Most limited of limited editions
Written by Thomas Gidden | 13th September 2024 | Cars For Sale
Alfa Romeo. A name that has come and gone from F1 for well over 70 years. Finding success in the inception of the sport and again in the turbo crazed 80’s. However, upon its most recent return, success has been illusive with the Sauber F1 partnership.
Despite this, the partnership is worth looking at. It’s produced some of the best liveries in the sport and even produced a couple of road cars. One of which we currently have for sale. So now is as good a time as any to dive into the partnership and explain how these cars came to be.
Alfa Romeo returned to the pinnacle of motorsport back in 2018, after a thirty year hiatus. Teaming with up with the sports most successful under dog Sauber, a team that has soldiered on throughout the increasing financial pressure and punching well above its weight than its financials would lead you to believe. Commencing a multiyear deal as technical partners for the two companies and of course being announced at the Alfa Romeo Museum in Milan.
Despite the partnership only lasting six years, Alfa Romeo had their input in the first C38 all the way through to last years C43. Announcing their withdrawal last year. It’s sad to see the Italian marque leave the sport once again, however, lets celebrate the partnership by looking at the road car partnership. One of the only ways to get your hands on motorized F1 merchandise!
We actually have to start way back in 2015, as the new standard Giulia Quadrifoglio variant was launched. Which also saw the company's 105th anniversary along with a restyled logo for all future Alfa Romeo models. The Giulia, presented under the new slogan La meccanica delle emozioni ("the mechanics of emotions") sported an all-aluminium alloy, twin-turbocharged petrol direct injection 90° 690T V6 engine, with a single-cylinder displacement of just under half a litre, for a total of 2,891 cc (176.4 cu in; 2.9 L). Impessively, this engine was developed for the Quadrifoglio by engineers with Ferrari background and is now well known to be derived from Ferrari's own twin-turbocharged F154 CB V8 engine, sharing the California T's bore and stroke.
4 years later at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, just a month after returning to Formula 1. The Alfa Romeo Racing limited edition was introduced, celebrating the brands legendary racing history and the entry of a new Italian driver in Formula 1 competition Antonio Giovinazzi, joining the Alfa Romeo Racing team together with the 2007 F1 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen. This special edition caused a stir, wearing exclusive paintwork as a tribute to the Alfa Romeo Racing C38 Formula 1 car, as well as welcome details in the form of an Akrapovič titanium exhaust system, carbon fibre canards and lip spoiler. The most notable difference was the weight, having been reduced by 28 kilograms from the standard Quadrifoglio, matched with a technical tune-up by Alfa Romeo engineers that resulted in more torque and overall power, which amounts to a figure just over a spritely 512 horsepower, 7 horsepower over the standard model.
The ‘Racing Edition’ was a car made in incredibly small numbers, with just 35 examples bearing the Sauber name produced for the worldwide market. Each of the 10 UK cars were fitted with an exclusive Alfa Romeo Racing badge to commemorate the 10 victories in Formula 1 from 1950 to 1951, a true celebration of Alfa Romeo's ever-deepening participation and involvement in the Formula 1 world championship, in partnership with Sauber. At the 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed the vehicles made their UK debut, receiving an allocation of a mere ten Giulia Quadrifoglio and three Stelvio Quadrifoglio limited editions, all believed to have been spoken for by the end of the Goodwood weekend.
Purchased on the day of release by a father and son, the car has very rarely been driven, a total of 4 times in fact; however it has been fastidiously maintained and dry stored correctly as part of a larger collection and remains in the same single ownership to this day. This car is 1 of 10 unveiled to the UK market proudly wearing its Spa-Francorchamps plaque, commemorating Juan Manuel Fangio’s victory in 1950, in his Alfa Romeo 158. Every Sauber Racing Edition bore the name of a track where a famous historical race win for Alfa-Romeo took place and no single car shares the same name. The odometer shows a mere 312 miles from new proving the current owners incredible restraint!
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