Alfa Romeo is working on a modern-day replacement to the Alfa Romeo GTV Coupe that will draw inspiration from the SZ Coupe, a new report states.
The Italian car manufacturer is embarking on an all-electric transformation and this new model could launch around 2026 or 2027, right around the time that Alfa is selling nothing but EVs. It doesn’t yet appear to have been given the green light for production but according to design boss Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos, it could become a reality if Alfa Romeo’s sales continue to improve as they did throughout 2022.
Given that the car is still at least 3 years away, limited details are known about it. Speaking with Autocar, Mesonero-Romanos said it will have a design that somewhat emulates that of the unconventional Alfa Romeo SZ introduced in 1989.
Read: 2026 Alfa Romeo Giulia Looks Amazing Rendered As A Coupe
“This wasn’t a beautiful car, we all know, but there is a lot we can take from its distinctiveness and independence of spirit when we think about designing a coupé for the electric age,” he said. “I loved its wedge profile, its square tail, and the way the dark glasshouse just bubbles out of this great mass of body. It’s a brutal design, but such a special, impactful one – and we need to emulate it if we can.”
Alfa Romeo’s design boss noted that as the car will be underpinned by the brand’s next-generation skateboard EV platform, it is facing challenges that it wouldn’t if the car was powered by a conventional combustion engine.
“It’s often said that EV technology is freeing for designers because there are no rules, no restrictions,” he added. “The truth is, we have even more restrictions and challenges with skateboard platforms than we did with ICE ones. There are ways we can offset the extra height that an underfloor battery adds to a car as Porsche did with the Taycan’s ‘foot-garage’ [battery cutouts], but we have to fight for every few millimeters when it comes to roofline height and hip point – and that’s what we’re doing.”
If the new model does get approved, it will launch shortly after the second-generation Giulia hits the market as an EV. It’s possible that the SZ-inspired model could share powertrain technologies with the Giulia that will include a flagship Quadrifoglio variant with roughly 986 hp.
This isn’t the only exciting new Alfa Romeo that’s being developed. The Italian marque is finalizing a new supercar known internally as the 6C. Limited details about it are known but Alfa Romeo’s boss Jean-Philippe Imparato has confirmed that it will be sold out before it is unveiled.
