Jacky Ickx's 'bargain' Alfa Romeo sports car: 'It's a symphony of sound'

In the midst of its failing F1 team in the early ’70s, Ferrari withdrew from top-level sports car racing for 1974, leaving the door open for other makes to step in.

Alfa Romeo, Matra and Ford were some of the brands that moved in with eyes on endurance glory. The Tipo 33 12 won on debut with Merzario and Mario Andretti at the wheel in the 1974 Monza 1000kms, with Ickx sharing chassis 007 with Rolf Stommelen in the runner-up spot.

007 would race just twice more that season, at the Nürburgring and Imola (Stommelen sharing the car with Reutemann at both events), claiming two more second-place finishes before being tucked away in Ickx’s garage – likely in lieu of payment.

The Tipo 33 12s went on to dominate WEC in ’75:  “We didn’t win races; we absorbed them,” said Derek Bell of that year. “The Alfa was a bloody good car. Sounded wonderful.”

However, 1974’s chassis 007 stayed with Ickx before being sold to collector Jacques Setton in the mid-’80s.

The car has recently undergone a full restoration, but is remarkably authentic for a competition prototype of its vintage. It still has all of its original parts including the engine, body panels, transmission, brakes and suspension.

“What’s remarkable about this machine is firstly its competition history,” says Soprano. “Three second places with Ickx, Stommelen and Reutemann – all ‘name-brand’ drivers at ‘name-brand’ circuits – and the fact that it’s intact.

“Everything is original – that’s almost unheard of in competition cars. So many of them have been run hard, put away wet, burned, crashed, whatever. This one has a very ‘clean’ provenance.”

Soprano also expands on the visceral experience of driving such a monster as the Alfa – when the car’s fired up, you certainly know about it.

“It’s like being shot out of a cannon, or riding a bullet down the highway” he laughs. “When it comes into its power band, right around 6000rpm, it’s awesome. There are really very few words to express the sensation.”

The 3-litre, 500bhp power unit is also something to behold in itself, an example of the no-holds-barred approach to powerful sports car racing in the early to mid-’70s.

“Being an Italian flat 12, especially when you’re up around 11,000rpm, the noise is a combination of a shriek and a scream,” Soprano enthuses.

“Just standing next to it when it’s fired up makes the hairs stand on the back of your neck. The sound is not something you’ll duplicate with with a 917 or many other cars of that era.”

But why is such a charismatic machine passed over when compared to its rivals?

The state of sports car racing in the mid-’70s could shed light on the matter. The Tipo 33 was dominant towards the end of a glorious sports car era that went out with a bit of a whimper, rather than one in full flourish. After Matra withdrew prior to the ’75 championship, only the Porsche 908/3 and slightly calamitous Alpine A442-Renaults stood in Alfa’s way.

Following that year, engine capacities were limited with the Group 5 category in what would be a muted discipline. It wasn’t until 1982’s Group C dawn that sports car racing would truly roar again.

The lack of a relative rivalry might go some to explaining a limited clamour for the 007, one of 12 Alfa Tipo 33 examples.

Soprano says the only reason he can muster for the muted interest in it is a lack of knowledge regarding a brilliant sports car beast.

“I don’t think the market truly understands or appreciates what they are, and what they have done – that’s the best way of putting it.”

For more information on the 1974 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 TT 12 007 currently for sale with Motor Classic & Competition Corp, click here.