Alfa Romeo SZ review. What's this 152mph Alfa really like to drive?

welcome to a new Harry's garage video and today's car is this the Alfa Romeo s is said that shocked the world in 1989 when it first appeared at the Geneva Motor Show you can imagine the assembled journalists had no idea this was coming and this design has proved controversial from that moment but the curtain you know that covers came off it - today everybody has an opinion of what they think about the s said is it the new monstro as it got christened the monster was it so ugly it's actually beautiful the idea of this car was Alfa Romeo being bought out completely by Fiat in 1986 and they wanted to make a statement car to notify this change in ownership of Alfa Romeo and they came up with this and it was though it's got a Zeta of Zagato on the side lots of people think it was done it designed by cigar tow and built by the Gothic actually if the design was done in-house at Fiat Alfa Romeo combined design studios a little bit of help from Zuccotti because they were gonna knew they were gonna build it but it was constructed as a Kartik it's a crazy-looking thing can't wait to show you around so let's go and have a closer look almost don't know where to start on this car when you start discussing its design I suppose the statement was those six headlights it's a look that we actually saw come again on Alfa Romeo with the Brera is the one I remember that came well that was 2005 I think it was but it was this sort of stumpy look this this very flat very aggressive front and when it looks I think really modern and clean and part of it secretly it was actually not made for metal this is a sort of resin it so I want to subscribe it as glass fibre but it's not a glass far as we know it's more of a resin the bodywork you make many people think their carbon construction from carbon it's not carbon and when we lift up on it that you can feel the weight in it but the only bit of carbon is actually the rear wing on this the rest of these panels are sort of plastic the roof actually the top of the roof is aluminium but yeah it's a very distinctive slab-sided shape a very aggressive and very aerodynamic weirdly this has a CD factor of under 0.3 which is if she's very efficient actually but my goodness it's distinctive and it splits opinions one one very unusual features if you look at the windscreen this a pillar this strange curve is not straight you think all cars now I saw will be straight but no this has a curve in it here and it has a double bubble you can just about see look at the screen profile it's there and then it goes curves the other way there as well as curving this way it's a very unusual front screen or it and that lends to the shape of it it almost goes higher up than you expect and into the roof and the four so the fact that the that this area is all done in this sort of dark grey metallic look that to me makes it look very modern it's something that Ferrari you see on the laferrari and things like that they wanted that introduce it on the Enzo but they couldn't quite do it because they were worried about damage to the paint but on here they did it in alpha in 1989 all of them were red a thousand and thirty six were constructed what a thing it it is so distinctive you also got these split rim wheels two to five with Dean's on on the rear 205 at the front very distinctive wheel these wheels are actually a spare set for this owner of this car is only five thousand kilometer old cars a real collector only he visited the factory three times during its build and kept the spare the original wheels they're they're packs the way they come with a car the cars going to be for sale with a hairpin company but I just wanna show you that I've always think that looks Enzo like it's a very similar mirror to the Enzo and this if you look from certain angles this is a bit tricky this shut like they're all like this but if I put my finger and then see it's tight there there's no it's not tight there at all it's abut it if you sort of have to stand in a certain position and then you don't notice it like here but wow what a thing right let's go and have a look under the bonnet and see the engine on it pop the rear as well now this is a shock when you lift the bonnet on an s said he says it's a most people think they're made of carbon fiber or something but no this is ridiculously heavy it's like living lifting a clamshell on a f40 or something like that and this is a mighty statewide just put that in there there we are you hear it sort of created but very distinctly you can you can feel the thickness of this it's so hard it is not done for lightweight the construction it's just trying new materials out I think but anyway there's the v6 3 litre v6 it's an oversquare design it likes to rev as you imagine from out for a Maya we saw it in the Alfa 75 and the Alfa 164 there was actually a full valve head version in the works but it wasn't ready in time so this is a 2 valve person 210 horsepower at 6200 revs I mean a typical alpha range and obviously rear drive it's what we all loved about alpha when it was in the once it's full it was transversally remember and it had those chrome Inlet pipes very dressed not so here but a lovely engine right I'm gonna have to put this down done my exercise for the day I watched what's why this is up this is this is metal here this is the steel construction and then you see that's a unique panel just in a wing there but the original here it's sort of based on a one-hour 475 these steel so underneath it's steel is just these panels that are composite right and sell it around the back I know let's show you the extensive boot that isn't actually a boot when you open it up that's all you get you get a spare wheel there there's a pump there a darkness you can't really see I'm not sure what that is but it's it's a bit of that don't know what that is but no if you if you're touring and want to put things pack things away before you go away you put everything behind the seat to it to this huge area you think if you have rear seats in but no that is your luggage area on this car anyway what this car is all about is the driving so let's take it outside now first surprise when you get in one The Doors don't open very far they you feel that go another click but they don't I never be something to do with the sort of body panels and how they're constructed they don't open quite so far the next thing you want to do you sort of feel is there you want to put the seat down but there's no adjustment on the seat they're actually quite comfortable they've got real bolsters on these seats the steering wheel is adjustable I actually have put it quite lucky if I get hold of there Justin you can see that that goes up and down I thought it went in and out it doesn't it goes up and down so I have it slightly seen how it's an Italian car I do have it sort of low and I can just sort or see the instruments but it's yes quite cramped in here is your first impression amazing view out with this crazy windscreen with this saw double curved started up easy dials 280 kilometer an hour speed oh she's quite ambitious o'clock normal o'clock in the middle rev-counter redlined at six and a half volts oil pressure water temperature and fuel and that's it and then this airiness everywhere this huge amount of glass no backseat but just design lovely I think says Zagato all Alfa special or something I feel is that I'm in a very different car not in a regular production car I mean something a bit special limited something carbon fibre sort of - as well with the screws they haven't keep flush nicely done so yeah a mini exotic sort of feel bit of stretch to the belts with the - Doris yeah all we don't have to sort of recognize the gear lever and the handbrake from Alfa's from the past and off we go what a lovely wheel as well they were moment that's the other thing instant throttle response touch the throttle it lights up you're off no slack anywhere in the business feels everywhere is tight and it's you know especially so this example with so 5,000 miles recorded right I head out the village join me a little later first Charles's stretchers legs alpha b6 sound [Music] I guess have been a removal it's a point it's quite a pleasant level performance doesn't suddenly go why orders looking at old road tests and it's it says 7.3 to 60 miles an hour sort of car it's a general technical power from from the three liter engine Maxim talk isn't until he's four and a half thousand rpm so you have to know you have to work it to get the best from him but that's been the same with all my office really so yeah it's with the character of the car this is a terrible surface here I was going to say it is pretty refined this car but it probably isn't on this surface you probably also was he saying okay everybody say you can't down a mini and they're just not portly broad chip stone chips on this road so it's a big noisy and actually I ought to mention the suspension because I seem to remember that it had rows joist on it so I put it over the pit and had a look myself it hasn't got rows joints but it's almost solid mounted suspension on this the front as a has a bar going in and the minimal amount of rubber on the bush so it's almost direct and it has the lathe it gives it a really direct feel everything feels tight and when they were developing this car the guy who was in charge of the chassis was also the guy who sort of did the touring car version of the out 475 the sort of a race division when the rally division there ahead of that so the suspension of this it's nothing crazy but it's too tight no slack and made firm sort of dynamic and a really nice feel behind the wheel the one big trick is got a big sleeve Easy's got coney dampers that have adjustable suspension mounts and I can press this red button here I can hear a little pump go in the back I've got a red light it's saying it's doing a reset and it's lifting the whole body I can I can have better ground clearance by pressing that button it's on its way up takes a little while pumps away and yeah I have better ride height I have the same suspensory doesn't power than the suspension it just leaves the body claims so if you're on a glossy Italian Road has got lots of bottles you can lift it up and he won't be hit in its front as I've got an annoying red light on the dash now I'm gonna press this premium and that'll lower suspension back to its normal ride out yeah pretty trick stuff you imagine how much they charge for front lift on our Hamburg II knee and I've got it on this car anyway very clever yeah the price of this car when it came out it was forty thousand pounds in 1990 and they the hundred came to the UK and they just sold out and it was a time of speculation the late eighties was a bad time in that these sort of cars are collector cars and they were fencing used to see them appetiser 80,000 pounds of there abouts a double list whoever they actually sold for that I don't know but then they sort of came off in value and they've sort of been in the doldrums for a while now they were sort of twenty thirty thousand but they've moved up recently and yet you have to look hard to try and find one at forty thousand and if he wanted this one from hairpin company where you'll be paid in the sixties sixty five thousand they're about but it is five thousand kilometer from new and utterly perfect and I can understand why you know it is a different car anyway enough I'm gonna so no fear and I would just have a - up the hill and try on some faster bits of road so yeah I mean yeah I'm in fifth gear very relaxed bit more challenging road down here but yeah initial impression this is a very usable car greater bits offenses in the network around them internally limiting you know just feels tight feels up touring for this sort of road as great they don't have the initial bite that you imagine I said I didn't realize it actually has in board breaks in the back and it's instant on the drivetrain transaxle with the gearbox in the back it's quite harsh on the sort of kangaroo if you maneuver innocent but they were speed but it just feels like a car you want to get hold of the stuff in it and shut it down a biro it's funny we used to think this had really firm suspension back in the day man hell it feels pretty compliant test I suppose it's got those taller tires as well I also mention in the garage I said to her there already as a slight lie there was one black one because Andre up for the guard a second I fancy one of these but I want one in black so he did one black one for him everything else was red there was the arse end that followed the convertible version I only did 200 some of those to 60th of it was and they are in available in several colors yellow black as well we aren't liking this really quite like Eunice just first tight love to just point see it's not crazy brother it's not silly quick right I'm in the lower position now it's going up a little spider underneath the main spoiler just ground out try it around this quick a bit here to same chart just keep it Marty yeah that is just rubbing history on the on the green this is a challenging bitter road it's just starting to nudge its nose with the green button maybe I ought to be in red [Applause] good sound as well I can I think I'd have to put a different exhaust on it but yeah he still actually weighed this car and it came out at 12 65 kilos as it is yet about just under half a tank of fuel that's pretty light and I suppose that's why it feels quite lively even though it's a 210 horsepower feels a very balanced Matthews simply thanks to all these that's a nice sound nice to get in a v6 out there again so we're summarizing this car what don't like well I've lived it a couple of days I still want to put the seat down I'm sort of looking at I can see that the bonnet I can see the top of the dash it's just an awkward relationship I can't understand why I'm not sitting lower it sort of gives you a little bit of a go-kart feel but I'm sure it would feel more connected my taxi sat lower down then I sort of had the plastic body slide he worries me it annoys me that is so bloody wonderful this car but the shut lines that saw a Hindi Bonnie it's sort of annoying then the doors don't open quite far enough doesn't seem a good enough reason why you can't do it I'm sure it's they're experimenting with out with that sort of glass fiber composite body panels let's think it quite works but I have to mention that sort of lack of performance in 07.32 60s you know spectacular but it's probably 20 something to a hundred bars an hour so I dug out fastly field and towed it very nicely feels good learn there so yeah this breaks just haven't got that initial bite that you imagined but not solid but yeah boys it's a performance 141 miles an hour they got everything healthy used to claim hundred 50 to 150 tumor on our car but it's a very enjoy we go to the likes well there's plenty of them [Applause] the main thing is just the distinctive looks it's a love/hate but it's a statement distinctive car and I love it for that absolutely love the looks of a theater motor in a controversy looks but it didn't have cars like these all the cars would look the same and this one is very definitely a nice set and how far a said in a statement to be just special to owed to you know that limited-run that's a car so bad on the side I just see there's great exists like I also like the way it goes down a road I feel I get hold of its copper then I've told the revenge in the wet I haven't had a chance to try that but I want to learn this car I really enjoy it I would grab the keys on many occasions to give it the you know to do just this and then it's just a great outfit God we need the world needs some great houses and this is one of them I think it stood the test of time and it's never to be repeated again so I love it for that and I have to say why I came into heaven I was mighty tempting do I swap the Esprit out for this you know similar sort of car you have to keep watching to see if that actually happens but I'm extremely grateful to have been company for lending it to me and it's just about go up on their websites I've got decides in the next few days anyway I enjoyed this video a little look at this very special alpha I said we have will keep watching keep subscribing because three more videos Kirill very soon you

Channel: Harry's garage

Views: 281,333

Rating: 4.9545832 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: V-gGFb5CO1s

Length: 21min 55sec (1315 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 21 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/xxxmediocrexxx]

Harry's garage is hugely underappreciated on this subreddit. Dude knows his stuff and you can tell he's genuinely passionate about the cars he talks about. He does this kind review better than anyone on YouTube IMO.

[u/GottHatMichVerlassen]

This is one oddly designed car.

[u/[deleted]]

That's beautiful

[u/01WS6]

This is one of the most awkward looking cars around.

[u/mazurri]

ah, Il Mostro. one of those cars that have design so weird that it become on another level.

and I believe our resident u/verdegrrl have one as well.

[u/mymomisyourfather]

This car is something special. Harry mentions that the 24V wasnt ready, but the rumour goes that Ferrari didnt allow it because it wouldve been faster around a track than the contemporary Ferrari.

Because the handling of this car is something special, it can still keep up with most modern sportscars in terms of cornering speeds. It did 1.4G stock, and on good tires it reportedly hit 1,7G with experienced drivers on the ring.

The suspension lay out is very special, it can handle a ton more power.

[u/Lead_Bacon]

Why was the top speed a necessary addition to the title?

[u/[deleted]]

The first really hideous Alfa.

[u/greysuitandnavytie]

Those seats are so cool looking with those massive side bolsters. Love the interior cargo space instead of useless rear passenger seats as well. Not for me, but what a cool car.