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21.12.2005 ThE WORLD'S ONLY RIGHT HAND DRIVE ALFA ROMEO SZ RESURFACES - 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 sportscars 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 dashboard. 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.
 

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