1969 Alfa Romeo 33.2 Coupe Speciale Pininfarina

I just received this Matrix (resin) edition in the mail.  It was almost 3x the price of the Spark I bought 15 years ago.  So I thought a little comparo would be fun.

Between 1968 and 1971, five 33 Stradales were sent to Italy's premier design houses for them to do their magic.  The 'winner' is of course Bertone's Carabo.  Pininfarina did the P33 Roadster - the wedge - which I showed a few weeks ago here.  Then they did this Coupe Speciale which might remind folks of their Ferrari 250 P5 from the year before, Geneva 1968.  Pininfarina got the Ferrari back from the car show and reworked it as an Alfa, as the story goes. 

The Spark is on the black base and for the retail price was not too shabby.  You can't find it now, so the Matrix is a good option.  In fact, I think the shape of the rear is better on the newer Matrix (light cluster, black panel, etc).  Both interiors are great with the plaid seat inserts.  The yellow paint on the Matrix is just slightly muted, but which is more prototypical? How many times did Pininfarina or Alfa repaint it?  (I don't care!)

Like the other 33 concept cars, it is on display at Alfa Romeo’s Museo Storico.  The photos below are pretty good at the color, so it is a bit of a muted yellow.

In the 1/43 Alfa world, beggars can't be choosers, so I don't worry about wheels, whitewalls, colors really.   If you want a 33 concept car (or 5), you get what you can get.  But both of these are worthy additions to the Alfa shelf!