Discussion
After been at the Silverstone Classic event at the weekend I saw on the Alfa Romeo Stand a number of SZ's. Always strangely liked the look of these, and was interested to find that they are not silly money.
Realise that they are LHD, but why is there only 1 for sale on Autotrader and none on Pistonheads. Do people hang on to them. Would be interested in learning more about them. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Realise that they are LHD, but why is there only 1 for sale on Autotrader and none on Pistonheads. Do people hang on to them. Would be interested in learning more about them. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.
People do hang on to them, and with only 1036-ish ever made and maybe 70-odd in the UK, there aren't a lot of them about.
Ed v.d. Beek's site at http://home.wxs.nl/~evdbeek/monster.html is a good resource to find out a bit more about them, and it's also worth having a chat with Jamie Porter at the Alfa Workshop
They're not blazingly fast in a straight line, but they're more about handling than drag racing. I part-ex'd an integrale against my RZ, and the RZ is by far the more enjoyable car to drive.
Some of the panel gaps are massive, and they vary wildly from car to car. The standard brakes aren't great at all. There's no getting away from the fact that it was designed a generation ago, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.
Very easy to live with, I used mine as a daily driver for five or so years and it never missed a beat. Some spares are getting hard to find - headlights in particular, and there are no original windscreens left although Autodelta produced some pattern ones a few years back.
Prices have been more or less static for the past few years, and I can't see them dropping much further, so I think this would be as good a time as any to buy one.
Ed v.d. Beek's site at http://home.wxs.nl/~evdbeek/monster.html is a good resource to find out a bit more about them, and it's also worth having a chat with Jamie Porter at the Alfa Workshop
They're not blazingly fast in a straight line, but they're more about handling than drag racing. I part-ex'd an integrale against my RZ, and the RZ is by far the more enjoyable car to drive.
Some of the panel gaps are massive, and they vary wildly from car to car. The standard brakes aren't great at all. There's no getting away from the fact that it was designed a generation ago, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.
Very easy to live with, I used mine as a daily driver for five or so years and it never missed a beat. Some spares are getting hard to find - headlights in particular, and there are no original windscreens left although Autodelta produced some pattern ones a few years back.
Prices have been more or less static for the past few years, and I can't see them dropping much further, so I think this would be as good a time as any to buy one.
TCEvo said:
Jamie, given how few SZ's made must make your RZ super-rare. Just out of interest any idea how many there are?
It's surprisingly hard to get an exact number, but the sort-of-official production figure is 284. I know a couple of those have been destroyed in accidents, but it's there or thereabouts.edit - less than 20 in the UK, as far as I know.
Edited by jamieboy on Tuesday 31st July 11:57
Quite fancy this one myself:
http://www.racecarsdirect.com/viewlisting.php?view...
Would cost me a divorce, though!!
http://www.racecarsdirect.com/viewlisting.php?view...
Would cost me a divorce, though!!
If you like them get one, prices have never been lower. Don't worry about micro blisters in the paint they all do that. If it does'nt have any then its likely to have been resprayed. Windscreens are available at £1k a pop, so check for delamination which is a common problem. Check headlights there like proverbial hens teeth. converting them to dip left is easy though.Check the suspension works OK in terms of electronic height adjustment and make sure A/C works properly. They all wear the inner edges of the front tyres but you can reduce the camber setting to that of the 3.0 75 if that bothers you. Body panels are now quite easy to get via Ed Van De Beek and the engine can easily made to produce the power it shoud have had from the factory. Like wise brakes are'nt difficult to upgrade, there's room for bigger under the standard 16'' wheels although I just fitted drilled grooved discs all round with fast road pads with good results. Handling is the forte of particularly the SZ although the RZ is'nt far behind if you like to go topless. Not for the shy retiring type though since you will never be short of attention.
Phil
Phil
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