1953 Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 5
Nothing about the B.A.T. 5 looks remotely ordinary, and that was exactly the point: Franco Scaglione shaped this Alfa Romeo for Bertone as a full‑scale experiment in cheating the wind, achieving an extraordinary drag coefficient of about 0.23.
Carrozzeria Bertone’s hand-formed bodywork featured pontoon fenders that directed airflow over a low-profile hood, while dual horizontal-slotted vents fed cooling air directly to the radiator core.
A wraparound glass cockpit sat beneath flowing sheetmetal that resolved into leaning tailfins curving together along a central spine, with pronounced side vents exhausting heat from the front brakes.
Mechanical components came from the Alfa Romeo 1900, including the 1,975 cc twin-cam four-cylinder fitted with side-draft carburetors to suit the dramatically lowered hood line, producing a bit more than 90 horsepower in this application.
Period testing and later analysis indicated a top speed in the 120-125 mph range, a figure made possible by the combination of modest power, low weight, and exceptional aerodynamics rather than brute output.
Headlamps were integrated and faired into the nose to preserve the body’s airflow, reflecting Scaglione’s obsession with functional detailing rather than theatrical gimmicks.
The car debuted at the 1953 Turin Auto Show and inaugurated a trilogy that continued with the B.A.T. 7 and B.A.T. 9 (often referred to as B.A.T. 9d), after which American importer Stanley Arnolt acquired B.A.T. 5 for high-profile display in the United States.
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