30 Years of Alfa Romeo SZ

If a car is called a ‘monster’ today and it doesn’t mean its breathtaking performance, then something extraordinary must have happened, right? In the case of the Alfa Romeo SZ, simply its pure looks are enough to cause this displeasure. The car was created together with Zagato with the internal code ES30 (which stand for ‘Experimental Sportscar 3.0 Liter’) after the Fiat Group bought Alfa Romeo from the Italian state in 1986. Its technical basis was provided by a shortened chassis of the Alfa Romeo 75, of which it also used the three-liter V6 engine with 154 kW/210 hp.

Of course, many observers assume that the design of this car was made by Zagato, based on its name SZ (Sprint Zagato). But they are far off the mark. Instead, the Fiat Group hired French designer Robert Opron, who is particularly known for the styling of the Citroën SM and Citroën CX. Together with Antonio Castellana he was now responsible for the new sports car of Alfa Romeo, while Zagato only refined a few details on the front and the rear of the car. Official request of Fiat was a sensational looking Coupé. This goal was achieved by the wedge-shaped design, six square headlights and the dark tinted light strip at the back of the car. Incidentally, the nickname ‘monster’ was not created in recent years. Even before the start of the production, staff of Alfa Romeo and Zagato whispered “Il Mostro” when they saw the SZ.

After its world premiere at the Geneva Motorshow in 1989, the SZ immediately went into production. Customers couldn’t pick much options. The bodywork was exclusively available in ‘Rosso Alfa’ (red) in combination with a black roof, while the interior wears natural brown leather. Only Andrea Zagato got a vehicle completely in black, which wasn’t hard to order for him, as in his halls in Terrazzano di Rho all SZs were created by hand. Employees mounted body panels specially manufactured of Modar, a methacrylic resin with glass fiber reinforcements, over a steel skeleton. Modar allowed particularly smooth surfaces, unknown for plastic body parts up to then, and was made by Carplast, a company owned by Giuseppe Bizzarrini, son of the famous engineer and car maker Giotto Bizzarrini. Thanks to the three-liter V6 engine and the transaxle-mounted five-speed gearbox, locked to the differential, the SZ reaches up to 245 kph (152 mph).

The relatively high original price of 102,000 DM in Germany (including 14% VAT) made for a rather limited distribution of the Alfa Romeo SZ, especially since no homologation for the US and Canada was made. 13 cars were converted into race-ready Trophy versions for a one-make series in 1993. In total Zagato created 1,036 copies of the SZ until the end of 1992. In October of the same year the open variant RZ (Roadster Zagato) debuted at the Paris Motor Show. Up to the flatter windscreen and below the upper edge of the doors, the design was only changed in small details. On top of that, a narrow-cut fabric hood hid behind the passengers under a plastic cover. The narrow hatch between the taillights does not lead to a trunk, but only gives access to a space-saver spare wheel – as with the SZ.

In contrast to the SZ, Alfa Romeo offered the RZ in a whole color palette. Next to ‘Rosso Alfa’, also yellow, black and silver metallic were available. Only three cars were built in silver. The leather in the interior was bordeaux red with black and silver cars and black with red or yellow cars. All together Alfa Romeo and Zagato planned a production run of 350 vehicles, but lowered that number due to low interest. No wonder at a price of 140,000 DM (incl. 15% VAT). Ultimately only 278 copies rolled of the production line at Zagato. Compared to the SZ the RZ was not only more expensive and rarer, but also heavier. To reinforce the open body Zagato mounted some invisible stiffenings, which brought additional 120 kilograms to the scales. Nowadays, the RZ is still the most sought after car of these two due to its rarity and achieves prices in the range between 50,000 and 60,000 €, while well-preserved SZ are around 10,000 € cheaper.

Images: Alfa Romeo