The Alfa Romeo BAT is an Italian idea automobile. The vehicle came from a joint collusion project between Alfa Romeo and the Italian design house; Bertone that started in 1953. Of the successful project came 3 automobiles: the BAT five in 1953, the BAT seven in 1954, and lastly the BAT nine in 1955. Alfa Romeo approached Giuseppe "Nuccio" Bertone of the Bertone design house straight to commission 3 idea cars with in depth research on the effect of drag on a vehicle. The idea was to make automobiles with the lowest possible drag coefficient. The automobiles where named BAT for "Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica." all of the cars featured big rear bumpers and curved fins, really a singular design. They were built upon the Alfa Romeo 1900 frame. Every year between 1953 and 1955 at the Turin automobile show, Bertone and Alfa Romeo presented a BAT idea, the BAT five, seven and nine.

The automobiles were successful in their goal, the best achieving a drag coefficient of 0.19 a feat even by today's standards.

For every one of the vehicles, Alfa Romeo provided a 5 gear gearbox and a potent 4 stroke engine that produced more than 90 hp ( 67 kW ), sufficiently good to shove the vehicle to a max speed of 125 miles per hour ( 201 km / h ). The 3 original BATs are presently on exhibit at the Blackhawk Museum in Blackhawk, California.

BAT 5

The BAT five was the first of the BAT project. It was first shown at the Turin car show in 1953. The planning of the model was based mostly on a study of aerodynamics. The form of the front in truth aims to get rid of the problem of airflow interruption at high speeds. The design also will lose any additional resistance generated by the wheels turning, as well as achieving a structure which would create the fewest possible air vortices. In practice these comprehensive factors would permit the auto to reach two hundred km / h ( 120 mph ) with the hundred hp ( seventy five kW ) engine mounted as standard. The design that Bertone caAT five was the first of the Bertone-Alfa Romeo BAT project. It was first shown at the Turin automobile show in 1953. The planning of the model was primarily based on a study of aerodynamics. Thng, as well as achieving a structure which would create the fewest possible air vortices.
In practice these severe standards would permit the car to reach two hundred km / h (120 miles per hour) with the hundred hp (seventy five kW) engine mounted as standard.
The design that Bertone created was for an intensely light auto ( 1,100 kg ( 2,425 lb ) ), the final word in streamlining, with side windows at a forty five degree angle with regard to the body of the auto and a massive windscreen which mixes in completely with the virtually flat roof. The most surprising part of the auto needs to be the tail, with the length-ways rear windscreen divided by a slim pillar, and the 2 fins tapering upwards and a little inwards, for a very cultured finish. There wasn't any deficit of positive feedback: the auto was an instant hit for its aerodynamics and notable stability at high speeds.
Bertone had solved the difficulty of aerodynamic stability, making an automobile with a good index of penetration, with a Cd of 0.23.

BAT 7

The second BAT to be shown at the Turin automobile Show, this time in 1954, a year after the BAT five. The BAT seven took up the styling dictates of the prior model, the BAT five, and worked them to the edge. For this 1954 design, as for the other BAT models, though less allegedly, Bertone added some elements from his experience working on wing profiles in the aeronautical industry. The result was the exaggerated shape of the massive, curved tail fins.
The nose was lower than the BAT five's, and the protrusions where the headlights would usually be found stuck out even farther. The headlights were found next to the nose and moved to indicate down when used. Even Fiat's experimental one off wind-tunnel-derived Turbine auto, the Turbina, which also made its debut at the show, appeared tame in comparison. The Cd was 0.19.

BAT 9

The 3rd and last BAT automobile to be made and shown at the Turin car show was the BAT nine. It was made to look more like the prevailing Alfa Romeo models than the other BATs had. The BAT nine did away with the marked wing lines of the older models in favor of a cleaner, more sober line. The tail fins, which in the other 2 models, five and seven, had a genuine wing-like look, were sized down into 2 little metal plates, very like the tail fins in production on Yankee and some Western european vehicles of the time. Bertone transformed the highly creative styling of the 2 prior BAT models into design credibility, deserting the extremes of the other designs.

BAT 11

After more than 50 years, there's a new BAT model. The BAT eleven made its debut in Geneva, at the time of the 2008 Geneva vehicle Show, though not at the show itself. The new BAT eleven, based totally on the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, shares many styling cues with the classic BAT autos of the 50s.