33 & 8C - A Pair or Powerhouses

This year, Alfa Romeo will introduce its new mid-engine sports car, the 8C. While it is named after some of the company’s original V8 roadsters of the 1920s and ‘30s, it has a lot more in common with one of Alfa’s most famous sports cars, the Tipo 33 Stradale.

The 33 was designed with racing in mind. It was originally intended as a one-off competition-only prototype in 1967. However, upon its release, the car was met with such acclaim that Alfa immediately sent it to production. And it’s no wonder; the 33 featured some of the most beautiful lines outside of Maranello, and it introduced the world’s first scissoring doors.

The Tipo 33 was the world’s second mid-engine sports car, arriving one year after the Lamborghini Miura and blowing the doors off of the competition. It’s design was heavily influenced by its Ferrari cousins, with a sharp nose and sweeping g window lines that gave way to a muscular rear quarter. But its main appeal was in the powerful V8 married to such a small car. The 33 was built on a tube frame and weighed only 1500 lbs, effectively putting all of its 230 hp into the pavement at 800 rpms and catapulting it to 60 mph in just over six seconds.

The upcoming 8C looks to mirror many of the same lines as the Tipo 33, and it is rumored to share push some insanely impressive performance specs. Like the 33, the 8C will be a mid-engine V8, but 50 years of improvements come with more than three times the horsepower at an expected 700 hp. Ferrari claims that the new Alfa will easily hit 60 mph in less than three seconds. And fortunately for us, the 8C will be much easier to find considering that on 18 Tipo 33 Stradales were ever built. Ferrari and Alfa are truly giving us more and more to be excited about.

-Trey Fennell