Forgotten studies: Rover TCZ
11/17/2023
The 1967 Turin Motor Show was certainly not a good place to present a pretty but rather conventional coupé study. The attention attracted by the radical designs of a Lamborghini Marzal, OSI Silver Fox Bisiluro or Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale was too great. Fortunately, the Rover TCZ had already made its debut at the Earls Court Motor Show in London the month before. The biggest innovation there was the fuel injection of the Triumph TR 5, but it was hidden under a six-year-old body.
As an alternative to the planned factory coupé by David Bache, Ercole Spada wrapped the Rover 2000 in an angular, sweeping body that could only have come from Zagato at the time. It is remarkable that he was only able to give the front a completely different look by reshaping the hood. The radiator grille and headlights are in fact unchanged standard parts. The result slightly anticipated the Ford Capri presented in 1969. At the rear, Spada also looked to the future, but this time to his own. It strongly resembles the Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato, also from 1969
The cream-white one-off has survived to this day and occasionally makes an appearance at meetings or trade fairs, although it is regularly registered for road use in the UK.
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