*This is a translation done by a machine.

"Il Mostro". In English, "The Monster". The monster. Alfa Romeo's showcar "ES -30" (Experimental Sports 3.0 Litre) debuted in Geneva in 1989, quickly earned that unique nickname from the media for its impressive figure and outstanding performance. It's an unusually surprising nickname for Alfa Romeo. That's how unique the car's styling was. at that time and now.

To get to know Alfa Romeo S.Z. (Sprint Zagat) and its open version R.Z. (Roadster Zagat), you must first talk about the background of the then-struggling Alfa Romeo.

Although Alfa Romeo was affiliated with the state-owned enterprises after World War II, it was in 1986 that Alfa Romeo, which had succeeded the nature of state-owned enterprises since the prewar period, joined the Fiat Group, which continues to exist to this day. Car enthusiasts watched the new Alfa Romeo from Fiat closely. Superstars are always needed to overcome negative images. This was also the case at the time, when Fiat came up with a plan for a sports car that would become a resurrected signal (smoke signal).

This was the plan. To promote the vehicle body standardization with Fiat, the automaker will manufacture a limited-production sports car that uses the transaxle FR for the 75, which will no longer be used. We asked Zagat, Alfa Romeo and Fiat to come up with a design plan for the competition.

As many alpha fans know, it was the Fiat internal design team that won the competition. In many ways (So, politically,) the eccentric styling of Mario Miori and Robert Opron was chosen by the head of Fiat, the new management team at Alpha. By the way, Robert Opron is a French designer who was in charge of Citroen SM, Alpine A 310, and Renault Fego, so you can understand the source of the uniqueness of S.Z.

After that, the interior and exterior design of S.Z. was quickly brought together using CAD by Antonio Castellana, but Zagat was only involved in a limited rework of the front and back design. So why did the Zagat emblem remain, not to mention the name of the car?

Of course, there is also the fact that the name SZ was already representative of Alfa Romeo's historic sports cars. In addition, S. Z. 's assembly was carried out at a factory in Zagat, Lo, outside Milan. The design was not Zagat, but it was a genuine Alfa Romeo made by Zagat.

S.Z. was announced to be limited to 1000 units, and it is said that 1036 units, including prototypes, left the factory in Zagat between 91 and 89.

On the other hand, Zagat was greatly involved in the Roadster project for S.Z. Zagat's original proposal, however, was an elegant roadster that emphasized a gentle curve, unlike S.Z. As a result, the Roadster version, named R.Z., appears to have simply removed the distinctive black roof from S.Z., but in fact, it appears to have 500 different parts, and that's where the pride of Zagat's Carrozzeria comes in. Fiat's management, which was pleased with the strong sales of S.Z., may have willingly accepted the improvement.

However, the economic boom had already gone. The production volume of R.Z. is 278 limited to only 350 units from 93 to 92. In that sense, R.Z. is four times as rare as S.Z. You can say it's one of the targets.

By the way, the body color of S.Z. was only red, but R.Z. has red, yellow, and black, and it is said that there are a few silver and metallic white.

As soon as I saw the yellow R.Z in excellent condition, my memory of a test drive in the nineties came back. Anyway, I remember that the handling was fun and the blowing of the V6 engine was wonderful. This is an Italian car with a very different way of bending and twisting than a German car! I thought. Handling the body stiffness like laughing at your nose is definitely more fun now. Now even Italian cars have good body rigidity. Global Standard.

I have seen a lot of S.Z. and R.Z., and there are many individuals whose fiber body is severely deteriorated over time. The panel is wavy and the paint is thin. Many of them are in bad condition. In recent years, it has become a little prettier thanks to the boom of classic cars, but until recently, the market price was low and many individuals were left out.

In that respect, the yellow condition is so excellent that it reminded me of when I was new. The odometer will run 7500 kilometers. The emblem, plastic lens and wheel are perfect. As the owner is nervous about keeping the condition, the rubber around the window is in good condition, and the interior is like a new car. Only the shift knob has a slight sense of use.

What bothered me was the small touch paint repair on the front cowl edge, the paint crack on the tonneau cover in the same color as the body, and the crack on the right blinker lens. There is bond bleeding on the front window edge, but it can't be helped. On the other hand, there was nothing else to complain about.

The serial number is 206. As far as I moved it for shooting, the light blow of the engine was impressive, and the height adjustment was working perfectly. There was a genuine instruction manual (to open the roof.), a dedicated vehicle inspection case, and even a bag to store when changing tires.

A rare R.Z. low-speed car. Looking for an individual at this distance is quite difficult even in the world. It's a chance to add it to your collection.