The 33 Stradale is Alfa’s latest supercar, and it’s about time, too

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 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 internal-combustion version of the Alfa uses a distinctly similar-sounding 90-degree, twin-turbocharged V-6, with a claimed “more than 620PS” (612 hp) output to the MC20’s 621 hp. Call it about the same on that front. Either way, if the MC20’s a supercar, so too is the 33.

That’s the gas-powered one, obviously, but Alfa intends to build an electric 33 Stradale, too, making 740 hp and running on 800V 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 ICE car is capable of 207 mph or, if you’re on the continent, 333 km/h, which seems more appropriate. The EV’s a little slower, at “more than 193 mph,” while both claim 0-to-62-mph 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 3300 pounds for the V-6, and under 4600 pounds for the EV. You also get a carbon tub, double-wishbone suspension, and Brembo by-wire carbon-ceramic brakes at all four corners. 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 (a tad over 15 feet long, 6-feet 10-inches wide with the mirrors out, and a touch under 4 feet tall, against the 4C’s 13-foot 1-inch length, same width, and similar 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. The owner’s choice of either Tributo or Alfa Corse specification determines the cabin’s trim—aluminum and leather in Tributo, carbon and Alcantara in Alfa Corse. Interior images suggest a Le Mans–style goldfish bowl view out, too, which will only make the experience 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.

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