Miguel Sánchez
PHOTOS ALFA ROMEO BAT: RM SOTHEBY'S
The relationship between Bertone and Alfa Romeo has been most fruitful. When it comes to production cars we have such outstanding examples as the Giulia Sprint, Montreal or GT. However, for us the most interesting point comes with the vehicles concept. Echoes of the 1964 Kangaroo are seen on the nose of the Lamborghini Miura. And well, it is impossible to explain the transition to wedge design without looking at the 1968 Carabo. A futuristic marvel created two years before the Lancia Stratos Zero.
However, among this type of creations there is a series of three models capable of attracting all eyes. We are talking about the 1953, 1954 and 1955 Alfa Romeo BAT (Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica). Three incredible experiments designed by Franco Scaglione with two purposes per flag. The first comes with its own name: to achieve the lowest possible drag coefficient. A technical objective framed by a second purpose of a simply aesthetic nature: to flirt with the spatial image coming from the United States.
And it is that, as much as the Italian designers had their own style, the truth is that they were not impervious to chrome and futuristic fashions. An example of this was the recently deceased Aldo brovarone with its Superflow, a vehicle that greatly softened the radical proposal that Scaglione made with the three Alfa Romeo BAT. A mythical triad that has only been seen in museums and elegance contests, but now RM Sotheby's will auction in lot on October 28 in New York.
ALFA ROMEO BAT. FROM AERODYNAMICS TO MARKETING
Today we give due importance to aerodynamics. However, that was not always the case. In fact, that sentence of Enzo Ferrari still resonates "Aerodynamics is for those who do not know how to make engines". A bravado more appropriate to the forties than the fifties, at which point Even leading brands such as Alfa Romeo already appreciated the importance of air, no matter how invisible it may be.. In that sense, the Biscione got in touch with Bertone to order three vehicles with the lowest possible drag coefficient.
From the outset, the Alfa Romeo BATs were born as study and development models. Far from being considered as prototypes for future series models, Alfa gave Bertone designers carte blanche to experiment with everything necessary. Essential fact to understand their design, obviously far from the necessary rationality in a large series model. Thus, the Alfa Romeo BATs achieve coefficients of up to only 0'19. All this using the chassis of the Alfa Romeo 1900.
Regarding the mechanics, the Alfa Romeo BAT They are equipped with 4-cylinder engines and about 90CV. Enough to propel cars over 200 km / h; something important at a time when aerodynamic studies were done more on circuits than in wind tunnels. However, beyond serving as a test bed, the Alfa Romeo BATs were also a magnificent advertising campaign. Even more so if we understand how it was extended three years in time, at the rate of car per year at the Turin Motor Show from 1953 to 1955.
ALFA ROMEO BAT 5, 7 AND 9. TRIO OF ACES
Far from being a single experiment, the Alfa Romeo BATs evolve the same characteristics in three different bodies. Beyond the North American influence on aesthetics, the truth is that Bertone's main motto in these vehicles was to create a good relationship with the wind. In that sense, the wheels are faired and all the lines focus on the idea of not creating air vortices. That is why the Alfa Romeo BATs are so fluid to the eye, because in fact they should also be in the wind.
The aerodynamic coefficients of 0 on the BAT 23 and 5 on the BAT 0 demonstrate this. Something that, among other things, is given by the little drag generated by the wind on the tails of the Alfa Romeo BAT. A point in favor achieved thanks to the aeronautical technology application, which we see in the incorporation of the oversized rear fins. Possibly the most characteristic element of the Alfa Romeo BAT, lowered in the third and last unit, the BAT 9.
Repainted in 1958 and 1980, the Alfa Romeo BATs became museum pieces halfway between the experiment and the movie car. After his intermittent passage through different samples and private collections, the auction of the three in the same closed lot is quite an event in the panorama of high-end auctions. In fact, the three of them have only been seen together at very specific moments such as Peeble Beach in 1989 or Bertone's 80th anniversary in 1992. We will see by what number they manage to lower the deck.
