Realising a childhood ambition.
This happened less than a year ago so is recent in a geological sense.

This is an Alfa Romeo SZ;


I have wanted one since I was eleven years old. Those of a certain age and a certain computer ancestry might recognise it as the protagonist of Supercars II on the Amiga which certainly did it no harm in my eyes.

In September, after a mere nineteen years of looking at them, from time to time sitting in one and owning a model of one, I drove my all time favorite car. Could something I've waited for that long possibly meet expectations?

Oh bloody hell yes.

I was doing some presentation work in Switzerland. The venue was the marvellously bizarre Speedy garages in Lausanne. Whilst there was horsepower aplenty from Maserati's Ferrari's and Spyker's, you could also find a factory fresh Delorian for sale as well as Switzerland's oldest Citroen 2CV. As a venue it was certainly better than a conference centre.

Nestled close to our little exhibition stand was an SZ. Once I had set the gear up, I wondered over for a little silent worship. I had imagined this would be the end of it but a bloke sidles up and strikes up conversation with me. Turns out his name is Gerard and he is a co-owner of the establishment. He asks why I'm looking at the SZ when within twenty metres are a Ferrari 365, 430, Spyker C8 and a pair of Weissmanns. I explain that I've wanted an SZ since they were released in '91.

He smiles and asks if I fancied driving it.

After establishing that he isn't joking and thatI have thirty minutes before I am expected to put my presentation hat back on, I all but snap his hand off.The Alfa is released from its display bay and sits warming up. To be honest, I'm worried. This is a seventeen year old car based on an Alfa 75. It is stock and it is possible to buy hot hatches with more power than an SZ. My dream is actually going to be an old, asthmatic rep saloon wearing a catwalk suit.

Except it isn't.

You very much sit in rather than on an SZ. The glass area seems even smaller when hunkered down behind the massive dashboard with its many tiny dials thrown seemingly at random across it. The doorline is high as well, giving the impression of being in a well upholstered post box. Interestingly, the driving position is better than any other Italian car I have driven- is it purely a rebellion against making right hand drive cars that makes UK ones dreadful? The controls are where you expect and although the gearshift has a hilariously long throw by the standards of any hot modern car, it engages with a precise mechanical feel. Indeed the whole car feels mechanical. There is no sense that anything is interfering with the function of the car but you. Feedback has not been engineered in by a panel, it is present from the innate simplicity of the car.

We potter out of Lausanne on a 50km/h road. The de-restricted signs appear and Gerard leans across and simply says "third gear, full throttle." I don't argue.All of sudden, the bloody thing is alive. The noise is organic- a full on mechanical howl from the front backed up by the SZ's essentially straight through exhaust system. A deliberate, slow but precise change to 4th at 5,500rpm, a little more gas and- well that is a little more than the Swiss national limit anyway. There follows a series of climbing turns which allow me to play a little with the box to keep the engine singing. The handling is positive and very entertaining. The SZ is compartively softly sprung- it leans as turning forces increase and Gerard assured me that the point it starts to slide is indicated by everything short of a TV advertising campaign. This isn't my car to park backwards in a field though so I am well short of that point. We make a left turn, I got one last real, chance to open the taps and there is the garage again. I apologise to any would be purchaser, the sold with 32 more Km's on the odo than the advert says it had.

That my automotive hero didn't dissapoint in any way is both good and bad. I am in awe at how well sorted a car built largely from stock parts and designed nearly two decades ago can be and thrilled that it will, thanks largely to it being made of GRP, go rather quicker than 210bhp suggests it might. It is bad because I now know I must own an SZ before I die. Hell, even if car ownership is banned, I shall register it as a sculpture- although after driving it I know that would be a terrible waste.

I realised a dream and it rocked.
(Leonard Hatred briefly did some work on, Tue 10 Aug 2010, 7:36, 10 replies)

Always wanted to drive one of these - there is a dealership in Maidenhead that often have one or two
There is a dealer in Penn, Buckinghamshire who has a Koenigsegg for sale - swine wouldn't even let me sit in it.
(lkjshaglkasjdhglkhjz lkcvl; g;aodh;owih, Tue 10 Aug 2010, 8:27, closed)

No man can resist a good car story.
You make me want to go out and search for an SZ now, and until I read this article I didn't even know what one *was*.
(The 2-Belo OH SHI--[Sound of impact][End of recording], Tue 10 Aug 2010, 8:45, closed)

*Clicks*
They're not referred to as Il Mostro for nothing... It's bonkers.

Cars like this may well belong in another age, but the world would be ever so slightly less interesting without them.
(Bicycle Repairman "you're also a bit of a wanker", Tue 10 Aug 2010, 9:13, closed)

Alphas are beautiful when they drive
Luckily they also look beautiful in a garage workshop, which seems to be the natural habitat of the Alpha Romeo.
( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Tue 10 Aug 2010, 9:21, closed)

Not always
My old Alfa V6 was far more reliable that the VW Golf I replaced, which went wrong every three months.
(Bicycle Repairman "you're also a bit of a wanker", Thu 12 Aug 2010, 9:38, closed)

Supercars II...
...stole my childhood. So many beautiful moments playing that game. My favourite was (during a two-player game) taking a huge lead, then handbrake turning and launching a volley of missiles down the long start/finish straight, knowing that my opponent would be neatly annihilated several seconds later.
(SimianKid internet faffer, Tue 10 Aug 2010, 10:53, closed)

Start saving:
www.carandclassic.co.uk/list/1/sz/
( Snappyuk gets BIGGER with free sample., Tue 10 Aug 2010, 11:20, closed)

The beauty is that owning one is not impossible
A good one rarely costs more than £25,000. That isn't money you lose down the back of the sofa but not unreachable. During the early stages of the financial crisis, an absolutely beautiful one went for £19,995. I thought about it but didn't feel secure enough in my job to chance it- which was as well as I was made redundant a month later.

Still, by the time part three of this QOTW comes around, I intend to have made progress.
(Leonard Hatred briefly did some work on, Tue 10 Aug 2010, 13:45, closed)

ooooooooohhhhh
my car-based dream is to one day own and drive - very fast - a lamborghini diablo. i've always had a soft spot for those buggers, ever since i was a kid
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Tue 10 Aug 2010, 21:20, closed)

I hate this QOTW
and you. Git.

This car is up there with the Lancia Stratos for me in terms of lust. It was so far ahead of its time in terms of aesthetics. It looks like the supermodel sibling of the VW Corrado. Or rather the Corrado looks like it fell from the ugly tree hitting most of the branches on the way down, when compared to this.
(Kitcar memeless in a meme filled world, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 18:39, closed)