Alfa Romeo SZ Coda Tronca
What would you do if you unexpectedly learned that your classic car actually had a racing history? Tough question, isn’t it? But that’s exactly what happened recently to the owner of the Alfa Romeo SZ from our picture gallery. Until this discovery, all he knew was that he owned a very rare automobile. Only about 200 copies of the normal SZ were made. Even rarer is this variant with a lower roof for aerodynamic reasons and an angular cut-off rear, which earned the model the nickname “Coda Tronca”. Alfa Romeo built this version about 30 times. The craftsmen at Zagato worked on the aluminium body for around 300 hours each time. Under the hood, there was a highly tuned 1.3-liter engine and a five-speed manual transmission.
Racing history recently discovered
Chassis number 0184 was delivered to the Alfa Romeo dealer in Lugano, Switzerland, on March 28, 1962. Nothing was known about the immediate aftermath until 1970 until recently. But now it is certain that this car has an extensive racing history – including a start at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Until now, it had been assumed that 0184 had been used in one or two hillclimbs. Instead, the car belonged to Scuderia Sant Ambroeus, which was run by Ferrari team manager Eugenio Dragoni. From time to time, the SZ was also lent to Karl Foitek’s Squadra Foitek. In addition to races at Solitude near Stuttgart, Aspern, Zolder and Innsbruck, the Alfa was on the starting grid at the 24-hour race in Le Mans in 1962. There, Karl Foitek and Ricciardo Ricci shared the cockpit. The SZ, which was still painted silver at the time, bore the starting number 40. Due to clutch damage, the car retired after completing 225 laps. A sister car from the same team finished in 10th position.
Completely restored
In 1970 Arno Mark from Gstaad acquired the Alfa Romeo SZ. He was followed by Michael Storer from Zurich. From 1989, the sports car, which had long since been painted red, was parked in the garage of Rudy Pas in the Netherlands. he had the car completely restored in Italy at Autocostruzioni SD, retaining as many body parts as possible. At the same time, Conrero created a new 1.3-liter powerplant to SZ specifications and just over 135 horsepower. Brakes, steering and suspension were also revised. He rarely used the completed vehicle on the road. Instead, it was on the starting grid at the Bologna-Raticosa hillclimb in 2006. He also showed the SZ in 2004 in the “Celebration of Zagato” class at the Concorso d’Eleganza at Villa d’Este. Paul Schouwenburg entered his name in the papers as the next owner.
New owner wanted
From 2007 to 2011, the Alfa Romeo SZ Coda Tronca belonged to Ronald Hein in the USA. Since then, the car has been back in Europe and belonged successively to two car collectors in the UK. Currently, the Italian race car is for sale at classic car specialist Duncan Hamilton. It is in race-ready condition and could compete immediately in events at Goodwood or the Le Mans Classic. For this, of course, it would be great if the next owner would reproduce the original color scheme of silver with the large race number 40. After all, 2022 marks the sixtieth anniversary of its participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Duncan Hamilton’s sales team will only reveal the purchase price in response to serious inquiries.
Images: Duncan Hamilton ROFGO
