Rare Rides: The Extra Rare 1991 Alfa Romeo SZ, by Zagato
Italian design firm Zagato has a way with making things red and black — and extra angular. Why, just look at what they did to a standard Nissan Leopard in turning it into the Stelvio. And while the Stelvio’s integrated fender mirrors and overall level of crazy isn’t to everyone’s taste, general favor has always fallen upon Alfa Romeo’s ’90s Zagato model, the SZ.
Come and have a look.
Where the Stelvio was a heavily-modified Nissan Leopard, the SZ was a brand new design all its own. The S and Z making up the model’s name stand for Sprint Zagato.
Always intended as a limited-production model, the SZ debuted in concept format at the Geneva Motor Show in 1989. A lucky few individuals purchased them at Alfa dealers between that year and 1991. Though the body was brand new, most everything underneath it was not. The equally angular 75 model donated its engine, a 3.0-liter V6.
Most other mechanical components also came from the 75, but the suspension came from another level. The Alfa 75 IMSA car provided the suspension, with modifications for road duty made by the Lancia and Fiat rally team. Holding everything down to the road, the SZ shipped with standard Pirelli P Zero tires. Those have been replaced with cheaper Michelin units on this used example.
Today’s SZ is from late in the run, a ’91 model bearing production number 946. The original plan was to make 1,000 units but, this being Alfa Romeo, things got a bit enthusiastic. The company made 1,036 instead.
Interior accommodations on the SZ are perhaps not quite as expected — an interesting mix of luxury appointments and spartan racing-inspired simplicity.
The SZ got a follow-up model that is considerably rarer and even more doorstop-looking, called the RZ. Alfa Romeo cut the roof off the SZ to make it, implementing an R to mean Roadster. Alfa Romeo produced only 278 of the intended 350 Roadster Zagatos between 1992 and 1994.
Located in San Francisco, where some bridges are also red, this particular SZ was imported from Japan. Its condition appears excellent, since approximately zero of these were ever driven hard or very far. With 4,665 kilometers on the dial, the seller says it has 7,500 miles. Unless my American to Canadian calculator is failing me, I think that’s wrong.
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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Could pull 1.4 g on the skid pad in off-the-showroom-floor condition. Highest for any production car at the time.
Thankyou for your valuable information