Il Monstro: 1990 Alfa Romeo SZ with 22,400 miles goes Under the Hammer

The Alfa Romeo 75 is remembered as the last rear-wheel drive sedan to be produced by the Milanese brand. Yet, its claim to glory is much bigger than that as the 75 underpinned one the most bizarre Alfa Romeos to date: the SZ.

Initially presented as a Zagato concept at the 1987 Geneva Motor Show, the ES30 (Experimental Sports 3.0-liter), as was its internal designation, debuted in production form at the same show two years later as the SZ, which stands for Sports Zagato.

And it caused quite a commotion, thanks to its angular styling and angry looks. Some 25 years later, the SZ's exterior styling is still divisive, but nevertheless, it does stand out from the crowd…

It was available in one trim level in a red color with a dark-grey roof and tan leather interior – save for one example finished in black that was built exclusively for Andrea Zagato himself.

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Fiat Group Loses Big in Europe, Hits a 20-Year Low Mark in Italy

Just two days ago, we reported that Fiat Group CEO, Sergio Marchionne, said that he would make the North American market Alfa Romeo’s top priority.

Now the Italian automaker’s boss admits that his company is facing huge troubles in Europe as in the first nine months of 2011, the company's sales decreased by 12% compared to the same period last year, with its share in the European market dropping from 8.2% to 7.3%.

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Marchionne Gives North America Priority Over Europe for Alfa Romeo's Future Plans

Fiat-Chrysler CEO, Sergio Marchionne, announced that he will appoint a boss for the Alfa Romeo brand exclusively for the North American market. This is because the Italian carmaker’s return to the US after a 17-year absence will be his top priority, relegating Europe, in which Alfa’s sales are disappointing, to second place.

“We are going to target the US market first and work our way back to Europe”, Marchionne said in an interview with Autonews Europe. “We have run market tests on the desirability of the Alfa brand in the US and, not withstanding our long absence from the market it’s still one of the best brands in the world. I think we need to go back and grab it.”

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Alfa Romeo TZ3 Stradale: Zagato's Italian Flavored Dodge Viper ACR on Film

Over the past few months, Zagato's limited production run Alfa Romeo TZ3 Stradale has made several public appearances including a pass from the Concours d'Elegance Uniques Special Ones event in Florence, Italy, this past September, just before the Frankfurt Motor Show.

If you follow the break, you can get a closer look at Zagato's unique creation from the motor show events as well as on the road.

As a reminder, the Alfa Romeo TZ3 Stradale is a road-going follow-up to the 2010 TZ3 Corsa racing car study. But while the one-off TZ3 Corsa was built on the Alfa Romeo 8C, Zagato chose to use the Dodge Viper ACR as a base for the TZ3 Stradale.

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Alfa Romeo Lays Out Product Plans Until 2014, Readying a New RWD Saloon with a V6 Engine

Out of all the mainstream brands included in the Fiat Group and Chrysler LLC portfolio, Alfa Romeo has the most potential to achieve a global reach and bring in some much needed cash and sales. The Italian company's boss Sergio Marchionne is well aware of this and that's one of the reasons he doesn't want to sell Alfa Romeo to Volkswagen, despite Ferdinand Piechs' persistent efforts.

However, one of the most pressing problems with Alfa Romeo is the constant delays, be that for the successors to models like the 159 series or the company's long-awaited return to the U.S. market.

Suffice it to say, there's no way of being sure that the Fiat Group has managed to sort out the time schedule-related problems when it comes to Alfa Romeo. Nevertheless, at a recent event for investors, the Fiat Group introduced an updated plan for the Milanese brand, which it hopes will revitalize Alfa Romeo through the presentation of new models.

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Official: Fiat-Chrysler Alliance to Build New Small Jeep SUV at Mirafiori Plant in Italy

We have more news coming out of the Fiat Group and Chrysler LLC camp. After the announcement on the new Alfa Romeo 1.8-liter turbo engine, the group said it has finalized plans to build a new small Jeep SUV model at its Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy.

The company noted that development of the manufacturing infrastructure at Mirafiori will begin in 2012 with production of the new baby Jeep model expected to begin in the second half of 2013 alongside an updated version of Alfa Romeo's MiTo supermini.

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Alfa Romeo Announces New 1.8-liter Turbo Engine with up to 300HP, Production Starts in 2013

The Fiat Group has revealed plans to produce a new four-cylinder gasoline direct injection turbo engine for Alfa Romeo at the firm's FMA plant in Pratola Serra beginning in early 2013.

The Italian company said that the all-aluminum powerplant has a displacement of 1.8-liters and will feature advanced technologies such as a 200-bar gasoline direct injection system, dual variable timing and a high-efficiency turbocharger. It will be offered in numerous versions the most powerful of which will develop 300-horses.

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U.S. Fiat Dealers Disappointed by New Decision to Delay Alfa Romeo's Return

American fans of the Alfa Romeo brand are not the only ones to be upset by the Fiat-Chrysler alliance's most recent decision to delay the scheduled return of the Italian automaker to the States. So are the company’s newly launched Fiat dealerships that were expecting the brand to launch in late 2012.

While Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne never put it in ink, the company had told its 130 Fiat dealers in the USA that they would likely get Alfa Romeo cars as part of their franchise.

The Fiat-Chrysler alliance appointed a total of 130 Fiat dealers across the States, most of which already had a Chrysler store. The company gave dealers the permission to incorporate temporary showrooms in their existing Chrysler facilities, but required them to build separate and permanent stores by the end of 2012.

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Another Month, Another Delay: Alfa Romeo Won't Come to the States Until 2013, Cancels SUV Plans

In what has become something of a joke for those closely following the Fiat Group's plans to re-introduce Alfa Romeo to the States, the Milanese firm's CEO Harald Wester told journalists in Frankfurt that the company has once again pushed back the U.S. presentation of several key models.

Wester also said that Alfa Romeo has canceled plans to build a mid-sized SUV at Chrysler Group's factory in Ohio. Read more »

IAA 2011: Alfa Romeo 4C Concept Shows us its New Metal Finish

While many were expecting to see the final production version of Alfa Romeo's 4C mid-engine sports car in Frankfurt, the Italian automaker chose to keep playing the waiting game and simply displayed the concept in a different shade called "Fluid Metal". Read more »

Report: Fiat Group Mulling to Build Jeep and Alfa Romeo SUVs in the U.S. Instead of Italy

If there's one car company that's notorious for making promises and/or premature announcements on decisions only to have the projects cancelled, delayed, altered, or even postponed for years (Alfa Romeo's return to the U.S. is a typical example), it's the Fiat Group.

In late 2010, the Italian company that also controls the Chrysler Group, revealed plans to update its Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy, in order to produce larger segment passenger cars and SUVs for the Jeep and Alfa Romeo brands.

Less than a year after the announcement, Bloomberg is now reporting that Fiat is considering moving planned production of the upcoming Jeep and Alfa Romeo SUV models from Turin to a factory in North America, due to the strengthening euro against the dollar.

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Alfa Romeo Updates Giulietta with Twin-Clutch Transmission and MiTo with Two-Cylinder Engine

The…freshly painted version of the 4C sports coupe concept will be joined at Alfa Romeo's Frankfurt Motor Show stand by the updated variants of the Giulietta and Mito hatchbacks.

The Giulietta gains Alfa Romeo's new double-clutch TCT transmission that will be offered on the 1.4-liter turbocharged MultiAir gasoline engine and the 2.0-liter turbodiesel, both of which have a maximum output of 170HP.

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Alfa Romeo 4C Concept gains New Color for Frankfurt Motor Show

Instead of presenting the final production version of is 4C mid-engine sports coupe at the upcoming Frankfurt auto show, Alfa Romeo will once again display the concept model but with a different paint job.

The new color is named 'Fluid Metal' with Alfa claiming that it "dynamically enhances the smooth and sinuous lines of the car". We find it much better looking than the washed out matte red shown on the original Geneva Salon concept.

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IDECORE Presents New Alfa Romeo Minhoss Concept for a Compact Sports Coupe

Even though in recent years Alfa Romeo's formal presence in the concept scene has been limited to the 4C pre-production study, independent designers and studios alike have tried their best to cover the Italian firm's absence and capture the imagination of the public with plenty of conceptual proposals.

IDECORE, an Italian studio that bills itself as "independent designers and modelers" and which you may remember from last year's Monza V8 study, sent us these computer generated images of a new Alfa Romeo concept named Minhoss.

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We Heard: Changes to Frankfurt-Bound Alfa Romeo 4C Concept Limited to a New Hue

We've already shared with you the information that Alfa Romeo plans to bring an updated version of its 4C sports car concept featuring a "new exclusive look" to the 64th International Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

Well, now we can tell you that, according to our sources, the "new exclusive look" will be a bespoke gray/silver color for the mid-engine, rear-wheel drive coupe that we first had the chance to see in a flat, washed out red finish at this year's Geneva Salon. Nothing more, nothing less…

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Novitec Makes the Alfa Romeo Giulietta a Little More Interesting

Novitec is a German tuning company known for wheedling more ponies from anything that rolls on four wheels and is produced in Italy. This time, the tuner has set its eyes on the Alfa Romeo Giulietta hatchback with the release of a comprehensive styling and performance package.

On the outside, Novitec's goods include a subtle but attractive ground effects kit (perhaps with the exception of the somewhat over-the-top rear diffuser, which in our opinion, would have probably looked better in a matte black finish).

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Oops! They Did it Again: Alfa Romeo’s Return to the US Delayed Until 2013

It’s 2003, 2004, 2006 – you get the idea- happening all over again; Alfa Romeo’s return to the US market has been delayed and will not happen in 2012 as was the most recent plan. Instead, Fiat Group and Chrysler LLC CEO, Sergio Marchionne, has pushed the Italian brand’s arrival back for another year, or so until he announces another delay. Read more »

Flower Power: Alfa Romeo MiTo "Inked" by Louise Dear

Alfa Romeo has commissioned a one-off art piece to mark the UK launch of its congestion charge free MiTo 1.3 JTDM-2 Sprint, which is powered by an 85-horsepower turbo diesel that emits 95g/km of CO2 . Read more »

Report: New Alfa Romeo-Derived / U.S. Made Dodge Compact Sedan to Debut at 2012 Detroit Show

A new U.S. market compact sedan to be developed by Fiat and built by Chrysler is set to make its debut appearance at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit in the beginning of next year, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

The as-of-yet unnamed model will be badged as Dodge and powered by a Fiat-derived 1.4-liter turbocharged gasoline engine. It’ll also do 40 mpg combined, or at least it will if Fiat wants to net itself a further 5% of Chrysler from Mr. Monopoly Uncle Sam.

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Monstrous Paramount Marauder Armored Vehicle to Star in First Episode of Top Gear Season 17

In just a few hours from now, Top Gear will air the first episode of season 17 on BBC. During the past two weeks, we got a taste of what Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond have in store for us this year through two teaser clips.

In one of those trailers, we saw a large off-road-like vehicle playing the role of a monster truck on a white Alfa Romeo 156 and an older generation Renault Megane sedan.

It turns out that the vehicle is a mine protected armored truck called Marauder from South African company Paramount Group and the driver behind the steering wheel is Richard Hammond. We were contacted by Paramount Group who told us that the Marauder will be featured in tonight's first episode of Top Gear Season 17.

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