Alfa Romeo TZ3 Corsa by Zagato: Kamm tails, fuck yeah!

If this lovely Italian number left you in the precarious condition that Jeremy Clarkson describes as “nursing a semi,” then you can go ahead and thank Wunibald Kamm for that. The German engineer and aerodynamicist experimented with air resistance and discovered that by cutting off the tail abruptly, there would be less turbulence behind the vehicle, leading to greater stability at high speeds. And eschewing the dramatic French teardrops of Talbot and Delahaye, the Kamm-tail could bring fuel-saving aerodynamics in a practical package that isn’t stuffed with 18 feet of delicately fragile wheel covers. Which is why the AMC Gremlin exists.

But for every Gremlin X there’s a Ferrari 250GT Drogo. And for every dreary Prius toiling under W. Kamm’s drag-coefficient statistics, there’s the Alfa Romeo TZ3 Corsa with its lovely breadvan profile and full-blooded racing intention. Celebrating 100 years of Alfa Romeo racing heritage, the Corsa boasts the same Maserati-sourced V8 as the 8C Competizione, but the similarities with that equally gorgeous car end there. Instead of a mushy grand tourer, the Corsa is a full-fledged racecar, with a carbon fiber chassis, tubular frame and that beautiful lightweight aluminum body, directly drawing inspiration from the Giulia TZ2 of 1965 and the aforementioned Drogo.

Yes, coachbuilder Zagato says, it IS a race car, dammit! It’s a gentleman’s racer, and said gentleman is German collector Martin Kapp, who has a few other impossibly rare Zagatos to his name already. We will try to hide our envious contempt and will act politely when we ring him up for a test drive and to crash at his place. Have our people talk to his people. Let’s get things rolling here, guys.

— Blake Rong

[For a live gallery of its unveiling at the Villa D'Este concours: OmniAuto.it, Autoblog]