Alfa Romeo Montreal: Italian art

As a car enthusiast, petrolhead, gearhead, and the rest of it, you think you know every car in the world. There is literally no more space in your brain for another interesting piece four-wheeled piece of design. Then while you're scrolling the internet, as you do at any time of day, you're confronted by a shape that you do not recognize but most definitely should.

Alfa Romeo Montreal in metallic gold.

Thankfully I was alone while feeling deep embarrassment of not knowing about the
Alfa Romeo Montreal. An Italian sports car created at the pinnacle of Italian exotica, the 70's and I didn't know what it was. The triangular grill design, though, gave away the cars manufacturer. I was immediately struck by the Montreal's elegant beauty. The classic proportions of a long bonnet and a sloping rear end have indeed stood the test of time.

Lovely subtle buldges on the bonnet

The most unique part of the Montreal is its front end. The grill-like contraptions on top of the headlights actually fold under the headlights when they are turned on. Does it make them pop-down headlights? On top of the bonnet there is an air duct which, weirdly, is blocked off and non-functional. That means the car has a useful piece of engineering used only for design purposes.
How Italian is that!

Seek out a video how the headlights work, it's amazing

Moving further towards the rear and the slots that look like vents you'll notice the shape of the door window. It has a familiar curved shape seen in the Lancia Stratos and Lamborghini Miura. Which is not by accident since the Montreal is designed by the same man as the Stratos and Miura, Signore Marcello Gandini. The six vents he put on the car work as vents for the cabin. But they are mostly a design feature and very successful one at that.

Look at the size of that steering wheel!

 Propelling this stylistic car forward is an Alfa bred 2.6 V8 closely related to the smaller capacity V8 used in Alfa Romeo's race cars at the time. It produces 200 horsepower and sends them all naturally to the rear wheels. The car was made from 1970-77 with only around 3900 produced. Alfa struggled to sell it since it went up against cars like the Porsche 911 but was more expensive.


So a car with an interesting engine, beautiful design, built by a charismatic manufacturer during a time when many iconic cars were built. This I think is why it has retracted into the shadow during the years, well, from ignorant me at least. Now though it's time to bring it to the light. I'm so bored by the Porsche 911.

A vintage bodyshape invigorated by many interesting details