Alfa Romeo Montreal. Race-bred engine, show car body – what a combination! But one of the most misunderstood cars of the 1970s would have to be the Montreal. It was a fascinating car, featuring a unique, race-bred quad-cam, dry-sump V8 engine, show-car bodywork and was produced in very small numbers. But today only a small number of people seem to recognise them and few enthusiasts crave a Montreal so values have took a while to rise while other cars around them skyrocketed.

So what was this mysterious Italian exotic all about? The company had a long and illustrious history in racing and building high performance cars, but it had been some time since they’d built anything like their own supercar.

Financially, in the late 1960s the Alfa Romeo company was in a pretty good position. Sales in the last decade were strong around the world, their model range was expanding – Alfas were doing well in several racing categories and the future looked rosy.

Milan-based Alfa Romeo was invited to be the sole car manufacturer to exhibit at the Expo 67 World Fair, a huge exhibition staged in Montreal, Canada which opened in April 1967. The show celebrated 100 years of Canadian Federation and nations were invited to show their finest achievements in culture, science and technology. There was a section entitled “Man the Producer” and Alfa Romeo was the only car maker invited to show their vision of the future.

Seizing the opportunity for such a high profile occasion, the Alfa bosses contracted coachbuilders Bertone to design a show car especially for the Expo. Bertone and Alfa Romeo had a long relationship which had been immensely successful for both companies.

The resulting design was based on the floorpan and running gear of the popular 105-series coupe and featured flamboyant styling, with an assortment of vents and gills as the hallmarks of the sleek design. The engine was the 1.6-litre version of Alfa Romeo’s venerable twin-cam 4-cylinder unit.

Two identical show cars were built and from the moment they were shown at Montreal, they received excellent reviews from the media and public. Period publications complimented the balance and proportions of the design.

The styling had been done while two greats, Giorgio Giugiaro and Marcello Gandini worked at Bertone, and like other Bertone cars of the era, there remains some discussion about who was responsible for the design… Most likely the work was begun by Giugiaro and finished by Gandini.

On the strength of the show car’s great reception, Alfa Romeo’s management decided that the show car presented them with the opportunity they wanted to build a new top of the range sports car. Apparently there were many arguments within management about how the car should be – but keep in mind that Alfa Romeo was an Italian company…

Ultimately the decision was made to incorporate a version of the successful Tipo 33 V8 engine which had powered various Alfa racing cars to many competition successes in recent years. The 2593cc V8 featured a quad-cam layout, dry sump lubrication, electronic ignition and Spica fuel injection. This was as high tech as you got in the early 1970s. For the application of the new road car, it would produce 150kW (200bhp).

Also specified were an (expensive) robust German ZF gearbox, with dogleg first gear plus a limited slip diff, with its own oil cooler were included. The show car bodywork was adapted to fit the bigger engine and a multitude of minor changes were made, but the overall look of the car remained very much the same when production began 3 years later.

Bertone was contracted to assemble the cars for Alfa Romeo, at its Grugliasco plant, alongside Lamborghini Miuras, Fiat Dino Coupes and 850 Spiders.

The resulting car, named Montreal after the Expo venue, was launched at the Salon de Geneva in 1970.

With it’s magic engine, the Montreal was a quick car by the standards of the early 1970s, capable of 230km/h. 0-100km/h took 7.1 seconds. It could show a Porsche 911 a clean set of heels.

At much the same time as the new range-topping coupe came on stream, Alfa Romeo was suffering from industrial problems which beset all Italian car makers at the time. The company was also suffering issues with building a new plant in the south of Italy to build the all-new Alfasud series.

The 1973 fuel crisis really hurt Montreal sales. Nonetheless Alfa persevered with the car, and there continued to be sufficient demand until 1975 when manufacturing ceased – though the final cars were sold in 1977. Just 3925 had been built.

Unlike with some other exotics, with the Montreal, Australians were lucky – it was offered in right-hand-drive. Wheels magazine gushed enthusiastically about the first one which landed (a left-hand drive example), and called it “A half price Lambo”. They said it was “The most exciting, luxurious car the famous Italian firm has ever made.”

Offered at $11,900 sales began late in 1972, but only lasted here for a couple of years. The 1974 price had risen to $14,935.

To compare, by 1974 a Porsche 911 started at $13,460 (to $18,477 for a Carrera), a BMW 3.0CSi cost $17,950, a Ferrari 308GT4 cost $19,500 – right on par with a Urraco and a Mercedes 450SL. So the Montreal was pretty good value here.

Dealers around Australia were pleased to have such a glamour model to boost the brand’s image. The cars were offered in a range of colours, including two real stand-out metallics – orange and green. Just 44 were sold new in Australia.

Copyright Paul Blank