1989 Alfa Romeo SZ / RZ

The vehicle began its life in concept form in 1987 as a vehicle intended to be short-run and raise headlines for Alfa Romeo. It was a vehicle aimed at being fun, rather than practical. Zagato, the manufacturer of the body, was given creative liberty on the design. In 1989, the production version was released in limited form. 1,000 coupes were released and a convertible option quickly followed of which, only 800 were built. The convertibles were labeled the RZ.

The car had no visible door handles. The front of the car had six square headlights. It was built on a short 98.8-inch wheelbase. This was in contrast to many of the other vehicles Alfa was building at the time. Some people loved it while other people hated it.

A V-6 engine was used and placed in the front of the car, while the five-speed manual gearbox was placed in the rear. Even though it only had a six-cylinder naturally aspirated engine, it was still capable of speeds over 150 mph. Alfa Romeo had been competing in auto racing for over 75 years, so they were more than capable of building a fun, fast, well-handling, and visually appealing car.

By Daniel Vaughan | Mar 2010