Alfa Romeo Montreal

Yesterday’s Car Photo of the Day was a glimpse of an Alfa Romeo Montreal.

Perhaps it is my age, but I really think the Montreal is a beautiful car. Not is an objective sense, as in being a timeless design, but rather for its particular position in its particular time. It captures so well the early 70s Zeitgeist. Like an elegant Pierce-Arrow from the 1930s, a finned GM behemoth from the late 50s, or a VW Mk1 Golf GTI from the 80s, the Montreal just looks right for its time.

Powered by a small-displacement DOHC V-8, it had 200HP and was as fast as a contemporary Porsche 911. The Montreal was displayed as an unnamed concept car at Expo 67 in Montreal, Canada. Sold from 1970 through 1975, it was a significant stylistic departure for Alfa Romeo. Less than 4000 were built. Despite their rarity, and ‘halo car’ status when new, the market has not been kind to them, valuing them only slightly higher than their GTV contemporaries. Perhaps this is due to their lack of racing history compared to their Alfa brethren who were all actively campaigned on the track.

To me the car captures so much of what the early seventies was. It evokes the looks of the sports car racers of the day, from the GT-40 to the 917, while still being a car for the street. Bertone did an excellent job crafting the overall look. The Montreal is just one of those cars that I could not refuse. Not that I’ll ever go out looking for one, but I’d never turn one down if it appeared. Like any other era, the early 70s had its share of dreadfully awful and ugly cars, but this Alfa Romeo certainly sits in the rare category of Beautiful Cars of the Early 70s.