This is a great video on a car we never knew existed. The video tells the story of the Alfa Romeo SZ which was the oddball dream of old school Alfa Romeo internal leadership that wanted to effectively build a road going sports car with the same style drivetrain as the company’s F1 cars over the years. The only downsides were bizarre looks, chubby weight, and too many cooks in the kitchen with regards to design and execution.
The history of this car is fascinating because we had no idea of the car’s place in Alfa history, the mentality behind it, and why so many freaking elements of the design completely fly in the face of common thoughts that come from design studios. The car was so ugly that multiple people who worked on it denied having any responsibility!
We always think of the Italians as capable of making anything beautiful and clean. The lines of Zagato, Bertone, and others have lead the way forever. Not these.
It’s a weird little ugly car with a cool drivetrain. What a story.
Italians don’t always come up with beautiful. But it seems that they’d rather risk failing with something hideous instead of boring. (See also: Fiat Multipla.)