B.A.T. 9

1955 Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 9d

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | New York, New York | October 28, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

And then there was this one, the final Alfa Romeo B.A.T. concept car of the 1950s (they actually produced a B.A.T. 11 concept in 2008 as a sort of tribute to the first three). Scaglione’s styling on this one was a little more subdued. The rear wings shrunk down, and the front end actually carried an Alfa Romeo corporate look, foreshadowing the Giulietta Sprint Speciale.

This one also debuted at the Turin Motor Show, albeit in 1955. Ownership history is known since new, and the powertrain was again sourced from Alfa’s 1900.

The story of the three of these being united is interesting. Nuccio Bertone was in Pasadena, California, in 1989, and the organizers of the Pebble Beach Concours arranged to have all three cars displayed at their show, which Bertone ended up attending. While there, a collector made offers on all three, and it worked. The cars later spent ~10 years at the Blackhawk Museum and are all three now being offered as a single lot. Click here for more info.

Update: All three B.A.T. cars sold as a single lot for $14,840,000.

B.A.T. 7

1954 Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 7

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | New York, New York | October 28, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

This is the second of the three Alfa Romeo B.A.T. concept cars that RM Sotheby’s is offering as a single lot later this week in New York. It was also styled by Franco Scaglione at Bertone and carries a similar look as BAT 5, except that those rear wings are pulled so far inward they look like the spiraling vapor trails off the end of a plane’s wing.

The driveline was sourced from Alfa’s 1900, meaning that this car has a 115-horsepower 2.0-liter inline-four. Designed without the aid of computers (and likely little-to-no windtunnel time), the BAT 7 boasts a drag coefficient of 0.19. That’s better than a Prius, a car designed specifically to slip through the air.

This car debuted at the 1954 Turin Motor Show and was later sent to the U.S. by Alfa Romeo. It even ran in SCCA races in 1955. The rear wings were removed at one point before being re-installed during a late-1980s cosmetic restoration. Click here for more info.

Update: All three B.A.T. cars sold as a single lot for $14,840,000.

B.A.T. 5

1953 Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 5

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | New York, New York | October 28, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Alfa Romeo Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica concept cars of the mid-1950s are some of the most wildly stylish prototypes ever built. Each was bodied by Franco Scaglione at Bertone as an attempt to research the effects of aerodynamic drag on a car. Thus, the swoopy, be-winged designs.

This is the first of the three coupes produced (no, I don’t know why they started with “5”). It debuted at the 1953 Turin Motor Show and is powered by a twin-cam inline-four that supposedly made somewhere between 75 and 100 horsepower. The car’s styling resulted in a drag coefficient of just 0.23. That enabled the tiny engine to push the car to over 120 mph.

Stanley Arnolt was the first private owner, and it has known history since then. RM Sotheby’s is now offering all three B.A.T. concept cars as one lot. It’s an easy eight-figure sale, should it meet the astronomical reserve. Click here for more info.

Update: All three B.A.T. cars sold as a single lot for $14,840,000.