1969 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/3

Offered by RM Auctions | Monaco | May 12, 2012

Unfortunately, this is the final car we can feature prior to the great sales taking place this weekend in Monaco. There were at least 10 other cars from RM Auctions’ sale alone that I wanted to feature, but just didn’t have the time. Oh, well. There’s always the chance that they’ll come up for sale again.

One reason I chose this car is that I don’t recall ever seeing one for sale and therefore do not expect to see one for sale again anytime soon. Thus, its being feature today. The first car from this sale that we showcased was the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/2 Daytona from 1968. Well, this was the next iteration of the Tipo 33. The 1960s were a very competitive period in sports car racing and cars were not necessarily competitive from year to year. Autodelta (Alfa’s works racing team) realized they needed to step it up for 1969. New, sleeker bodywork was wrapped around the also-new 3.0-liter V8 making 440 horsepower at a screaming 9800 rpm.

The 33/3 had a handful of podium finishes but no wins of note, placing third in the 1969 championship even though it didn’t take part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans after factory driver Lucien Bianchi was killed in a testing crash. Competition history for this car, chassis no. 23, is unknown – as, apparently, no one at Autodelta ever wrote anything down.

It was restored in 2006 – at the same time as “being left as original as possible.” So I guess that means it was restored where needed. Since 2006 it has not been raced and has accrued only test miles. The pre-sale estimate is $950,000-$1,100,000. For the complete catalog description click here. And to see the entire lot list for RM Auctions’ Monaco sale click here. Motorcycle fans should take a look as there is a giant Ducati collection going under the hammer.

Update: sold $1,595,440.