Whether considered the ultimate three-movement concerto of automobile design or the only true automotive triptych ever produced, few will contest the greatness of the Alfa Romeo B.A.T. concepts. These masterworks, penned by Franco Scaglione and executed by Turin, Italy’s Carrozzeria Bertone, pioneered automotive aerodynamics while reasserting the primacy of Italian industrial design in the wake of World War II.
Individually, each of the B.A.T.s is, without exaggeration, among the most important automotive concepts ever built. Presented collectively, their significance deepens: Uniquely in the automotive world, the B.A.T.s are best understood as variations on a singular theme, a complete work in three parts. Like a Francis Bacon triptych, examining one car in the context of the other two reveals new aspects of their forms, as well as the captivating details worked into the hand-shaped bodywork of each.
Put simply, since the inception of the internal combustion engine, no one vehicle—let alone an interwoven trilogy—has so compellingly explored the concept of the automobile as pure kinetic sculpture as the Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 5, 7, and 9d.
BERLINA AERODINAMICA TECNICA: THE GENESIS
At the dawn of the 1950s, Giuseppe “Nuccio” Bertone’s carrozzeria, the design house and coachbuilder responsible for penning and constructing hand-made car bodies, was struggling in the face of postwar recovery. One-off commissions for wealthy clients, once the lifeblood of the coachbuilding trade, represented a decreasingly viable busines strategy. That began to change when Franco Scaglione entered the picture. The 1951 hiring of a then-unknown designer with a background in aeronautics soon resulted in the some of the firm’s most celebrated works, catapulting both Scaglione and Bertone to enduring fame.
Following the success of the Scaglione-designed and Bertone-built Abarth 1500 Biposto, Alfa Romeo expressed interest in exploring a technical proposal into aerodynamics; the project would come to be known as Berlina Aerodinamica Tecnica, or B.A.T. Bertone chose the 1900 platform as a testbed for this research, and Scaglione relished the opportunity to combine his interests in science and mathematics with his aesthetic leanings. He later wrote of the vehicle’s guiding manifesto in a 1954 article in Auto Italiana, arguing that aerodynamic considerations accounted for as much as 85 percent of a car’s efficiency, and concluding “the entry form must give a smooth penetration.”
B.A.T. 5 (1953)
For his first act, Scaglione progressively worked through four full-size models before proceeding to the fifth and final stage, the actual metalwork for the car. Thus, when completed, the concept car was appropriately dubbed the Berlina Aerodinamica Tecnica 5, or B.A.T. 5. Making its public debut at the Turin Auto Salon in May 1953, the car drew rapturous coverage from the international motoring press.
Instantly striking to even a casual observer, the B.A.T. 5’s protruding pontoon fenders and rounded center nose ducted airflow over the swept hood, whose low profile was accommodated by an engine modified with side-draft carburetors. 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. Rear wheel skirts were fitted to reduce reverse airflow from the wheel’s topside, and large side vents provided exhaust for the front brakes.
Beyond its jet-age character, Scaglione’s coachwork was remarkable for its advanced aerodynamics. Figures vary slightly (analytical methods of the time were relatively primitive) but the B.A.T. 5 is said to have achieved a coefficient of drag of roughly 0.23 at nearly 94 mph. The top speed was tested at 123.6 mph, an impressive metric given the era and the car’s relatively small four-cylinder engine.
B.A.T. 7 (1954)
Given the first car’s success, Scaglione was encouraged to emphasize various characteristics of the original on the car that would be known as the B.A.T. 7. He obliged by narrowing the front air intakes, lowering the hood by over two inches, and lengthening the tailfins while adding increased angular pitch to the extremities. The rear wheel skirts and pronounced side vents remained.
Granted license to create a more extreme design, however, Scaglione also created one that was more extreme in terms of aerodynamics: The B.A.T. 7’s coefficient of drag was, at 0.19, even lower than that of its predecessor. The Toyota Prius and Tesla Model S, two paragons of modern efficiency, achieve a 0.24 Cd; Scaglione soundly bested both in an era without widespread wind tunnel testing or computer-aided design. Weight was reduced as well, from the B.A.T. 5’s roughly 2,400 pounds to just 2,200 pounds.
Scheduled to be unveiled at the Turin Salon in April 1954, the B.A.T. 7 required feverish preparation to complete, and it was finished so late that Nuccio Bertone and Franco Scaglione personally drove the car to Turin. Response at the show was unequivocally positive, as the B.A.T. 7 received even more enthusiastic praise from the media than its predecessor, making the cover of Swiss magazine Automobil Revue.
B.A.T 9d (1955)
Perhaps sensing a missed opportunity (as popular as the prior B.A.T.s were, they looked utterly unlike anything headed for mass-production) Alfa Romeo’s mandate for the final concept was to “make it more practical for road use.”
Thus, for his third act, Scaglione explored a roadworthy gran turismo interpretation of the B.A.T theme. The fins were reduced in size to improve rear visibility, and the rear wheel skirts were eliminated. A pronounced beltline was added toward the rear, while a standard production triangular Giulietta grille, including the famed Milano crest, was fitted to the front, highlighting the car’s identity as an Alfa Romeo. And, of course, the mechanical components were once again drawn from the Alfa Romeo 1900.
The 1955 Turin Salon was chosen to unveil the new concept car, and the B.A.T. 9d was unsurprisingly lavished with high praise, completing one of the most important automotive triptychs ever devised.
AN AUTOMOTIVE TRIPTYCH, UNITED
Sold into private ownership in the United States as their moments in the spotlight ended, the B.A.T.s were individually exhibited at car shows, driven extensively on the road, and remarkably—in the case of the B.A.T. 7—raced in SCCA competition in Southern California. Yet surprisingly, they were never displayed together when new.
As each of the three B.A.T. cars came to the attention of collectors in the late 1980s, however, concours organizers began to dream of assembling all three in one exhibitive setting. The precipitating event was Nuccio Bertone’s visit to Pasadena, California’s Art Center College of Design in 1989 to receive an honorary degree. Seizing the opportunity, organizers of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance invited the three owners of the B.A.T.s to the 1989 show, and the elder coachbuilder was encouraged to travel up the coast for the occasion. With the three cars displayed together for the first time in their history, Nuccio Bertone shared nostalgic anecdotes of his experiences with Franco Scaglione.
Recognizing the unique appeal of keeping all three B.A.T.s together, a private collector subsequently made an offer to each of the three owners, and the cars became united in ownership as well. Together, the B.A.T.s traveled to Europe during the early 1990s, being shown at the Genoa Autostory in February 1992, the 80th Anniversary of Bertone held in Turin, the Centre International de l’Automobile in Pantin, Paris, and Rétromobile held in Versailles in February 1993.
The concept cars were then sent to the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, California, where they had been on display for over a decade. Exhibition during this period included a trip to the Museum of Science in South Kensington, London, and presentation at Coys International Historic Festival in July 1994. In August 2005, the three B.A.T.s returned to Pebble Beach, and in 2009 they were presented at Concorso Italiano. More recently, and underscoring their broad appeal and significance as objects of mechanical art, the three B.A.T.s were shown alongside a carefully curated collection of important Italian cars at the First Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, Tennessee in 2016.
Aerodynamically advanced, visually arresting, and hugely influential, Franco Scaglione’s Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 5, 7, and 9d occupy an intriguing space between driveable automobiles and pure kinetic sculpture. It is incredibly unique for three such concept cars to have been collectively owned and maintained for so long. Offered together, this rare and exciting opportunity affords discerning collectors a chance to acquire perhaps the most celebrated trio of series-conceived concept cars in automotive history—a triptych in which form and function strike a perfect, compelling balance.
Welcome at the most prestigious international concours d’elegance and design exhibitions worldwide, this striking trio would be a crowning achievement of any collection of cars and art.
Please note that this lot is only subject to RM Sotheby’s Buyer’s Premium which is 12% of the hammer price, along with the RM Conditions of Business which can be found through the online catalog.”