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Vídeo que repasa la historia del Alfa Romeo SZ, aunque ya en la descripción se resume lo esencial.
Beauty is only skin-deep, but the Alfa Romeo SZ is also beautiful underneath its composite skin.
The love-it-or-hate-it design (we lurve it!) was chosen because it was so attention-grabbing, but the SZ's mechanical layout traces back directly to Alfa Romeo's 1938 race car, the 158 "Alfetta." More than a decade later, a small upgrade turned it into the 159 Alfetta, which competed in Formula 1 — and was one of the most successful race cars in history.
Giuseppe Busso did more than design the lusty V-6 in the SZ; it was his dream to put the Alfetta's rear-transaxle and de Dion-suspension layout in a street car. He realized this dream with the original Alfetta (Type 116) in the early 1970s, and that basic layout carried over directly into the SZ, giving this two-door coupe (and the RZ, its roadster twin) predictable, easy handling.
The SZ's styling is polarizing but its driving experience is not — it's universally praised as a driver's car, with great visibility, an incredibly responsive 3.0-liter Busso V-6, and a forgiving, playful rear-drive chassis.
Though its name stands for Sprint Zagato, the SZ was not designed by Zagato. It was instead done in-house by early CAD at Fiat Centro Stile — after proposals from both Zagato and Alfa Romeo's internal styling department were rejected. The SZ was, however, built by Zagato.
Today, it still looks like nothing else — a magnificent period-piece of incredible design with speed and sound to match.
Beauty is only skin-deep, but the Alfa Romeo SZ is also beautiful underneath its composite skin.
The love-it-or-hate-it design (we lurve it!) was chosen because it was so attention-grabbing, but the SZ's mechanical layout traces back directly to Alfa Romeo's 1938 race car, the 158 "Alfetta." More than a decade later, a small upgrade turned it into the 159 Alfetta, which competed in Formula 1 — and was one of the most successful race cars in history.
Giuseppe Busso did more than design the lusty V-6 in the SZ; it was his dream to put the Alfetta's rear-transaxle and de Dion-suspension layout in a street car. He realized this dream with the original Alfetta (Type 116) in the early 1970s, and that basic layout carried over directly into the SZ, giving this two-door coupe (and the RZ, its roadster twin) predictable, easy handling.
The SZ's styling is polarizing but its driving experience is not — it's universally praised as a driver's car, with great visibility, an incredibly responsive 3.0-liter Busso V-6, and a forgiving, playful rear-drive chassis.
Though its name stands for Sprint Zagato, the SZ was not designed by Zagato. It was instead done in-house by early CAD at Fiat Centro Stile — after proposals from both Zagato and Alfa Romeo's internal styling department were rejected. The SZ was, however, built by Zagato.
Today, it still looks like nothing else — a magnificent period-piece of incredible design with speed and sound to match.
