When is a Dodge Viper not a Dodge Viper? When Alfa Romeo sends it off to Zagato for a fancy body. That’s pretty much what the 2010 Alfa Romeo TZ3 Stradale is. Yes, when Alfa Romeo decided to create a retro remake of one of its historic sports cars, it decided that the perfect vehicle for the job was a brutish American muscle machine. The result is a seriously striking machine, one that’s also rare and fast. Because of that, the dealer selling this example is asking a massive price tag that leaves us wondering, is it worth it to spend so much money on what’s definitely still a Dodge?
Here’s What’s Unique To The Alfa, And What’s Not
At first glance, it would be hard to tell that the TZ3 is a Viper, thanks to the work of coachbuilder Zagato. The entire body is constructed from carbon fiber, and makes some major changes to the overall shape of the car. The most significant change is to the cabin, which adopts a raised and narrowed tail to create a Kamm-style rear end like the 1965 Alfa Romeo TZ2 race car. That car also featured a body by Zagato. There are yet more unique design details. The glass is almost entirely unique, particularly the split side windows and unusual wraparound rear windows. The trunk lid opens up in a way more like a tailgate, and there are cutouts for the unique circular taillights. They go well with the wholly unique headlights, and the retro phone-dial style wheels.
The Viper connection becomes evident quickly, though. Open up the doors, and the interior is pretty much standard Dodge with some garnish. There’s some nice leather and some new trim panels attached on top of the factory plastic, but there’s no hiding the budget stereo and climate controls. Even the standard white Viper gauges remain.
Under the carbon fiber body lurks the Viper’s 8.4-liter V10, making the same 600 horsepower and 560 pound-feet of torque as the standard model, and it’s hooked up to the same six-speed manual transmission. It does at least have some brake and suspension upgrades shared with Viper ACR models.
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About That Price
Young Motorcars is the dealer selling the car, and it’s asking $675,000. According to Classic.com, the price isn’t unreasonable. The last sale they’ve recorded for one of these TZ3s was $632,000. This appears to be a well-kept example, and it doesn’t have too many miles on it at 1,863. Considering there are only 9 examples of this car, and this one is number 5, it’s also somewhat understandable. At the same time, Hagerty values 2010 Dodge Vipers in “Good” condition from $67,000 for a base model up to $88,900 for the track-ready ACR, which also boasts an extra 40 horsepower. It’s a little hard to think that the driving experience of the TZ3 is ten times that of the Viper when they’re so mechanically similar. As a piece of art, though, the TZ3 makes more sense. It’s pretty and rare, and you can spend a lot more on art that you can’t drive. It might be a lot of money, but we bet Young Motorcars will find a wealthy Alfisti that will think it’s worth the money.
Source: Young Motorcars, Classic.com, Hagerty
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