Alfa Romeo SZ

Alfa Romeo SZ (1989-1992)

The Alfa Romeo ES 30 was a sports car designed by the Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo produced as a coupe (SZ ) and a roadster (RZ ) in limited numbers between spring 1989 and late 1993. The term ES 30 is derived from the term Experimental Sportscar 3.0 Litre. The vehicle left the traditional link between Alfa Romeo and Carrozzeria Zagato rekindle.

The concept

After 1986, Fiat was taken over the former state-owned Alfa Romeo, the new owner wanted to prove with an exclusive two-seat vehicle, the unchanged technical strength and exclusivity of the brand Alfa Romeo.

The striking styling stems from a collaboration between the design centers of Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Zagato. The design was initially described as a Zagato design. In fact, however, the baseline went back to the French designer Robert Opron who had the Citroen cars designed in the 1970s SM and CX and now its time worked for the Fiat Centro Stile; numerous details were next prepared by Antonio Castellana. The Carrozzeria Zagato developed just a few details at the front and at the rear end. The stated goal of the management was to develop an unusual, eye-catching shape. Accordingly, the design was generally not well but referred to as beautiful as its own. The pronounced wedge shape and the three-eyed headlights gave the car a distinct look. Even before the start of production was the ES 30 -plant the designation Il mostro ( the monster ).

As a basis we used the technique of Alfa Romeo 75 in the competition version, which was developed a few years earlier for the group A. Transaxle design and a V6 engine with 3.0 liter displacement and 210 hp ensured adequate driving performance. The top speed was 245 km / h A hydraulic level control (40 mm adjustment ) was also available, but only for driving over obstacles such as curbs.

The body consisted of a steel frame, the outer skin of fiberglass and a Metaacrylharz plastic with the label " Mudar ". He permitted not only high stiffness for the first time a particularly smooth on plastic superstructures surfaces. The body parts were produced at Carplast, a company that was headed by Giuseppe Bizzarrini, a son of Italian engineer Giotto Bizzarrini.

The manufacturing of the vehicles takes place at the Zagato factory buildings in Terrazzano di Rho hand.

SZ (1989-1992)

First Alfa Romeo Zagato and produced a fastback coupe with the name Alfa Romeo SZ ( Sprint Zagato ).

The car was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1989. The vehicle was exclusively in color Alfa Rosso, a brand's typical red tone available. A single piece for Andrea Zagato was produced, however, painted in black. Inside was used natural colored leather.

The dashboard showed a carbon fiber look. Because of the high purchase price of 102.000, - DM and a decline in the demand for exclusive prestige objects only a few copies were built until mid-1992. The exact details vary with respect to the production. Some sources give 1,036 copies, others 999 or exactly 1,000.

RZ (1992-1993)

At the Mondial de l'Automobile in Paris, the convertible version was released in the fall of 1992 under the name Alfa Romeo RZ ( Roadster Zagato ). The vehicle was based largely on the SZ, however, had received considerable reinforcements. The windscreen was significantly tilted and fell out longer. The drive system remained unchanged.

Overall, the weight of the RZ was up against the closed SZ 120 kg. The vehicles were in red, yellow, black and silver metallic ( only three copies) available. DM expensive vehicle sold - Instead of a planned number of 350 by the end of 1993, only 241 copies of this 140,000. A further 37 cars were built by Zagato on its own and even sold.

Zagato then put into production mode with the Lancia Delta based on the Hyena.

Present State

In particular, the RZ is a future classic. The prices of these cars have risen sharply in recent years. 2011, for a data center in excellent condition more than 50,000 euros paid a bedroom in the same is about 10,000 euros cheaper.

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