1955 Alfa Romeo BAT 9The Alfa Romeo BAT was actually a series of three concept cars, with the concept reaching its fullest realization in the 1955 BAT 9 model. BAT stands for Berlina Aerodinamica Tecnica, although the acronym BAT is a happy coincidence since the BAT does resemble a bat with its wings folded back in a dive. Or perhaps it looks like a car a certain beloved superhero would drive. As its full name suggests, the BAT series served as a test bed for aerodynamic styling, seeking to transform the chunky cars of the day into sleek and fuel-efficient machines knifing their way through the air.Alfa Romeo engaged the design house of Carrozzeria Bertone to design the BAT cars. Bertone used a production Alfa chassis from the 1900 Sprint and standard engines from Alfa's existing models. The goal was to find out how much an aerodynamic body could contribute to speed, stability, and fuel efficiency, even if everything under the skin was a bog-standard production car. The first few BATs never left the design studio, but the 1953 BAT 5, the 1954 BAT 7, and the 1955 BAT 9 were all fully drivable cars.In addition to the functional curled tailfins, design elements like hidden headlights and partially covered wheel wells helped improve aerodynamics. The BAT series reached a jaw-dropping coefficient of drag (Cd) of 0.19. Modern cars wouldn't reach similar Cd numbers until quite recently, aided by the use of powerful computers that Alfa's designers could only have dreamed of. This makes their accomplishment all the more astounding.