Nothing divides opinion quite like the Alfa Romeo SZ. Some think it is the ugliest thing to ever wear the famous badge, others just love those sharp angles.
“Il Mostro” (The Monster) had to say the least, controversial styling. What wasn’t controversial was the performance. Based on the outgoing rear-drive Milano, it had over 200 horses and with a dialed-in KONI suspension, it could actually effectively manage that power. The slippery, yet very squared-off design also gave it a far better drag coefficient and helped it reach 150 mph (on a good day).
It, like many recent supercars, was always going to be a limited-edition collector’s item. So much of the criticism is fairly moot, and even with the regular foibles that go along with the badge, it is still an absolute gem and worth all the six figures you would need to fork out to own one.
A Tribute To Its Sports Car Heritage
From the outset the SZ was never meant to be sold in big numbers, it was a tribute to Alfa’s wonderful sports car heritage and wanted to stand out from the crowd. With design in the late 80s and early 90s favoring more rounded off shapes over squares, the Brutalist angular shape of the SZ immediately caused a stir upon its formal debut. It was a bold statement, it was also very different, so different some might say it was ugly. Quite possibly the only ugly Alfa, it was dubbed “The Monster” by local automotive journalists yet somehow that didn’t put anyone off, knowing full well this car would only see a limited run and that it would quickly rise in value rather than depreciate like any run of the mill sports car.
Looks aside, it was Alfa through and through, with incredible handling and more than enough power for the lightweight two-door sports car. It was a fitting tribute to what endeared so many to the Italian marque.
Track Monster
Although it was built on a 4-door saloon car, the Milano (for North America) was not in itself too far from a sports car. The Busso V6 was already a legend, putting down some seriously good naturally aspirated power for the 80s. The SZ took the good and made it better, getting even more power out of the V6 was the first step, cranking it right up to over 200 horsepower. Then they added much lightness by pretty much making all the panels out of plastic, and capped it all off with a race-bred suspension that included hydraulically adjustable KONI dampers which gave it more grip than you would find in just about any other Alfa (including some newer models).
Although rare, it wasn’t made of glass (it was made of plastic) and was meant to be driven hard. Able to achieve 150 mph if you were brave enough, without any driver aids the car was able to achieve an astonishing 1.4G in the corners, incredible even by modern electronically assisted standards.
Serious Reliability Concerns
Alfa Romeo and reliability are never friends, at the best of times the SZ is based on an actual race version of the Milano, so without any doubt, it will get you into some sort of trouble at the point in time you need it most.
Obviously, cars like this are going to be parked in a huge garage owned by some collector that will at best wheel it out once a month and likely put almost no mileage on it before it gets sold on to the next collector. That is the reality of it, so we already know this point is moot. It is worth bringing up though, the Busso is a fantastic engine but in this state of tune without any real internal upgrades driving it hard will reward you with an engine rebuild in no time at all. It also has 30-year-old Italian wiring, which simply put means it will go wrong, all the time. So that fantastic suspension that can increase or decrease the ride height, that’s controlled by a button, that won’t work the minute you get to a speedbump with the car now stuck on its lowest setting.
It could have any flaw at all and somehow that just gives it even more character, this old Alfa really sums up everything we love about the brand.
It puts all the emphasis on the driving experience and quite literally everything else comes as an afterthought, from the controversial Brutalist design to the absolutely astonishing engine it all adds up to the common goal of simply adding joy to the life of the owner. Sadly only the very fortunate will be able to afford this little gem of a sports car now with prices, frankly, getting out of hand.