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Automotive Lifestyle
VINTAGE: Alfa Romeo Daytona At Auction
Short-tail, V8-powered 33/2 Autodelta race coupe will be offered by RM Auctions in Monaco sale.
The Alfa Romeo 33/2 Daytona coupe is expected to receive lots of interest and lofty bidding at the Monaco auction in May. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
One of the absolute stars of the upcoming RM Auctions Monaco sale in May will be a lovely Alfa Romeo 33/2 Daytona. This short-tail coupe variant was used in the 1968 season, which was nicknamed Daytona following its debut on the legendary American track.
The car on offer was one of the Autodelta works cars and was driven to victory in the 1968 Imola 500 km by Teodoro Zeccoli and Nino Vaccarella. In privateer hands, chassis 029 was raced for several more seasons. It was subsequently owned for many years by an American collector and more recently it has been in Dutch hands.
We captured the car at several outings during the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Also featured in our 18-shot gallery is chassis 012, which is currently owned by the Alfa Romeo Museo Storico and was raced in period by Team VDS at Le Mans and other rounds during the 1968 season.
History of the Alfa Romeo 33/2 Daytona:
After officially becoming Alfa Romeo's competition department, Carlo Chiti's Autodelta began the development of the replacement of the highly successful TZ and TZ2 GT racers late in 1964. Dubbed the type 33, the new Alfa Romeo was an altogether more ambitious machine as it was intended to run in the small displacement prototype class where Porsches reigned supreme. Very few existing parts could be used on this project so it took over two years before the first car was actually raced.
In order to keep pace with the competition, Chiti's men designed Alfa Romeo's second-ever mid-engine chassis. The first was the stillborn type 512 Grand Prix racer of 1941. Unlike the TZ, which used a multi-tubular spaceframe design, the 33 featured a simpler chassis built around three large-diameter tubes constructed from riveted sheet aluminum. Two were used as side-members with the third connecting the two in the middle to create an H shape. On both ends, more-conventional magnesium cross-members were used to add further rigidity. The two side-members also housed the rubber fuel tanks.
The 33's suspension was more conventional with double wishbones at the front and lower wishbones, top links and twin trailing arms at the rear. Ventilated discs were used on all four corners, with the rear pair mounted inboard. A six-speed gearbox was developed specifically for the 33.
In the fall of 1965, a first very-rough prototype was ready. It was still powered by a four-cylinder engine while the proposed V8 was still under construction. The prototype was extensively tested and up to three chassis complete with suspension were supplied to OSI and later reappeared as a closed and open show car.
While the chassis was submitted to rigorous tests, the Autodelta engineers put the final touches on the all-new V8. Chiti had learned valuable lessons developing the ATS V8s, so much was expected from the new Alfa Romeo engine. Constructed from light alloys, it featured a twin-cam head with two valves and two spark plugs per cylinder.
The car on offer was one of the Autodelta works cars and was driven to victory in the 1968 Imola 500 km by Teodoro Zeccoli and Nino Vaccarella. In privateer hands, chassis 029 was raced for several more seasons. It was subsequently owned for many years by an American collector and more recently it has been in Dutch hands.
We captured the car at several outings during the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Also featured in our 18-shot gallery is chassis 012, which is currently owned by the Alfa Romeo Museo Storico and was raced in period by Team VDS at Le Mans and other rounds during the 1968 season.
History of the Alfa Romeo 33/2 Daytona:
After officially becoming Alfa Romeo's competition department, Carlo Chiti's Autodelta began the development of the replacement of the highly successful TZ and TZ2 GT racers late in 1964. Dubbed the type 33, the new Alfa Romeo was an altogether more ambitious machine as it was intended to run in the small displacement prototype class where Porsches reigned supreme. Very few existing parts could be used on this project so it took over two years before the first car was actually raced.
In order to keep pace with the competition, Chiti's men designed Alfa Romeo's second-ever mid-engine chassis. The first was the stillborn type 512 Grand Prix racer of 1941. Unlike the TZ, which used a multi-tubular spaceframe design, the 33 featured a simpler chassis built around three large-diameter tubes constructed from riveted sheet aluminum. Two were used as side-members with the third connecting the two in the middle to create an H shape. On both ends, more-conventional magnesium cross-members were used to add further rigidity. The two side-members also housed the rubber fuel tanks.
The 33's suspension was more conventional with double wishbones at the front and lower wishbones, top links and twin trailing arms at the rear. Ventilated discs were used on all four corners, with the rear pair mounted inboard. A six-speed gearbox was developed specifically for the 33.
In the fall of 1965, a first very-rough prototype was ready. It was still powered by a four-cylinder engine while the proposed V8 was still under construction. The prototype was extensively tested and up to three chassis complete with suspension were supplied to OSI and later reappeared as a closed and open show car.
While the chassis was submitted to rigorous tests, the Autodelta engineers put the final touches on the all-new V8. Chiti had learned valuable lessons developing the ATS V8s, so much was expected from the new Alfa Romeo engine. Constructed from light alloys, it featured a twin-cam head with two valves and two spark plugs per cylinder.
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