Please wear your safety glasses before you look at this Alfa Romeo, a cutting-edge car with style from another planet. With the release of the RZ roadster and the linked SZ coupe, Alfa Romeo’s style was meant to go in a new direction. The sale will go on until April 24. In the past, Italian coachbuilders have made some of the most beautiful cars to appear in a concours d’elegance. Zagato, one of the best, was started more than a century ago, and an Alfa Romeo with its signature Z is always a sight to see. This way, “shocking” can be taken literally as “having an anvil dropped on your head.” Today’s sale item from Hearst Autos’ Bring A Trailer, owned by the same company as Car and Driver, is an Italian Formaggio wedge that will not appeal to everyone. Likely, many people have scrolled through the comments section to show their surprise and irritation. What the heck is going on? A 1993 Alfa Romeo RZ, whose “RZ” stands for “Roadster Zagato.” When it came out in 1989, the Alfa Romeo SZ, called “Il Mostro” or “the Monster,” set out to challenge expectations and change how Alfas were designed. The Sport Zagato (SZ), the hardtop car before this rare roadster type, was exciting. Its snub-nosed shape was made by Alfa’s then-parent company, Fiat, which used computer-aided design instead of sketches from Italian artisans. Zagato did the assembly. The concept of the SZ/RZ came from France. The original idea came from Frenchman Robert Opron, also known for designing Citroen’s SM, GS, and SX. Only 284 roadsters like this one, were made by SZ. This is number 184. The build quality suits a small car made in Italy in the 1990s. The slightly slanted angle of the limited-edition aluminum plate under the shifter neatly sums up the lack of accuracy. The RZ, on the other hand, has almost as much personality as you can handle. If you can accept or at least get past the appearance, it’s a real rear-wheel-drive Alfa that was the fastest of its kind back in the day. Under the clamshell hood is a 3.0-liter Busso 12-valve V-6 that makes slightly more than 200 horsepower and sends it to a five-speed manual transaxle in the back. Both cars are lively and quick, but the RZ gets to 60 mph, a bit slower than the SZ. The V-6’s voice swells into a delightfully mechanical finale when the roof is down. This is how to drive in Italy. Japan got less than half of all RZs made, which was to be expected. The RZ is the type of car that will be famous in Japan, where the Mitsuoka Orochi was made. This piece was sent back across the Pacific in 2010, and its current owner, who has owned Alfas all his life, bought it last year. The timing belt, clutch, and related services were done about ten years ago. This giallo ginestra wedge will make a splash at any car show. People just watching will make opinions, some of which may be negative. But, eh, whatever. The Alfa Romeo RZ is a passionate Alfa Romeo V-6 that is completely crazy. It’s the fix for getting bored in the car.
