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World's only RHD Alfa SZ turns up in South Africa
Alfa Romeo built just one thousand or so of the highly
aggressive SZ (and its convertible sister, the RZ) models in 1990, and
only one of these controversial-looking, plastic-bodied sports cars in
the world is actually in right hand drive format. Painstakingly converted
twelve years ago by London design and tuning house Autodelta, in what
can only be described as a "labour of love", the car vanished
from sight only a few years after being shipped to its new Zimbabwe home.
"We have very fond memories of this SZ," comments Autodelta
boss Jano Djelalian, "the right hand drive conversion turned into
one of the lengthiest jobs we have ever undertaken. No corners were cut
and the attention to detail was exemplary as we strove to create a perfect
finished article. The customer freighted it to his new home in Zimbabwe
soon after we completed the job, and we lost contact with the car when
he sold it a few years later.
"We had long since forgotten about the existence of this particular
SZ," continues Jano, "so you can imagine our surprise and delight
when I took a phone call a few weeks ago from a gentleman in South Africa
who informed me that he was the owner," continues Jano, "and
from what he tells me, and the photos he has emailed to us, it seems to
be in perfect condition."
The recent history of this unique car is very sketchy, and it certainly
seems to have changed hands several times. Originally, it had been destined
for life in New Zealand (hence the RHD requirement) but during the course
of the Autodelta conversion process the owner moved from New Zealand to
Zimbabwe due to a family bereavement, and once the job was completed in
London he diverted it to what would become its new African home. "I
first heard of the existence of this very unique car during a social visit
to Harare where I met the gentleman involved in bringing the vehicle to
Zimbabwe," comments the SZ's current South African owner, Sotiri
Divaris. "A few years later it arrived in South Africa and I was
totally delighted to be able to buy it, six years ago. The car required
refurbishing and a respray and this was carried out over a reasonably
lengthy period of time. The only modifications which have now made from
its original condition has seen the fitting of larger 'GTA' brake calipers
and discs, and new 17-inch alloy wheels. I also have had carbon-fibre
bumpers and bonnet manufactured and these are ready to be fitted,"
Divaris concluded.
Autodelta's Alfa Romeo SZ right hand drive conversion project
- a labour of love
The challenge which was offered to Autodelta in 1993 was to convert a
brand-new left-hand-drive Alfa Romeo SZ to right-hand-drive specification,
identical in every way - right down to the minutest detail. Being based
in New Zealand, where (as here in the UK) they drive on the left, the
owner preferred to have the steering wheel of his obligatory Alfa Red
LHD SZ on this side.
Only a thousand Alfa Romeo SZs were ever made (between 1990-1992), and
every single one of them were left-hookers. But for this particular customer,
it was a matter of either 'right or nowt'. Historically, there are many
cases documented of left-to-right Alfa Romeo conversions undertaken by
other firms, notably on Spiders dating back to the early 60s, and more
recently, 3.0 V6 Spiders, although most of these jobs have generally tended
to leave a lot to be desired. For one thing, they tend to incorporate
"short cuts" that deviate from the original design adversely
affecting handling and ride, not to mention build-quality.
By contrast, when Autodelta's Jano Djelalian agreed to take on the SZ
project, he emphasised he would do so on one condition: that the end result
would be virtually indistinguishable from the factory version in terms
of both accuracy and the craftsmanship. Fortunately, the customer shared
this purist view. On this mutual understanding, work began in earnest
at Autodelta.
The first step was to disassemble the dashboard, great care was taken
to make a new wiring loom ready to be re-installed precisely as before
(but on the opposite side). Next, a "mirror image" (right hand
drive) dashboard jig, shaped to follow the exact contours and symmetry
of the original equipment version, was fashioned out of timber - a lengthy,
time-consuming exercise. As per the factory cars, a fibre glass mould
was then made of the RHD dashboard using the timber pattern. Once the
dashboard and provision for the instrumentation placement had been determined,
attention turned to the centre console and radio housing which followed
the same process as the dahboard. Where carbon fibre-style trim featured
originally, this was replaced with genuine carbon fibre to maintain authenticity.
Steps were then taken to relocate the steering column, and to re-site
the accelerator, brake and clutch pedals. Naturally, this called for very
precise surgery to the vehicle's transmission and power train to allow
for these major alterations.
Attention to detail is everything at Autodelta, which is why the conversion
extended to those less obvious areas so often overlooked, but which, overall,
are equally important. For example, all the materials used for the re-trimming
were carefully selected to match the originals in grain, stitching, shades
and patterns. Even the windscreen wipers had to be facing the opposite
direction. And the exterior door mirror lenses were changed to allow for
the revised field-of-view required for the vehicles "new" near-side
and offside. Finally the modified engine was fitted now with the capacity
increased from 3.0L to 3.5L.
All in all, it took a thousand man-hours for Autodelta to complete this
remarkable project, which Jano Djelalian describes as a "labour of
love." To our knowledge, this unique Alfa Romeo has now changed hands
at least three times since the first owner took delivery back in 1994.
Today, the SZ has a new home, in South Africa, where the roads are ideally
suited for the one-and-only RHD Zagato-designed Alfa coupé to be
found anywhere in the world.
©
Autodelta 08/01/06
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