Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/4 Can-Am Spyder, 1971 Tipo 33/4 Can-Am Spyder | Conceptcarz.com - Pictures, Pricing, Information, Wallpaper, History

In 1971, this car (red Alfa with number 33 on the hood) placed third at Buenos Aires, driven by Rolf Stommelen and Nanni Galli; third at Sebring; third at Spa; and fourth at the Nurburgring. Driven by Nino Vacarella and Toine Hezemans, the car placed fifth at Monza. Hezemans and Vacarella won the Targa Florio in this car. Andrea DeAdamich and Ronnie Peterson won again at the Six Hours of Watkins Glen. The following day, fitted with a new 4.0-liter engine, this car competed in the Sunday afternoon Watkins Glen Can-Am, finishing seventh with up to 400 more horsepower than its original engine.

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In 1971, this car placed third at Buenos Aires, driven by Rolf Stommelen and Nannigalli; third at Sebring; third at Spa and fourth at Nurburgring. Driven by Nino Vacarella and Toine Hezemans, the car placed fifth at Monza. Hezemans and Vacarella won the Targa Florio; Andrea DeAdamich and Ronnie Peterson won again at the six hours of Watkins Glen. The following day, fitted with a new 4.0-liter engine, this car competed in the Sunday afternoon Watkins Glen Can-Am, finishing seventh against competition with up to 400 more horsepower.

The Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 name was used from 1967 through 1977 for Alfa Romeo sports racing prototypes and even a few road going cars. Alfa Romeo's history in sports car racing goes back to pre-World War vintage. They legacy continued in 1950 and 1951 as they won the first two Formula 1 World Championships. After this accomplishment, they retired from racing to focus on the production of road-going vehicles. Their absence from racing would be only for a short time, as their Zagato-bodied TZ1 was introduced in 1963. Its light alloy body, tubular frame, disc brakes, and independent suspension gave the vehicle superior handling and performance. The work had been managed by Carlo Chiti of Autodelta, a new competition department formed by Alfa Romeo. The Giula 1600 GTA soon followed and was a dominate force at many of their racing expeditions.

During the early 1960s, Alfa Romeo began designing a new racer which was given the codename '105.33'. The designs were later sent to Autodelta for further development. The '105' was later dropped and the vehicle became known as the '33' when it was introduced for the 1967 season. As the iterations of the Tipo 33 evolved, the names of the original cars became known as the '33/2', with the '2' representing their two-liter engines. Mounted mid-ship was a quad-cam V8 engine that was highly tuned to produce an impressive 270 horsepower. For its inaugural race at the Belgium hillclimb the Tipo 33/2 proved its potential by emerging victorious. The rest of the season was plagued by mechanical issues which made the racer unreliable.

Work and testing to evolve the Tipo 33 continued for the 1968 season. The bodywork and engine were slightly improved in an effort to resolve reliability issues and to improve the vehicles performance. Udo Schütz and Nino Vaccarella were able to navigate the 2-liter Tipo 33 at the 24 Hours of Daytona. A few other impressive victories and podium finishes followed throughout the season, but the Porsche rivals with their bigger engines often outpaced the Alfa Romeos. Alfa Romeo team finished third in the World Championship for 1968.

The Tipo 33/2 were able to secure many class victories but it was not powerful enough to contend for overall victories. Work began on a three-liter unit that would be able to contend with the competition. The V8 3-liter unit was given four valves per cylinder and adapted to an aluminum monocoque type chassis which had shrunk in size by 10 cm. At the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1969, Alfa Romeo debuted the 33/3. The racer had 400 horsepower and in the same class as the Ferrari 312P and the Porsche 908. The Alfa Romeo team would have a dismal season and often started the 33/2 in place of the 33/3.

For 1970 there were two bodystyles created, a long and short version. The long tail spider version was known as the Le Mans Spider. Worked continued to improve the vehicles reliability issues. The car was unable to contend with the dominate Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512.

In 1970 an Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/3 was in Steve McQueen's movie 'Le Mans'.

In 1971 the Tipo 33/3 was given a five-speed gearbox. Many of the issues had been resolved and the 33/3 had a rather successful season, finishing second in the Constructor's World Championship. Rolf Stommelen and Nanni Galli had driven their cars to class wins at the 1000km Buenos Aires. At Sebring, the class win victory was repeated. At the 1000km Brands Hatch, De Adamich and Pescarolo were able to outpace the Porsche 917's and secure an overall victory. Vaccarella and Hezemans won outright victories at the Targa Florio, the vehicles most impressive accomplishment of the season.

Near the close of the 1971 season, Autodelta introduced a new prototype racer dubbed the 33 TT3. The 'TT' meant Tellaio Tubulare - meaning tubular chassis for the vehicles spaceframe type chassis. Much had been learned from the prior racers and adapted to this new vehicle. The weight distribution was greatly improved by moving the driving position forward and relocating the gearbox ontop of the engine.

In 1973 a Carlo Chiti-designed 12-cylinder box engine was placed in the vehicle. Alfa Romeo's fitted with this engine were known as the 33 TT 12. With the increase in power, the Alfa Romeo team won many of the races in 1974 and by 1975 was dominating the competition. The Alfa Romeo team scored seven victories in eight championship races. They repeated their accomplishments in 1976 with the Tipo 33 SC 12.

The Tipo 33 SC 12 had a 2995cc 12-cylinder boxer engine that produced 520 horsepower. Alfa Romeo secured the Sports Car Championship in 1977. The final race of the season had been raced with a turbocharged version of the 12-cylinder engine which increased horsepower to 640.

Part of the reasons for Alfa Romeo's success with the Tipo 33 models were its continued development, excellent drivers and dwindling competition. Ferrari had left sports car racing in 1974 to compete in Formula One. FIA had added new regulations throughout the early 1970's which made formidable contenders such as the Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512 ineligible to compete.

Can-Am

CanAm, short for Canadian-American Challenge Cup, was a sports car racing series that persisted from 1966 through 1974. It used the FIA Group 7 category with two races occurring in Canada and four races in the United States. Funding was initially provided by J-Wax.

The CanAm series was astonishing and 'wide open.' There were minimal regulations on the aerodynamics, engine sizes, and vehicle mechanics. The main rules were a body that enclosed the wheels, complied with the safety requirements, and had seating for two.

In Europe, the Group 7 cars were mostly designed for short distance races rather than the endurance racing. There were no homologating requirements and limited regulations.

In North America, the CanAm series was appealing for many reasons. The price money was good and the competition and the races were exciting. The cars were faster than the Formula 1 cars of that era. The sport evolved to having cars well over 1000 horsepower with low weight, aerodynamic bodies, and large wings to create necessary down-force. Turbo-charging and supercharging were widely used. The bodies and mechanical components were made of exotic metals such as titanium. The series became a testing ground for many manufactures interested in examining technology without the worries of new or imposing regulations. Among the top manufacturers in the series were BRM, Shadow, Porsche, Chaparral, Lola, and McLaren.

The first Can-Am race was on September 1966 at St. Jovite Raceway. Famous drivers, manufacturers, and cars were entered, totaling 34 entrants. John Surtees of England entered a Chevy small-block powered V8 Lola T-70. George Follmer, Kiwis Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon, and John Cannon also showed up with powerful cars ready to contend for the first ever Championship of Can Am Racing. At the end of the season it was Surtees who was crowned the champion after winning three of the races. Dan Gurney captured a victory at Bridgehampton while driving a Ford powered racer.

For 1967, McLaren entered a potent M6A racer which dominated the season with Bruce McLaren easily capturing the championship. The M6A was powered by a small-block Chevy V8 capable of producing over 520 horsepower.

McLaren continued their dominance for the next four years. Dennise Hulme won the Championship in 1968 and 1970 with Bruce McLaren securing another championship victory in 1969. Bruce McLaren was was killed while testing a McLaren Can-Am car and was not around to compete during the 1970 season.

Many of the cars were quick but suffered from either reliability issues or were underdeveloped when compared to the McLarens. The Chaparrals and Lolas were especially fast and offered plenty of competition for the McLarens. By 1968, most of the cars were powered by all-aluminum big-block Chevrolet engines producing over 620 horsepower. Manufacturers from other racing series were lured into CanAm racing due to the prize money. Ferrari even entered the ring with their 612P driven by Chris Amon. With a V12 engine and using engines that were 6.2 and 6.9 liters in capacity, it was very quick but not as perfected as some of the other cars in the circuit.

The Porsche 917/10 was similar to other 917's but purposely built for Group 7 of American CanAm racing. It used even more lightweight materials and a larger fuel tank. The larger tank allowed the vehicle to complete a 200 mile race without needing to refuel. During its first season of racing, it was not as successful as hoped. The 12-cylinder engine was not powerful enough to compete for first place. So the 917 was fitted with turbochargers. With the turbochargers and 950 horsepower, the driver needed to be very cautious due to the sudden power increases produced by the turbochargers.

The Lola T220 provided the most competition for the McLaren team but was unable to secure the championship. One of the team drivers for Lola, Peter Revson, left Lola in 1971 to drive for McLaren in their new M8F car. Lola entered their newest creation, the T260 driven by F-1 Champion Jackie Stewart. The cars once again provided McLaren with competition but it was not enough. Revson finished first in the championship followed by Hulme, both in McLarens. Stewart and his Lola finished in third place.

During the 1972 season Mark Donohue and George Follmer drove the Porsche's in competition. Donohue was faster but due to an accident was unable to complete the season. Follmer was left to capture the championship, which he did.

In 1973, Porsche 917/30 was outfitted with twin-turbochargers and a 5.4 liter, 12-cylinder engine. It was capable of produced between 1100 and 1500 horsepower. It could go from zero to sixty in 2.1 seconds and had a top speed of 238 mph. The 917/30 was only available for Team Penske's driver Mark Donohue. It dominated and demolished the Can-Am series with Mark Donohue winning the championship.

In 1974 it was banned from racing in the CanAm series because the CanAm series had begun to lose its fan base since there was no competition. Regulations were created that limited the fuel capacity of the vehicles. The Chevrolet powered vehicles were again contenders. Jackie Oliver and George Follmer, driving a Shadow DN4, proved to be the fastest of the season. The other manufacturers were using outdated cars and were unable to keep pace. 1974 was the final year for the CanAm series.

The demise of the Can Am Championship series was due to a number of issues. North America was experiencing a recession and an oil crisis. The cost of creating competitive cars had skyrocketed. The general public was loosing interest and sponsorship was withdrawing. At the close of the 1974 season, the Series was canceled.

In 1977 the SCCA reintroduced a revised Can Am series allowing Formula A/5000 series cars to be entered. The series never gained much popularity had a limited lifespan.

In modern times many of these Can Am race cars are still being raced at vintage races. Their legacy and power are still impressive and the ear-deafening roar of the engine is enough to put a smile on any enthusiasts face.

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1971 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/4 Can-Am Spyder
Year	1971
Make	Alfa Romeo
Model	Tipo 33/4 Can-Am Spyder
Engine Location	Mid
Drive Type	Rear Wheel
Production Years for Series	1969