Three Alfa Romeo B.A.T. concept cars sell for $19.78-million CDN
Scaglione/Bertone-designed 1950s concepts explored the frontiers of automotive aerodynamics
Published: October 31, 2020, 4:50 AM
Updated: October 11, 2021, 8:58 AM
Alfa Romeo B.A.T. Concept Cars
Three Alfa Romeo B.A.T. concept cars designed by Franco Scaglione of Carrozzeria Bertone, in Turin, Italy, in the 1950s sold recently as a single lot for $14.84-million US ($19.78-million CDN), including auction fees, at an RM Sotheby’s art auction in New York.
Photo Credit: Ron Kimball © 2020 RM Sotheby's
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Alfa Romeo B.A.T. Concept Cars
Designated B.A.T. for Berlina Aerodinamica Tecnica (Technical Aerodynamic Sedan), the three cars were built sequentially over three years for introduction at the Turin auto salons of 1953, 1954 and 1955.
Photo Credit: Ron Kimball © 2020 RM Sotheby's
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Alfa Romeo B.A.T. Concept Cars
When Alfa Romeo expressed interest in exploring a technical study into automotive aerodynamics, Franco Scaglione of Carrozzeria Bertone, who had a background in aeronautics, seized the opportunity to combine his interests in science and mathematics with his acumen for aesthetics.
Photo Credit: Darin Schnabel © 2020 RM Sotheby's
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Alfa Romeo B.A.T. Concept Cars
The result was this series of three cars that transcended the accepted limits of automotive design to simultaneously achieve the pinnacles of both aerodynamic efficiency and fine art. No wonder, then, that the cars were sold at a fine art auction rather than a traditional classic auto auction.
Photo Credit: Ron Kimball © 2020 RM Sotheby's
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Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 5 (1953)
Scaglione worked through four full-size models before at the fifth and final stage of design, which was realized in metal. Hence the name Berlina Aerodinamica Tecnica 5, or B.A.T. 5.
Photo Credit: Ron Kimball © 2020 RM Sotheby's
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Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 5 (1953)
The form of the car incorporated Scaglione’s ideas for minimizing drag by shaping laminar airflow and creating stability using the car’s exterior shape. Despite its radical looks, Scaglione designed the B.A.T. 5 and its successors with road-legal drivability in mind.
Photo Credit: Ron Kimball © 2020 RM Sotheby's
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Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 5 (1953)
The B.A.T. 5’s protruding pontoon fenders and rounded centre nose ducted airflow over the swept hood, with its impressively low profile. Frontal air was channeled into dual nose vents with horizontal slots that fed the radiator core and hidden headlights unfolded from inside the fenders when needed.
Photo Credit: Ron Kimball © 2020 RM Sotheby's
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Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 5 (1953)
Rear wheel skirts were fitted to reduce reverse airflow from the wheel’s topside, and large side vents provided exhaust for the front brakes. The B.A.T. 5 is said to have a coefficient of drag of roughly 0.23, enabling a tested top speed of 199 km/h (123.6 mph) with a power output of under 43 horsepower.
Photo Credit: Darin Schnabel © 2020 RM Sotheby's
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Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 5 (1953)
Topside airflow was ducted over a slippery teardrop-shaped wraparound-glass cockpit, and over rear shoulders enclosed by leaning tailfins. The fins gently curved together toward the tapered rear, with airflow further stabilized by a central rear spine.
Photo Credit: Darin Schnabel © 2020 RM Sotheby's
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Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 7 (1954)
Given the first car’s success, Scaglione further emphasized key characteristics of the original in creating the B.A.T. 7. He narrowed the front air intakes, lowering the hood by about five centimetres (two inches), and lengthening the tailfins while adding increased angular pitch to the extremities. The rear wheel skirts and pronounced side vents remained.
Photo Credit: Ron Kimball © 2020 RM Sotheby's
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Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 7 (1954)
Granted license to create a more extreme design, he also created one that was more aerodynamic, with a coefficient of drag of just 0.19. That slippery form was a remarkable achievement in an era without the benefit of widespread wind tunnel testing or computer-aided design.
Photo Credit: Darin Schnabel © 2020 RM Sotheby's
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Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 7 (1954)
Following its debut at the 1954 Turin show, the B.A.T. 7 was shorn of its fins, which obstructed rear visibility in normal street use. It was returned to its original form in a recent restoration.
Photo Credit: Darin Schnabel © 2020 RM Sotheby's
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Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 9 (1955)
Following the B.A.T. 7’s 1954 show season,, Scaglione began work on a third concept for 1955 – with the brief of making it more practical for road use. The result was a roadworthy gran turismo interpretation of the B.A.T theme.
Photo Credit: Ron Kimball © 2020 RM Sotheby's
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Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 9 (1955)
Like those predecessors, the B.A.T. 9 made its debut at the Turin Salon, completing one of the most important automotive triptychs ever devised. And like those predecessors, it was subsequently sold to a private buyer.
Photo Credit: Darin Schnabel © 2020 RM Sotheby's
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Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 9 (1955)
The B.A.T. 9’s fins were reduced in size to improve rear visibility, relative to the B.A.T. 7’s, and the rear wheel skirts were eliminated. A pronounced beltline was added toward the rear, while a standard production Alfa Romeo Giulietta grille, including the famed Milano crest, was fitted up front. As with its predecessors, its mechanical components were those of an Alfa Romeo 1900.
Photo Credit: Darin Schnabel © 2020 RM Sotheby's
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Alfa Romeo B.A.T. Concept Cars
Despite their individual popularity and collective significance, the B.A.T.s were never displayed together when new. That situation changed when all three appeared at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 1989. With the three cars displayed together for the first time, Nuccio Bertone also appeared to share nostalgic anecdotes of his experiences with Franco Scaglione.
Subsequently, recognizing the unique appeal of keeping all three B.A.T.s together, a private collector made an offer to each of the three owners, and the cars became united in ownership as well. Fittingly, they remain united under new but undisclosed ownership.
Photo Credit: Ron Kimball © 2020 RM Sotheby's
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