Some cars are born from a market need. Others are born from a dream. The Alfa Romeo Montreal belongs to the second group. It began as an exhibit at a world fair, became a production car with an engine from a racing prototype, and ended up as one of the most special Alfas of all time.
Photo: Lothar Spurzem / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 de
A dream for Expo 67
In 1967 the city of Montreal in Canada hosted the World’s Fair. The organisers asked Alfa Romeo for a car that would show “man’s highest aspiration in terms of automobiles”. Alfa gave the design to Bertone, where a young designer was working at the time: Marcello Gandini, the same man who would soon design the Lamborghini Miura and Countach.
The two prototypes shown in Montreal had a simple Giulia four-cylinder under the bonnet. But people loved them, and Alfa Romeo decided to build the car for real, keeping the name of the city.
The heart of a race car
For the production version, Alfa did something bold. It took the V8 from the Tipo 33, the prototype it raced in endurance events, and adapted it for the road. It was a 2.6-litre aluminium V8 with four camshafts, dry-sump lubrication and SPICA mechanical fuel injection. It produced about 200 horsepower and revved with a sound that still gives Alfa fans goosebumps.
The chassis and suspension came from the Giulia GT, so the Montreal was not a true supercar. It was more a fast, luxurious GT, with a top speed of around 220 km/h.
Photo: LSDSL / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
The “eyelids” and the slats
Gandini’s design is full of details that make the Montreal stand out. The headlights hide behind half-closed slatted covers that open like eyelids when the lights are switched on. On the bonnet is a NACA-style duct that is actually only decorative. Behind the doors, six horizontal slots look like the gills of a fish.
Photo: Ermell / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Few cars, big reputation
The Montreal was launched in Geneva in 1970 and production lasted until 1977. It was expensive, and it arrived around the time of the 1973 oil crisis, when nobody wanted to hear about V8s. In total only 3,925 cars were built. Strangely, it was never officially sold in the USA or in Canada, the country that gave it its name.
Today the Montreal is a sought-after classic. The SPICA injection needs a mechanic who knows it, and rust is the body’s biggest enemy. But few cars combine such beautiful Italian design with a racing heart. If you ever hear one rev, you will understand why Alfisti love it so much.
P.Kefalas