1968 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale

The Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale is an extremely rare and cool road car built by Alfa Romeo. Only 18 are reported to have been made, plus three design studies based on the 33 Stradale the 33.2, Iguana and Carabo.

The Stradale, first built in 1967, was based on the Autodelta Alfa Romeo T33 racing car. The car, designed by Franco Scaglione, and built by Carrozzeria Marazzi, made its debut at the 1967 Turin Motorshow.

Built in an attempt by Alfa to make some of its racing technology available to the public, it was the most expensive automobile for sale to the public in 1968 at US$17,000 (when the average cost of a new car in 1968 was $2,822).

The Stradale is believed to be the first production vehicle to feature dihedral doors, also known as butterfly doors. The Stradale also features windows which seamlessly curve upward into the 'roof' of the vehicle.

The race-bred engine bore no relation to the mass-produced units in Alfa's more mainstream vehicles. Race engineer Carlo Chiti designed an oversquare (78 mm bore x 52,2 mm stroke) dry-sump lubricated 1,995 cc (121.7 cu in) V8 that featured SPICA fuel injection, four ignition coils and 16 spark plugs. The engine used four chain-driven camshafts to operate the valve train and had a rev-limit of 10000 rpm. The engine produced 230 bhp (172 kW) at 8800 rpm in road trim and 270 bhp (200 kW) in race trim.

In another break from convention, Alfa used a six-speed transaxle gearbox by Valerio Colotti. The car takes 5.5 seconds to reach 60 mph (96.56 km/h) from a standing start and has top speed of 260 km/h (160 mph

Range Rover Sport Autobiography limited edition

Another Frankfurt Motor Show favourite is the cool Range Rover Sport Autobiography limited edition plus a luxurious reclining rear seat package for the Range Rover, for the first time. The 2010 line-up also introduces other developments such as more powerful engines, and interior and exterior design improvements to the Discovery 4, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport.

“With August sales up 11.6% against the same period last year, we are now starting to see early signs of stability in the UK market,” John Edwards, Managing Director, Land Rover UK, stated. “We’re therefore convinced that one of the best ways to help keep things moving is to excite potential customers with new and improved vehicles. Our range for 2010 is without doubt our strongest ever, and early signs show that these new products are receiving an outstanding reception in the marketplace.”

A new Autobiography Sport limited edition is available on the Range Rover Sport’s 3.6 litre TDV8 and Supercharged derivatives. Featuring an assortment of different themes, only 500 units are expected to go on sale in the UK, with duo-tone premium leather interiors and unique accents to the exteriors including the grille, vents and 20 inch diamond turned finish alloy wheels.

Land Rover’s flagship, the Range Rover will offer a range of further enhancements such as laminated rear-door privacy glass, and electronically-controlled reclining rear seats available with heated and cooled functionality, four-way adjustable lumbar support and airline-style winged head restraints, plus the front passenger seat can be moved to a maximum distance forward remotely, when not occupied.

Four new interior colour combinations have been added to the Autobiography series. Also available is the Logic 7 1200W Harman Kardon High Dynamics audio system, which features 15 independent channels and 19 top quality speakers.

The additional new features on the Range Rover as well as the Range Rover Sport Autobiography limited edition will be made available in the UK starting in January 2010, while prices are to be revealed at a date closer to the on-sale date.