Alfa enthusiast David Simmons decided if he was ever going to own a Stradale, he'd have to build it himself.
What is it about a Stradale?
Ask most Alfisti what Alfa they’d most like to have in their garage, and a significant percentage will say a Tipo 33 Stradale. I’ll admit, I’m odd, since my choice would be a Giulia TI Super, but the Stradale is a close second even for me. So, what do you do if you REALLY want a Stradale? There are very few of them, they sell for astronomical prices when they sell, and no one who owns one wants to sell theirs. If you’re David Simmons, you recognize that it’s unlikely that you’ll ever be able to buy one, so the answer is simple – Build It!
1967 Tipo 33 Stradale prototype.
I’ve known David and Eileen Simmons for a long time. My daughter and I crashed their New Year’s Eve party some 30 years ago on our way to Santa Fe to ski, and they were happy to put us up. The Simmons are complete Alfaholics. He says, “I’ve been an Alfa person since 1971 when I bought my first one. It [has been] all downhill since then.” They’ve had other kinds of cars, but their garage is always full of Alfas. I don’t know how many Alfas they have right now, but my Ford Flex was the only non-Alfa anywhere on their property when I visited this year. Most of the cars have been restored by David, but there are a couple projects around – a Giulia Super owned by a young friend who visits and works on his car, a Giulietta Sprint that David is in the process of restoring, and the Stradale, which is in the final tweaking stage – it runs, but it still needs a bit of fiddling before it will go on any road trips.
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