The Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale is a gorgeous 620hp throwback

You've got to love Alfa Romeo, right? It's just one of the immutable automotive laws. There are too many great cars in the brand's back catalogue to list here, up to and including the current Giulia Quadrifoglio.

Yet sales splutter and Alfa's grand ambitions are perpetually thwarted. This is a love that's constantly being tested. However, Alfa's latest creation is one that's sure to make you fall in love all over again.

What you see here is the 33 Stradale: a mid-engined 'Fuoriserie' (that's 'custom-built' in Italian) super sports car whose debt to its '60s forebear is so strong Alfa hasn't even bothered to change the name. After all, with a heritage as potent as this, why not lean into it?

Directly and unashamedly inspired by the near-unicorn 33 Stradale, of which just 18 were built between 1967 and 1969, this modern interpretation comes from good stock. After all, the original, designed by the maestro Franco Scaglione, is nothing less than one of the best-looking cars ever.

The original was created as a road-going version of the Tipo 33 sports prototype racer, and those underpinnings showed when it came to its performance. At the time, it was the fastest production car in the world over the standing kilometre.

This all happened under the leadership of the great Carlo Chiti, reporting to Alfa Romeo CEO, the engineer and polymath Giuseppe Eugenio Luraghi. These are two of the greatest characters in automotive history.

A fitting 33 examples of this new model are set to be produced, but before you ask, they're all accounted for.

Each is expected to cost upwards of A$1.5 million, with buyers free to customise their car as much as they'd like.

This includes the choice between an uprated 620hp version of the Giulia Quadrifoglio's Ferrari-derived twin-turbo V6, or a 750hp all-electric powertrain.

Tempting as the extra power may be, a car that looks this good ought to sound the part. The right choice there is obvious.