Guide: Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale Ital Design Iguana
Background
Plans for a production run of 50 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradales proved overly optimistic and only 13 street cars were eventually completed.
Too expensive to build and sell, Alfa Romeo were left with around half a dozen unused rolling chassis.
Rather than store or destroy them, Alfa decided on a course of action that would generate considerable publicity.
The leftover rolling chassis were periodically supplied to Italy’s top coachbuilders who then had free reign to create futuristic design concepts. The completed styling exercises would be displayed at the most important motor shows over the next couple of years.
1968 saw the Bertone Carabo and Pininfarina P33 Roadster debut in Paris and Turin respectively.
For the same shows in 1969, Pininfarina would receive their second chassis while another was allocated to the new Ital Design agency headed by Giorgetto Giugiaro.
Established in 1968, Ital Design burst onto the scene with the Manta, a stunning one-off based on the Bizzarrini P538. Giugiaro, of course, had good form; during spells at Bertone (1960 to 1965) and Ghia (1966 to 1968) he had been the architect of several exceptional autombiles.
The Tipo 33 commission would be Ital Design’s third creation and Alfa Romeo wanted the car to debut in late October at the Turin Motor Show.
Bodywork
Built on chassis 750.33.116, Giugiaro’s ‘Iguana’ was a more practical proposition than the aforementioned efforts by Bertone and Pininfarina.
At its leading edge the nose incorporated a full width opening and traditional Alfa Romeo grille. The upper surface housed retractable headlights and a discrete integrated spoiler was positioned at the base of the windscreen.
Large glass panels were used, including for the roof and rear quarters, which lent an unusually airy feel to the cockpit. A second spoiler was located above the base of the rear window and formed part of an unconventionally high tail.
The rear deck, tail fascia and wings were all heavily vented to improve cooling.
Like the Lamborghini Miura and Ford GT40, single piece front and rear clams were hinged at either end of the body.
The Iguana was given an unpainted brushed steel finish, a trick Giugiaro would later repeat on his DeLorean DMC-12.
Interior
As per the exterior, Giugiaro designed the cockpit with style and functionality in mind.
The interior was upholstered in a mix of black leather and matching vinyl, grey velour and red carpet.
Directly behind the two spoke steering wheel was a well laid out rectangular binnacle that housed all the instrumentation. The switchgear was located on a central control panel that linked the dash to the transmission tunnel.
Visibility was excellent and it would not have taken much to turn the Iguana into a production-ready machine.
Like nearly all Tipo 33 concepts, once its show career was over, the Iguana was retained by Alfa Romeo for their Museo Storico.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Alfa Romeo - https://www.alfaromeo.com
