10 Stunning Photos of an Alfa Romeo T33 Driving The Targa Florio
10 Stunning Photos of an Alfa Romeo T33 Driving The Targa Florio
Working for Red Bull happens to come with a few perks.
If you're the lead driver of Red Bull's Formula One team, and your name happens to be Daniel Ricciardo, one of those perks is getting to drive a mint condition 1972 Alfa Romeo T33 Race Car along the immensely classic Targa Florio route for a feature in the drink maker's magazine, Red Bulletin. Check out the amazing photos below.
If you're unfamiliar, the Targa Florio was a race held on public roads, and featured some of the best race cars of the day zipping in and out of tiny Italian villages.
Ah, the Alfa Romeo T33. In various guises it ranged from among the most beautiful cars in the world, to one of the fastest.
This one clocks in at just under 1,500 lbs, and just over 400 hp.
Don't think for a second that the stunning landscapes mean the race was easy. One of the car's original racers said of his former ride, "Your whole body was battered and bruised after a sportscar race. Driving these cars was extremely hard, physically.”
The car's as much of a throwback as the route itself. It's little more than a fuel can with an engine in back and a steering wheel up front. Meaning the driver's responsible for just about everything else.
That doesn't mean it's simple, even for a top flight racer like Daniel: "I’ve only ever used that type of gear shift in Formula Ford, and I wasn’t all that good at it."
The race was discontinued as a competitive event back in the 1970s, leaving us to wonder what it could've been like today. At least this is a quick glimpse.
Ricciardo sums up what it's like to drive such a classic racer succinctly: "It does what you expect it to: it’s a proper racing car!"
Now we just need more like it.
Aaron Miller is the Rides editor for Supercompressor, and can be found on Twitter. He'd love to do the similar-and-still-around Targa Newfoundland some day.