Automotive Artisans Reimagines Alfa Romeo’s Coveted Tipo 33 Stradale

When it debuted in 1967 with a price tag of $17,000, the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale was the most expensive production car on the planet—and, many would argue, more beautiful than even the Lamborghini Miura. Just 18 examples were built. Today it’s rarer than a Ferrari 250 GTO and more valuable than any classic Maserati ever sold at auction, with estimates now topping $20 million in some cases.

Yet while Alfa Romeo recently saluted its magnum opus with a new 33 Stradale based on sibling marque Maserati’s MC20 supercar, the R33 from Automotive Artisans is far closer to the original. Built in Worcestershire, England, it wears a hand-formed aluminum body that’s an exact CAD-scanned replica of the 1967 car, paired with modern mechanicals.

Founder Lee Irish began his career at Morgan Motor Company, working on its 3-Wheeler and AeroMax coupe. He later spent two years in Italy helping develop the Ferrari Portofino before returning home to launch his own car-restoration and coachbuilding firm. “The R33 was supposed to be a one-off project for a customer, but it got an amazing response,” Irish says. “We took the prototype to its first event last summer and won the Best in Show award.”

The classic 33 Stradale has a mid-mounted 2.0-liter V-8 that delivers 230 hp at 8,800 rpm. For durability, the R33 swaps in a 4.2-liter naturally aspirated Maserati V-8, sourced from new old stock, that musters 376 hp at 6,500 rpm. The 1960s-era straight-cut racing gearbox has also given way to a six-speed manual transmission from a 997-generation Porsche 911.

Taking hold of the R33’s tiny metal key is a knee-trembling, dry-mouth moment. Nearly 60 years after Franco Scaglione’s design stunned the world, it still stops you in your tracks—and still looks impossibly small at just 39 inches tall. “Packaging everything within the original dimensions was probably our biggest challenge,” Irish says. The only obvious visual departure, he notes, is the larger 15-inch alloy wheels. “Alfa Romeo used 13-inch rims, but there’s no longer a suitable tire in that size.”

After lifting a roof-hinged butterfly door, you have to shuffle across the wide sill before dropping into a low-slung seat. All the wraparound glass makes the R33 feel like a fishbowl, albeit one trimmed in buttery leather and brushed aluminum. An open-gated manual shifter sits proudly at center stage, with no touchscreen or infotainment to be found. And who would want all that with eight intake trumpets screaming just inches behind your head?

This is an unapologetically analog machine. There’s no power steering, brake servo, ABS, or traction control. The gearbox demands care until the oil warms, but the V-8 engine—a derivative of which found its way into the Ferrari F430—responds instantly and pulls eagerly for revs. Riding on rose-jointed suspension with adjustable Gaz coilover dampers, the vehicle feels taut and eager for action.

Driving the 2,200-pound (curb weight) R33 requires far more engagement than most modern supercars, and that’s the point. The wood-rimmed steering wheel communicates crisply, the chassis feels indulgently playful, and the Wilwood brakes bite with conviction. Then there’s the sound. As you chase the 7,500 rpm redline, the experience becomes layered, mechanical, and utterly overwhelming, as if the entire car is fizzing with barely contained energy. Performance figures haven’t been reported yet, but they feel almost beside the point.

Automotive Artisans has created something special here: a car that delivers fully on its visual promise. Most of us will never know what it’s like to drive an original Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale, but this $875,000 doppelgänger—limited to 33 examples—gets you extraordinarily close.