The Italian media called the SZ “Il Mostro” (The Monster) because of how crazy it looked and how well it handled like a race car. It was made to bring Alfa Romeo back to its former glory as a sports car maker after Fiat bought the company. The SZ has a futuristic composite shell that hides a reworked Alfa Romeo Milano (75) chassis with a 3.0-liter “Busso” V-6 engine and suspension from the 75 Turbo Evoluzione IMSA. Between 1989 and 1991, only 1036 SZs were made, which makes them very cheap compared to many other coachbuilt exotics. This one has only gained 13,000 kilometers (8,100 miles). The Alfa Romeo SZ can be either a scary doorstop or a postmodern, beautiful car, depending on your point of view. In fact, that’s been the case ever since its futuristic, jaw-droppingly sharp shape made its debut at the 1989 Geneva car show. It continues to split people, which is what it was meant to do, but it can’t be ignored. When Fiat bought Alfa in 1986, CEO Vittorio Ghidella thought that a high-profile, limited-production sports car would help the brand’s reputation in the sports world. Ghidella specifically asked the designers to come up with “provocative” styles. Then he got them. The low number of 1036, on the other hand, shows that the look was too offensive. There is a 1991 SZ with the VIN 993 for sale on Bring A Trailer. Bring A Trailer is owned by Hearst Autos, which also owns Invoice Pricing. The SZ came out right before the bubble of expensive and rare cars burst in the late 1980s, so it had to compete with cheap Porsches and Ferraris. The SZ has been forgotten about and undervalued since then. It’s a great coachbuilt car, even though Zagato didn’t design it. At the beginning of 1987, Alfa was only working on one new car, the 164. Most of its other designs were at least ten years old, and none of them were very strange. In February of that year, Ghidella chose to bring back some of the brand’s old magic by redesigning the Bertone and Zagato-bodied Alfas from the 1960s. Still, Ghidella didn’t give the job to Zagato; instead, he made the coachbuilder compete with Alfa and Fiat’s workshops. In this tie-break battle, team Fiat, led by experienced Citroën designer Robert Opron, beat team Alfa, led by Walter da Silva. Zagato’s attempts, led by Marco Pedracini, were quickly thrown out. In the wind lab, designer Antonio Castellana worked on Opron’s blocky idea until he got a drag coefficient of 0.30. Zagato made important additions to the car, such as the seats, the name (Sprint Zagato), and the production line. A lot of CAD/CAM equipment was used during the planning process, which took 19 months. Even the body panels looked futuristic. The outside panels came from the Alfa 75, which is also known as the Milano in the United States. They were made of fiberglass-reinforced thermoplastic resin and were glued to the frame with special glues. The SZ’s resin body panels made it very rigid and a little heavier than the Milano, but it was still able to pull 1.1 g’s when turning hard. The SZ’s motor parts were all old Alfa parts. The V-6-powered de Dion rear transaxle system, which was first seen on the 1972 Alfetta, still needs to be changed, even though the Milano/75 frame was shortened to fit the SZ’s short tail. The brakes and suspension came from the 75 Turbo Evoluzione IMSA Group A racer, which had special Koni dampers that could be adjusted for height. By adding new valves and making other changes, the 3.0-liter, 12-valve Busso V-6 was tuned to make 210 horsepower. In contrast to how it looked, the SZ’s driving style was and still is praised. It could be faster going straight, but the frame is perfectly balanced, and the powerful V-6 engine loves to rev. Besides that, it has a big, airy cabin that is comfy. One strange thing about the car is that the trunk can also be used as an extra tire well, so you’ll need to put your bags behind the driver’s seat. The SZ had trouble selling in its two most important markets, Japan and Europe, and it wasn’t offered in the US. After the MC12, Zagato only made 284 open-top RZs from 1992 to 1994. Since then, they’ve gained a cult following, and the SZ’s general weirdness helps make it popular and easy to get. It’s fun to drive and can keep up with current sports cars. Plus, it’s one of the cheapest ways to get a coach built exotically and made in small numbers. When compared to an 8C Competizione or an Aston V8 Zagato, they’re a great deal. Usually, they cost about the same as a used Alfa 4C, and sometimes even less. This SZ was brought from Canada earlier this year and sold brand new in Japan. It has only 13,000 kilometers (8,100 miles) on it. With so few miles, it might be one of the cleanest SZs in the world. Also, because the car has low mileage, it recently received some repairs, like new engine mounts, clutch, and timing belt. The auction ends on August 6th for those who dare to be daring.
