The Alfa Romeo SZ is a monstrosity with Formula 1 DNA | Revelations with Jason Cammisa | Ep. 14

Beauty is only skin-deep, but the Alfa Romeo SZ is also beautiful underneath its composite skin. The love-it-or-hate-it design (we lurve it!) was chosen because it was so attention-grabbing, but the SZ’s mechanical layout traces back directly to Alfa Romeo’s 1938 race car, the 158 “Alfetta.“ More than a decade later, a small upgrade turned it into the 159 Alfetta, which competed in Formula 1 — and was one of the most successful race cars in history. Giuseppe Busso did more than design the lusty V-6 in the SZ; it was his dream to put the Alfetta’s rear-transaxle and de Dion-suspension layout in a street car. He realized this dream with the original Alfetta (Type 116) in the early 1970s, and that basic layout carried over directly into the SZ, giving this two-door coupe (and the RZ, its roadster twin) predictable, easy handling. The SZ’s styling is polarizing but its driving experience is not — it’s universally praised as a driver’s car, with great visi