The Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/3 that's ready-made for the Le Mans Classic
![Alfa Romeo Tipo 33-3](https://msm.tjlabs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Alfa-Romeo-Tipo-33-3-800x450.jpg)
This Alfa, driven by ‘Nanni’ Galli and Rolf Stommelen, led for 220 laps at Le Mans in 1970
If you’re looking for rarity, a heroic story and a smattering of celebrity provenance in your next historic racer, you’ll find it all at RM Sotheby’s in Monaco when this spectacular Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/3 crosses the block.
This is the car campaigned at Le Mans by the late Giovanni ‘Nanni’ Galli, a decidedly handy but not hugely successful driver who – so the tale goes – used the first name ‘Nanni’ on his entry forms in a bid to conceal from his parents the fact that he was a racing driver.
Although he made a brief foray into Formula 1 with McLaren-Alfa, Ferrari and Frank Williams, Galli’s finest hours came as an endurance racer, notably with a win at the Circuit of Mugello event in 1968 and, in the same year, a second at the Targa Florio and an admirable fourth at Le Mans in a T33/2.
Galli returned to Le Mans the following year to take a Matra to seventh place in partnership with Robin Widdows – a result that surely inspired confidence for the 1970 edition in which he and the late German star Rolf Stommelen campaigned the car that’s being offered in Monaco.
![Engine of Alfa Romeo Tipo 33-3](https://msm.tjlabs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Engine-of-Alfa-Romeo-Tipo-33-3-800x450.jpg)
It has been meticulously cared-for, having undergone an expensive rebuild
![Cockpit of Alfa Romeo Tipo 33-3](https://msm.tjlabs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Cockpit-of-Alfa-Romeo-Tipo-33-3-800x450.jpg)
![Rear of Alfa Romeo Tipo 33-3](https://msm.tjlabs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/REar-of-Alfa-Romeo-Tipo-33-3-800x450.jpg)
The duo looked like putting in an incredible performance having led the 3-litre prototype class in the rain-soaked, storm-tossed, accident-heavy race for a remarkable 220 laps until, after an 8am pitstop, the Alfa failed to self-start. The subsequent push was noticed by the stewards and saw the team disqualified half an hour later.
Although that was the end of its chance of real-life racing fame, the car was immortalised in celluloid having been captured during the actual event in a live sequence used in the film Le Mans released the following year.
Built by Autodelta, Alfa Romeo’s works racing department led by former Ferrari chief engineer Carlo Chiti, the 33/3s featured state-of-the-art monocoque chassis and were powered by mellifluous 3-litre V8 engines.
The RM Sotheby’s car, chassis 105 800 23, has been subject to an undoubtedly expensive seven-year ‘rolling rebuild’ that is said to have left it suitably original but also competitive.
And if you fancy a go at this year’s Le Mans Classic and happen to have a spare £1.7m, you won’t even have to fill out much paperwork – the entry form is already in.
1969 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/3
On offer at RM Sotheby’s, Monaco, May 14.
Estimate: £1.4m-£1.8m