Alfa Romeo RZ: playing all the angles

But then neither was the car that bore it, the mighty SZ, which emerged at a time when Alfisti were poorly served.

It’s worth recalling that the ’80s began with Nissan and Alfa Romeo signing an agreement that would lead to close co-operation between the two firms spanning the following 15 years.

That, and a raft of new models.

Only the Arna arrived, a giddying blend of a Cherry hull and an Alfasud flat-four.

‘The open-top Alfa Romeo RZ hasn’t lost the power to shock, but there is an element of whimsy amid the brutality’

At least the marque faithful were spared an Alfa-ised Nissan Prairie, which almost became a thing.

The alliance was annulled in 1986, with the break-up followed shortly by a change of ownership after Fiat gazumped Ford.

Then there was Alfa Romeo’s Formula One programme, which had shown early flashes of promise, but no victories were forthcoming despite the best efforts of Mario Andretti and other stars.

By the mid-1980s, it had become a pointless exercise (in every sense).

Alfa Romeo script on the RZ’s door sill

As such, it fell to Touring Car outings to maintain the marque’s sporting credentials, but again results were patchy.

It wasn’t a great period for the company, but it was against this backdrop of despondency and whip-round budgets that one of the greatest-ever halo cars was conceived.

Lire might have been in short supply, but the parts bin contained a few gems: ones that could be repurposed with a bit of lateral thinking and a generous dollop of chutzpah.

Project ES30 (Experimental Sportscar/3.0-litre) made the leap from idea to reality in just 19 months, with the firm’s styling department, Alfa Corse, and subcontractor Zagato working in lockstep.

The Alfa Romeo RZ’s transaxle is borrowed from the 75, but with shorter gear ratios

Much of the underpinnings and running gear were borrowed from the 75, or rather the track-orientated version that had been campaigned in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship and on the following year’s Giro d’Italia.

The front end was suspended by double wishbones, with coils in place of the 75’s torsion bars, and a de Dion tube connecting the rear hubs, located by twin converging trailing arms and laterally by a Watt linkage.

An anti-roll bar, uniball joints in place of rubber bushes and a smidge of negative camber topped it off.

A steel skeleton was added to the platform, clad with methacrylic resin panels – this composite material having been developed specifically for the application.

The Alfa Romeo RZ’s triple headlights are unmistakable

And, while it appeared bluff-fronted, the outline was refined in Fiat’s wind tunnel until it boasted a drag coefficient of 0.30Cd.

Contrary to popular belief, the SZ wasn’t styled by Zagato.

The outline was created internally by Robert Opron, although it fell to Antonio Castellana to fill in some significant details.

It didn’t borrow cues from the original Alfa Romeo SZ, either. It didn’t borrow from anything, period.

The Alfa Romeo RZ eschewed the jelly-mould styling of the period to offer a striking, wedge-shaped take on open-topped performance motoring

The SZ divided opinion like few cars before or since, the big reveal at the Geneva motor show in March 1989 entering into infamy in an instant.

Certain quarters of the motoring media loathed it on first sight and didn’t hold back.

Those that ‘got’ the SZ waxed lyrically, Russell Bulgin famously likening it to Dr Martens footwear (specifically the ‘bovver boot’).

It worked wonders as a marketing exercise.

The Alfa Romeo RZ’s 3-litre Busso V6 has a 10:1 compression ratio

The name was emblazoned in the headlines, but it was never going to be a big money-spinner.

A mere 1036 were assembled by Zagato, of which 38 were prototypes.

With a British list price of £45,000, it was in elite company. Even then, you could only order one in red with a grey roof (although Andrea Zagato had one in black).

They sold in part due to speculators acquiring them as a hedge against inflation – the same ones who got burned when the global economy went into meltdown.

‘The thoroughbred soundtrack of Alfa Romeo’s all-alloy V6 resonates even better in a convertible. It makes your soul quiver’

Alfa Romeo had already given the go-ahead for an open-top sibling, which emerged at the 1992 Paris Salon, although it was more than just an SZ shorn of its roof.

Sure, the RZ (Roadster Zagato) was near identical mechanically, but it was a different story shiny-side up, to the point where only the front wings and bootlid were carried over unchanged (Alfa claimed in period that there were more than 400 differences).

Not all of the tweaks were immediately obvious, though.

The slatted ducts in the bonnet were deleted, the sills were reshaped and the chin spoiler was also raised, ground clearance up front having been an SZ bugbear.

Alfa Romeo claimed 210bhp at 6100rpm and 143mph for the RZ

However, there were a few problems that hobbled the roadster’s chances.

Plans called for production to be limited to 500 cars, which was soon ratcheted down to 350.

Zagato made 242 before penury almost damned it.

The receivers completed a further 32 cars to 1994, but there were no official sales in the UK.

Plenty have arrived since, mind.

The Alfa Romeo RZ’s doorhandles sit flush with the bodywork; its SZ sibling boasted a drag coefficient of 0.30Cd

That said, fans of the fixed-head car tend to dislike the RZ and vice versa, and they don’t mind telling you.

To some, the SZ was the purest of concept, the RZ anything but.

Others suggest that the RZ was more of a Zagato product than the car that bore it, with all that entails – flourishes such as a twin-humped rear deck echoing the trademark ‘double bubble’ roof-styling treatment.

Each to their own. From a few metres away, the open version hasn’t lost the power to shock, but there is an element of whimsy amid the brutality.

The Alfa Romeo RZ’s cabin is fairly plush

It must be the colour; you certainly notice an RZ. It isn’t remotely pretty, but you can’t take your eyes off it.

There are some neat details, too, not least the clever folding hood that tucks in neatly behind the rear-hinged bootlid.

Then there’s the full-width tail-light clusters with their smoked-black tint, and the sextet of white front lenses for the headlamps.

The windscreen is also much shallower relative to its fixed-head sibling, with the trailing edge of the bonnet being kicked up slightly to shield the windscreen wipers.

The Alfa Romeo RZ’s rear deck style is a nod to Zagato’s ‘double bubble’ roof

It takes an age to appreciate these tweaks, and it serves to further downplay suggestions that it’s just an SZ minus its lid.

Once inside, you sit low down with the beltline at shoulder level.

It’s markedly more luxurious than the SZ, all things being relative, and more design-orientated.

From the Audi-like black-on-white instruments set in an anthracite grey panel, to the full-leather fascia and a centre console that runs the entire length of the cabin, it looks more exotic even if fit and finish are so-so.

The Alfa Romeo RZ has a shallower chin than the SZ and loses its bonnet ducts

Behind you, there’s a sturdy metal bulkhead where the fixed-head car had a luggage compartment, with a fold-down panel allowing access to what passes for a stowage area.

There are a few ergonomic quirks, too.

The stout top rail – which doubles as a rollbar – interrupts your line of vision if you are of even average height.

You invariably find yourself stooping below it or peering over the top, trying to find a happy medium. There isn’t one.

‘Some suggest that the Alfa Romeo RZ was more of a Zagato product than the car that bore it’

Nevertheless, there is joy to be reaped here.

For starters, the superb, all-alloy Giuseppe Busso V6 shared with the GTV6, 75 and countless other classic Alfas resonates even better in a convertible.

The soundtrack makes your soul quiver.

Having said that, it isn’t particularly loud unless you are piling on the revs, and even then it’s more thoroughbred than aftermarket.

The Alfa Romeo RZ’s ride height can be adjusted from the cockpit

And, yes, the RZ is heavier than an SZ (by c100kg), so it isn’t blisteringly quick off the mark, or at any juncture thereafter, but then it is packing ‘only’ 210bhp.

Alfa claimed it could sprint from rest to 60mph in 7 secs and on to 143mph, which seems improbable.

However, the RZ plays to its strengths once the roads get twisty, and our test route encompasses much of the 37-mile TT course.

Alfa Romeo’s SZ and RZ gave faithful Alfisti something to get excited about

In traditional Alfa fashion there’s a transaxle, here borrowed from the 75, but with shorter gear ratios.

The advantage of this set-up was to encourage optimal distribution of the roadster’s 1356kg kerbweight.

Arguably the sister SZ’s biggest attributes, aside from the visual theatrics, were its handling and prodigious grip (prototypes recorded 1.4g cornering loads, if legend is to be believed).

The RZ isn’t a dynamic duffer, either.

Il Mostro lost its head in 1992

With the cockpit-adjustable ride height at its lowest setting, the car’s ride on Koni dampers is on the firm side of rigid.

Even so, it doesn’t crash and bang over bumps. You don’t wince with every jolt – not that there are many. That’s the thing: it doesn’t feel floppy.

Mindful that this isn’t your car, but still making what you might euphemistically describe as brisk progress, the Alfa Romeo RZ is involving.

It doesn’t pitch and dive. There’s little in the way of lift front and rear, and it doesn’t tramline, either.

The Alfa Romeo RZ’s full-width tail-light cluster has a smoked-black tint

Prior experience informs you that you have to be pushing pretty hard to induce oversteer, but this really isn’t the sort of car you want to drive on its lock-stops anyway.

It’s all about chassis neutrality and communicative steering.

The funny thing is, the steering initially feels low-geared, but it isn’t. It’s just that there is no more assistance than you need.

Driven quickly and with a modicum of decorum, there’s a hint of understeer in tighter turns, but that’s about it.

The Alfa Romeo RZ’s well-bolstered seats keep you firmly in place

You can power out without so much as a chirrup from the rear Pirellis. It’s just so… non-threatening.

Yes, it can be ragged, but that isn’t its happy place.

Regardless of what you think of the visuals, this is a driver’s car and you want to keep driving it.

There’s no peakiness from a turbo, and no waiting for it to come on cam, either.

Nor do rock-hard suspension and a jiggly ride curtail your speed. Or your fun.

Exploring the Isle of Man TT course in an Alfa Romeo RZ

The Alfa Romeo RZ feels intimate at all times, as a proper sports car should.

On a deserted road with the sun shining, the wind in what’s left of your hair and that sublime V6 at full warble, you begin to appreciate the car on its own merits rather than as a follow-up act to the latterly revered SZ.

There are some who claim the open car lacks the scalpel-sharp precision of the coupé, and perhaps – just perhaps – there is some validity to their claims.

In the real world, though, there isn’t much in it.

Black-on-white dials in the Alfa Romeo RZ’s dashboard

It’s hard to quantify through your contact points.

The RZ is still fab. No other Alfa Romeo has emerged since that comes close to matching it for entertainment value.

Not the 8C, not the 4C and not even the splendid Giulia Quadrifoglio supersaloon.

There are no shades of grey here, but only the hues of yellow, red and black that were officially offered in period.

Fewer than 300 Alfa Romeo RZs were built

The Alfa Romeo RZ is an acquired taste.

Yes, it is difficult to see out of it with the hood in place.

Okay, it is made of a material that repels paint, with microblisters being a common problem.

Agreed, the build quality reeks of self-assembly.

Oh, and the boot is smaller than most cars’ glove compartments.

The Alfa Romeo RZ is much more than an SZ without a roof

Get past all of that, though, and it is a pleasure to drive without ever feeling edgy.

In many performance cars of the period, there is that threshold moment: a point where the fun stops and the expletives start.

That isn’t the case here. This is a benign old thing.

The Alfa Romeo RZ may appear monstrous, but it’s no monster.

Images: Richard Dredge

Thanks to The Isle of Man Motor Museum for the loan of the car, one of its 350-plus exhibits. For more information, see isleofmanmotormuseum.com

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Richard Heseltine

Richard Heseltine is a long-time contributor to Classic & Sports Car

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