An Alfa Romeo Montreal makes any modern sports car fade – hardly any other car captured the cool look of the 70s as this sports coupé.
If James Bond were Italian, he would have driven an Alfa Romeo Montreal. The Montreal is one of Alfa’s greatest auto legends. It enchants with its unique look and incomparable sound. The first thing you notice are the blinds above the headlights. The breathtaking coupé was designed by the young Marcello Gandini, who also designed the Lamborghini Miura. The vehicle was presented as a design study for the first time at the world exhibition Expo 67 in Montreal.
The distinctive look that makes a Montreal unmistakable to this day comes from Gandini. Technically, however, this icon of the 1970s had its pitfalls: cable fires, striking cylinders and broken steering wheel pillars hit the drivers.
Motor from racing
But these squabbles are forgotten when starting the V8 engine. The engine actually comes from the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33, i.e. motorsport. For the production car, the displacement was increased from two liters to 2.6 liters. A low figure for an eight-cylinder. And at the same time, the horsepower was reduced to around 200 horsepower so that the engine could last longer than a racing season. The unit was installed as a front engine and not as a mid-engine as in the Tipo 33. The drive train was developed for mechanics fetishists: four overhead camshafts, dry sump lubrication, a five-way crankshaft and the mechanical injection system “Spica” (Società Pompe Iniezione Cassani & Affini ).
An Italian sports car from the 1970s is above all a sports car and not an affluent vehicle like some sports cars are today. The driver crouches behind the steering wheel in the typical frog position. Italian dimensions are also recommended for him, otherwise it will quickly get tight. The steering wheel is of course made of wood, for a firm grip you need stylish leather gloves.
The engine heats up
After 7.6 seconds 100 km / h are reached and it goes beyond 220 km / h. It gets cozy and warm inside, because the engine radiates its heat more or less uninsulated into the cabin. The car convinces with elegance and gadgets of the 70s like the headlight blades, but comfort was written in lower case. If you want to circle the corners with the 1.3 ton car, you also need strength in your arms.
The Montreal is not a rally vehicle anyway, but a Grand Tourismo, built for long journeys. After all, the chassis comes normally from the Alfa Romeo shelf and, apart from a few details, is identical to that of the GTV 2000 (Bertone), the GTJ or the Giulia. You couldn’t achieve any success in racing with it.
From 1970 to 1977 only 3925 copies were built. The fragile technology prevented the success that the design actually deserved. The car came on the market at a price of 35,000 marks. Well-preserved Montreals are rare, the prices for a car in top condition are over 50,000 euros today.
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