The usual trope is that Italian cars are all styled to be classically delicate and beautiful, like they’re the automotive expression of the Sistine Chapel. But the Italians do brutalist buildings just as well as anybody else, and Alfa Romeo – especially when paired with Zagato – was not averse to coming out with something a bit shocking. The Junior Zagato GT certainly was that back in the ‘70s. And in the ‘90s, there was the SZ / RZ.
When Alfa Romeo, following over 12 years of operational losses, came to be purchased by Fiat in 1986, thought was immediately put towards a new model. The Alfa 164 was already well into the production pipeline, so Fiat turned their attention to something more niche that could serve as a halo car.
Bones-wise, Alfa chose to go with their tried and tested 75 (a.k.a Milano) model, specifically the high-performance IMSA version, albeit with the 75 Quadrafoglio Verde’s 210hp Busso V6 instead of the 75 IMSA’s turbocharged 1.8 litre four.
The SZ therefore used 75’s basic floorpan, itself inherited from the 1972-84 Alfetta, squeezed into a tighter and sportier package. This included a transaxle 5-speed manual, a de Dion rear end and double wishbones up front, but the suspension was given a thorough makeover, with new polymer silentblocks that significantly improved handling. A Koni hydraulic height adjustment system was also fitted, as the new car’s body was designed to be pretty low to the ground.
The SZ Coupé was unveiled at the 1989 Geneva Motor Show and caused an immediate sensation. It had been a while since Alfa Romeo had done anything quite so daring, style-wise, and the Zagato association was always going to bring some added controversy to the mix. Every single one was red with a dark gray roof, except Andrea Zagato’s own car, which was black. The Italian press soon dubbed it il mostro (“the monster”). Any publicity is good publicity.
To be fair though, the plucky carrozzeria did not lay claim to the new Alfa’s distinctive styling. It was actually a collaboration between Zagato designer Antonio Castellana and Fiat Centro Stile’s Robert Opron, of Citroën and Renault fame. One can actually see quite a lot of Opron in that front end…
Yep, six headlights, two doors and a truncated tail: the SZ / RZ was an Alfa underneath, but a kind of a boxier Citroën SM body-wise. Though to be entirely candid, it seems the Alfa’s front and rear were mostly devised by Zagato, so it seems it was Castellana who did this as a triple wink to Opron.
Said body consisted in a steel unit frame with body panels made from modar, a new thermoplastic compound jointly developed by a French and an Italian company. Some fiberglass panels were also added when the SZ lost its (aluminium) roof.
For it will not have escaped the eagle-eyed (or even just plain eyed) amongst you that we are dealing with a drop-top here. Alfa Romeo and Zagato merrily produced just over a thousand units of the SZ coupé from 1989 to 1991, then pondered what to do for an encore. Perhaps taking inspiration from the Aston Martin V8 Zagato that had been attempted a few years prior, a roadster version was deemed apt to follow in the SZ’s tyre tracks.
Zagato did do a one-off SZ Spider, but with bespoke styling. Alfa preferred retaining the original car’s look as much as possible, probably to keep costs in check. The changes required were a bit more extensive than Alfa Romeo and Zagato had expected, though. In the end, all the moulds had to be re-worked; even the windscreen was different.
This made for a pretty expensive result: the RZ retailed for over twice the price of the 164 saloon, whose engine it shared. And by the time it hit the market in late 1992, the market for crazy expensive sports cars was cratering. Alfa were still in the process of trying to find takers for the last SZ coupés.
At least you could get the roadster in a choice of three colours (yellow, black and red), compared to the SZ coupés’ one-hue-fits-all approach. On the other hand, the roadster required a lot of chassis reinforcements, so it was 120kg heavier and notably slower and less nimble than the coupé.
Another issue was the lack of luggage space: the rear hatch just gives access to the spare tyre. In the coupé, there was a decently large cargo area behind the front seats, but in the roadster, that space was now occupied by the soft top. Alfa and Zagato knew the RZ would be a tougher sell, so they tabled on a 350-unit run. Production was halted by the end of 1993 well shy of that number (some sources say 275, some 278, some 284), and it took Alfa Romeo until the year 1996 (!) to find takers for the last cars they had in stock.
The RZ was one of the last “production” cars to come out of the Zagato works. The carrozzeria went through a very turbulent time for a decade or so, reinventing itself as a pure design / one-off automotive artisan – which is how it survives to this day. As for this so-called “Monster,” it was the last Alfas, alongside the Spider, to feature pre-Fiat RWD technology. Apparently, there are more of these in Japan than in any other country in the world. A true Alfazilla, this RZ.
Gear change pattern on the rear wing , I suppose to deter younger “ladri” who can only drive automatics.
I should be there being enraputured or critiquing this in person right now, alas…. I have to say that while I really enjoy the SZ, it’s a good thing this was renamed the RZ as I’m not nearly as enamored of it in this format – but with the new name I don’t have to qualify anything said before.
From some angles it could be argued that the bodywork looks simply like camouflage panels over the next Alfa Spyder prototype, however we know that was not the case. A harmonious blend of the various elements wasn’t achieved; although Zagato does like to overly engage one’s senses at times, here it’s resulted in maybe less of Shock and Awe and more of an “Awe, Shucks, not our finest hour.”
Still, the cake must be awarded to someone, so today it shall be you for finding this, one of 275 or 278, or maybe even 285, but certainly not 350.
There is definitely some kinship between these Alfas and the Bristol 412 – and Brutalist architecture.
I always found the styling of these, and its execution to be a complex thing. Some great details, such as the headlights, the no-nonsense profile and stance and the carefully managed dramatic shut lines, which were often shockingly wide (look at the bonnet fit on this car) likely as a consequence of build process and materials.
No arguing with the performance, even if the handling and ride were not top drawer and the interior and ergonomics were pretty basic and clumsy.
Still, nothing else like it outside the kit car/ small run bespoke UK sports cars, which didn’t have a Busso violin (that Alfa V6….just thinking about it makes you dreamy) under the bonnet.
You love it or hate it, sometimes simultaneously……..
As a former Spider driving Alfisti who once seriously contemplated buying a Milano, I’m not averse to unconventional styling. Think it would be fun to drive around pickup and SUV infested Calgary in a Citroen Ami 6 to startle people, but I cannot find any love for the SZ or RZ. However, thanks for the history and eye opening photographs !