interserie and CanAm series. A small number of road going cars were derived from it in 1967, called Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale.

With the 33TT12 Alfa Romeo won the 1975 World Championship for Makes, and with the 33SC12 the 1977 World Championship for Sports Cars, taking the first place in all eight of the championship races.

Alfa Romeo Tipo 33

Scuderia del Portello´s 33 “periscope”

Alfa Romeo started development of the Tipo 33 in the early 1960s, with the first car being built in 1965. It was sent to Autodelta to be completed and for additional changes to be made. It used an Alfa Romeo TZ2 straight-4 engine,^[1] but Autodelta produced its 2.0 litre V8 soon after. The 2000 cc (122ci) Tipo 33 mid-engined prototype debuted on 12 March 1967 at the Belgian hillclimbing event at Fléron, with Teodoro Zeccoli winning. The first version was named as “periscope” because it had very characteristic air inlet.^[2] It was powered by a 1995 cc (122ci) 90° V8 of 270 hp (201 kW), with a large-diameter tube frame. The original T33 proved unreliable and uncompetitive in the 1967 World Sportscar Championship season, its best result a 5th at the Nürburgring 1000, co-driven by Zeccoli and Roberto Bussinello.^[3]

Alfa Romeo 33/2

Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/2 Daytona Coupe

Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/2 Le Mans (1968)

In 1968, Alfa's subsidiary, Autodelta, created an evolution model called 33/2. A road version, dubbed Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, was also introduced. At the 24 Hours of Daytona, the Porsche 907 with 2.2L engines were dominating the overall race, but Alfa took the 2-litre class win, with Udo Schütz and Nino Vaccarella; after that the car was named as "Daytona".^[4] Win was repeated at the Targa Florio, where Nanni Galli and Ignazio Giunti also took second place overall, followed by teammates Lucien Bianchi and Mario Casoni. Galli and Giunti then won the class at the Nürburgring 1000 km, where the 2.5L version finished for the first time, 4th place in the 3.0L class with Schütz and Bianchi. However, in most races, the Alfa drivers were outclassed by their Porsche rivals which used bigger engines. In 1968, the car was used mainly by privateers, winning its class in the 1000km Monza, Targa Florio and Nürburgring races. At the end of season Alfa Romeo had finished third in the 1968 International Championship for Makes.

A total of 28 cars were built during 1968, allowing the 33/2 to be homologated as a Group 4 Sports Car for 1969.^[5]

Alfa Romeo 33/3

Alfa Romeo 33/3 with Nanni Galli at the Nürburgring in 1971

The Alfa Romeo 33/3 made its debut in 1969 at the 12 Hours of Sebring. The engine was enlarged to 2998 cc (183ci) with 400 hp (298 kW), which put the 33/3 in the same class as the Porsche 908 and the Ferrari 312P. The chassis was now a monocoque. The new car did poorly at Sebring and Alfa did not take part in Le Mans after Lucien Bianchi's death in a practice session. The car took a couple of wins in smaller competitions but overall the 1969 season was not a successful one, and Alfa Romeo was placed seventh in the 1969 International Championship for Makes.

In 1970 the bigger 5.0L Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512 dominated, yet Toine Hezemans and Masten Gregory took third overall at Sebring, and Andrea De Adamich and Henri Pescarolo won their class in the 1000km Zeltweg, finishing second overall. Also in 1970, an Alfa T 33/3 was one of the "actors" of Steve McQueen's movie Le Mans, released in 1971.

In 1971 the Alfa Romeo racing effort was finally successful. Rolf Stommelen and Nanni Galli won their class at the 1000km Buenos Aires (followed by De Adamich and Pescarolo), before taking another class win (and second overall) at Sebring. De Adamich and Pescarolo later won outright at the 1000km Brands Hatch, a significant result against the "invincible" 917s. They then took a class win at Monza (where Alfa Romeo took the three podium slots in the prototype class) and another one at Spa. At the Targa Florio, Vaccarella and Hezemans won outright, followed by teammates De Adamich and Gijs Van Lennep. Hezemans and Vaccarella won their class at Zeltweg, and De Adamich and Ronnie Peterson won overall at Watkins Glen. Alfa Romeo finished the season second place in the championship. In 1972 the 5 litre Group 5 Sports Cars were banned and the 3 litre cars of Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Matra, redesignated as Group 5 Sports Cars, competed together for outright victories.

Alfa Romeo T33/4

A 4 litre version was entered to 1972 and 1974 CanAm series by Otto Zipper, driver was Scooter Patrick. Autodelta was also one of entrants with T33/4 in season 1974. T33/3 version was also used in CanAm series earlier.

Alfa Romeo 33TT12

Brian Redman driving Alfa Romeo Tipo 33TT12 at the Nürburgring in 1974

The 33 TT 12 (Telaio Tubolare, tubular chassis) appeared in 1973 with the Carlo Chiti-designed 12 cylinder 3.0L flat engine (500 bhp). The 1973 season was more or less development time and in 1974 the car won at Monza 1000 km and finished the season with second place in the championship. It wasn’t until 1975 that, after years of trying, Alfa Romeo won the 1975 World Championship for Makes. The season was one of almost total domination with seven wins in eight races.,^[1] Winning drivers were: Arturo Merzario, Vittorio Brambilla, Jacques Laffite, Henri Pescarolo, Derek Bell and Jochen Mass. For 1976 Autodelta was concentrating on other things and the car was rarely used in competitions.

Alfa Romeo 33SC12

Alfa Romeo 33 SC 12 Turbo

The successor of the 33TT12 1976 was the 33SC12, SC referring to SCatolato, a boxed chassis. The 3.0 L flat-12 engine now produced 520 bhp (390 kW). With this car Alfa Romeo won the 1977 World Championship for Sports Cars, the 33SC12s driven by Arturo Merzario, Jean-Pierre Jarier and Vittorio Brambilla having won every race in the series. At the Salzburgring the car reached an average speed of 203.82 km/h (126.6 mph); in that same race Arturo Merzario also tested a 2134 cc turbocharged SC12 producing 640 bhp^[6] finishing second with that car. The SC12 Turbo was Alfa's first twin turbocharged 12 cylinder engine and it was introduced around the same time as Renault's Formula One turbo engine. In the Alfa Romeo engine each bank was fed with its own turbocharger; that feature was adopted by many racecar makers in the following years.^[1]

The flat-12 engine was later used on Brabham-Alfa BT45, BT46 and Alfa Romeo 177 F1 cars.

Audio

	Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2010 1966 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Periscopica 1968 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 2 Daytona 1968 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 2 Le Mans
Problems playing these files? See media help.

References

External links

• Alfa Romeo T33, striking example for the use of Rosso Corsa
• Alfa Website also with Racing with History
• World Sportscar Championship 1968 results
• World Sportscar Championship 1977 results
• World Sportscar Championship 1975 results
• 1972 Racing season Alfa vs. Ferrari
• Can-Am Championship results

Alfa Romeo
Brands	Marques Active Alfa Romeo Defunct Alfasud FNM
Divisions, joint-ventures and subsidiaries	Former and defunct Fábrica Nacional de Motores (FNM) Alfa Romeo Avio Società Pompe Iniezione Cassani & Affini (SPICA) Società Franco Italiana Motori (Sofim)
Predecessors and old names	Società Italiana Automobili Darracq (S.I.A.D.) (predecessor) Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (A.L.F.A.) (old name)
Current cars	4C 4C Spider MiTo Giulia Giulietta Stelvio
Future cars	Second unnamed crossover model
Historic and discontinued models	24 HP 40-60HP 20-30HP G1/G2 RM RL 6C 8C 1900 Matta Giulietta 2000 Giulietta Sprint Speciale Giulia 2600 105/115 Series Coupés GTA Gran Sport Quattroruote Spider (105/115) 1750 Berlina 33 Stradale Montreal 2000 Berlina Alfasud Alfetta Alfetta GT Sprint Nuova Giulietta Alfa 6 Arna 33 75 90 164 SZ RZ 155 GTV Spider (916) 145 146 156 166 147 GT 159 Brera Spider (939) 8C Competizione 8C Spider
Concept cars	1000 Abarth 2000 Sportiva 2uettottanta 33.2 4C Concept BAT series Bella Brera Caimano Canguro Carabo Dardo Delfino Disco Volante Disco Volante (2013) Diva Eagle Giulia Sport Gloria Iguana Issima Kamal Monospider Navajo Nuvola Pandion Proteo Scighera Tipo 103 Visconti TZ3 Vivace Vola Zeta 6
Bus	40A 80A 85A 110A 140A 150A 430A 500A 800A 900A 902A 950A Mille
Trolleybuses	110AF 140AF 800AF 900AF Mille AF
Trucks	50 80 85 110 350 430 450 500 800 900 Mille A15 A19 A38 F20
Racing cars	Grand Prix P1 P2 P3 Tipo A Tipo B (P3) Tipo C (8C-35) Tipo 308 Tipo 312 Tipo 316 Bimotore 12C Tipo 512 158/159 Alfetta TZ/TZ2 GTA Tipo 33 177 179 182 183T 184T 185T SE 048SP 155 V6 TI
Vans	Romeo A11/F11 A12/F12 AR6 AR8
Motorsport	Alfa Romeo in motorsport Alfa Romeo in Formula One (Alfa Romeo Grand Prix results) Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Corse Autodelta N.Technology Jolly Club Alfa GTV Cup
Technologies	Blue&Me Selespeed Multiair Alfa Romeo engines (aircraft engines) platforms
Places and facilities	Alfa Romeo Museum Alfa Romeo Arese Plant Alfa Romeo Pomigliano d'Arco plant Alfa Romeo Portello Plant Balocco
People	Nicola Romeo Giuseppe Merosi Vittorio Jano Enzo Ferrari Rudolf Hruska Carlo Chiti Gioacchino Colombo Wifredo Ricart Orazio Satta Puliga Giuseppe Busso Ugo Gobbato
Drivers	Formula One drivers Tazio Nuvolari Giuseppe Campari Achille Varzi Luigi Arcangeli Clemente Biondetti Antonio Ascari Ugo Sivocci Jean-Pierre Wimille Guy Moll Gastone Brilli-Peri Baconin Borzacchini
Other	Alfa Romeo I Alfa Romeo II Alfa Romeo III Alfa Romeo Racing Italiano
1Corporate website 2A brand of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Category Commons