1954 Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 7
Following the B.A.T. 5’s positive reception the previous year, Bertone’s second aerodynamic study pushed design boundaries further with narrower front intakes, an even lower hood line, and extended tailfins whose sharp rake and height made the car look almost like a rolling wind-tunnel model.
Franco Scaglione’s refinements reportedly produced an exceptional drag coefficient claimed around 0.19, better than many modern production cars and a step beyond the already impressive B.A.T. 5, although period figures remain the subject of some later debate among historians.
Overall weight was reduced compared with B.A.T. 5, with most references placing the car in roughly the 2,200-pound range rather than the earlier car’s slightly higher mass.
The body retained rear wheel skirts and prominent side vents while exaggerating the earlier car’s dramatic proportions, particularly in the towering, curved tailfins that visually enclosed the rear of the car.
Alfa Romeo 1900 mechanical components again provided the foundation, with the familiar 1,975 cc twin-cam four-cylinder and chassis package carried over beneath the experimental bodywork.
Completed so close to its April 1954 Turin Salon debut that Bertone staff drove it directly to the show, this middle chapter between the B.A.T. 5 and later B.A.T. 9d received widespread acclaim and soon appeared on the cover of Swiss magazine Automobil Revue, after which Alfa Romeo acquired the car for use on the international show circuit, including American exhibitions.
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