The Alfa Romeo 33 shone at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este this year

With a history that begins in 1929, an annual event Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este It is one of the most important events for classic cars in the world. This year the event was better than ever at Villa Erba, located near the prestigious Villa d’Este hotel where the main event takes place, celebrations were held to celebrate the centenary of the Le Mans 24 Hours race..

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To commemorate the legendary battle Alfa Romeo he showed there two racing “diamonds” of his collection “Daytona” two-liter 33 of 1968 and 33 TT 12 of 1975.two models who have also left their mark in the French endurance race.

The Tipo 33s are a series of racing models who managed to dominate the races they participated in from 1967 to 1977, both on the circuit and on the road.. The most famous example of the series is of course The exotic 33 Stradale, the road racing version of the 33 was considered one of the first true supercars..

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33 “Daytona” and a two-liter V8 engine of 270 hpwhich gave him a top speed of almost 300 kilometers per hour earned him his nickname because of the way he dominated his rivals at the famous American circuit in the 1968 24-hour endurance race.. The Italian model not only won the race in the two-liter class but managed to do 1-2-3 with Vaccarella-Schütz, Andretti-Bianchi, and Casoni-Biscardi-Zeccoli as crew..

33/2 (where “33” is the project number and “2” indicates the displacement of the engine) also won its class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and made another 1-2-3 for Alfa Romeo, while in other races it was able to hold its own against stronger rivals.

In 1975, the coveted Manufacturers’ title in the World Sports Car Championship came to the Italians. and 33TT12, perhaps the most interesting of the “Progetto 33”. “TT” comes from its tubular shape (Telaio Tubolare) and the number 12 from them. 12 cylinders of a three-liter flat engine with 500 hp that allowed him to reach up to 330 km / h..

That season the 33TT12 completely dominated its competition and won seven out of eight World Championship races with the greats at the helm. such as Vittorio Brambilla, Jacques Laffite, Henri Pescarolo and Derek Bell.

Designed by Carlo Chiti it was this 12-cylinder engine that saw Alfa Romeo return to Formula 1 in 1976 as the engine supplier for the Brabham BT45 and BT46 (1978). which were designed by Gordon Murray, known to the general public because of the classic McLaren F1 but also the latest creation Gordon Murray T.50.