Alfa Romeo’s idea to create vehicles with the lowest possible drag co-efficient ended in approaching famed Italian automotive designer Giuseppe Bertone.

What turned out were objects of art and design, so much so that they are still taken as standing examples of automotive design. The creations were labelled BAT (Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica) and built from scratch using a bare chassis of the Alfa Romeo 1900 model.

What Bertone did was to provide a shape that would break the airflow over the body at high-speeds. Even attention was given to the turning wheels that increased resistance – in short, they created a vehicle with the least possible air vortices (vortices are a major component of any turbulent flow). His efforts resulted in achieving a drag coefficient (cd) of just 0.23, a record in those days.

The light and nimble car with two tapering fins (it weighed just 1100 kg) could travel at speeds of 200 km/hr.

A rare resin collectible whose value will increase with time as only 333 pieces have been created.