1955 Prototipo Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 9 from the Hot Wheels First Editions 2005 series.
The name of Carrozzeria Bertone was propelled into the international spotlight with the series of three “Technical Aerodynamic Berlinettas” which made their debut at the Turin Motor Show; the B.A.T. 5 of 1953, the B.A.T. 7 of 1954 and this B.A.T. 9 from 1955.
Designed by Franco Scaglione, and styled by Nuccio Bertone, all three were built over Alfa 1900 Sprint mechanicals and were baptized “Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica”. The acronym B.A.T. pleased the English-speaking world far more, however, possibly because they thought the name particularly apt in view of the vaguely bat-like look of the tail section.
For each of the cars, Alfa Romeo provided a five-speed gearbox and a powerful four-cylinder engine that produced more than 90 horsepower, which was enough to propel the car to a top speed of 201 km/h (125 mph). The cars were successful in their goal as a study of aerodynamics, the best achieving a drag coefficient of 0.19, an outstanding achievement even by today’s standards.
The B.A.T. 9 did away with the marked wing lines of the previous models in favour of a cleaner, more sober line. The tail fins, which in the other two models had a real wing-like look, were sized down into two small metal plates, much like the tail fins in production on American and some European cars of the time. Bertone transformed the highly creative styling of the two previous B.A.T. models into design credibility, abandoning the extremes of the other two designs.
Source: Blackhawk Automotive Museum
I took the pictures of the 1:1 in this post at the Blackhawk Automotive Museum in Danville, CA in April of 2014. They also have the other two B.A.T. cars. The B.A.T. 9 was a Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance participant in 1989 & 2005.