It is said that geniuses tend to hit their peak in their twenties. Doesn’t matter much in what field – mathematics, music or automotive design. To wit, Marcello Gandini (1938-2024) was 28 years old when he designed this car. He had authored the Lamborghini Miura a year before. Then he started getting obsessed with wedges. Some of those were stunners too, but let’s be real: Gandini never really topped the Montreal.
I’ve personally always preferred the Alfa over the Lambo. They share a number of similarities, but also some key differences. One it the front end, which is more aggressive in the Montreal. And the fact that it’s front-engined gives the Alfa a longer, more substantial and altogether better-balanced shape.
I’m also not a fan of louvred back ends. A nice, clean backlight is always preferable to a bunch of black venetian blinds. Don’t get me wrong, the Miura is an incredibly beautiful machine. But it’s just a little less gorgeous than the Alfa Romeo Montreal, in my opinion.
The Montreal’s birth was quite unlike that of the majority of models, be they Milanese or otherwise. In October of 1966, Alfa Romeo received an unusual request. It was addressed by the organizing committee of Expo 67, which was to take place in April in Québec. One of the pavilions, to be called “Man the Producer” and focusing on technology, would welcome a contribution from the automotive world, and the committee felt that Alfa would be the best firm to take on the challenge. And so they did.
There wasn’t time to develop a new chassis, of course, so Alfa Romeo just proposed the Giulia 105 platform – in its shorter GTV form. Bertone tailored two chassis with Gandini’s sculptural and dynamic design and the specials were shipped off to Canada in time for the universal exposition’s opening. There they sat for six months, admired by throngs of visitors, before sailing back to their point of origin.
After having had such publicity, Alfa figured that the Expo 67 car, which was explicitly designed to be quasi production-ready, might well be integrated into the range. But there was already a Bertone-bodied Giulia derivative on offer. What novel feature, aesthetics aside, would the new model be able to bring to the table?
The show-stopper was to be a brand new, race-pedigreed, fuel-injected 2.6 litre DOHC V8, good for 200hp (DIN) and mated to a sturdy ZF 5-speed manual. The general reaction was: Mamma mia! An 8-cyl. Alfa with show car styling. Gimme!
But the Montreal, when it was launched at the 1970 Geneva Motor Show, was not a gift. It was for sale – and at quite a hefty price. And it was not really available yet, either. Alfa’s engineers were struggling to get the car right, even after a couple of years in development. This was compounded by industrial action at Alfa Romeo, as well as the firm’s focus on finalizing the Alfasud project. About a year after the “launch” – in early 1971 – the first production Montreals started trickling out of the Arese factory.
As good as it was to sit in (in front only), on paper and in photographs, the Montreal was a flawed diamond in reality. The V8 was not without its foibles, requiring careful operation and monitoring (especially the oil temperature) before attempting anything approaching high rpms. Failure to observe these precautions often led to costly breakdowns – sometimes with less than 30,000km on the clock.
The SPICA mechanical fuel injection was also a known source of problems, so much so that some owners devised a Weber carb conversion. For cost reasons, the Giulia’s live axle setup was used pretty much without modifications, when the plan initially called for a de Dion axle more commensurate with the model’s lofty ambitions. As such, some critics felt the chassis was not up to snuff for such a powerful engine…
Marketing the Montreal also proved challenging. Alfa Romeo looked into a federalized version, but gave up pretty quickly due to the added headache of the 5mph bumper implementation. So there would never be a Montreal prowling the streets of Montréal. The irony was strong with this one.
Elsewhere, the Montreal was cheaper than true supercars, but still a very costly proposition. It cost more than a Porsche 911S in Germany, more than a Citroën SM in France and more than a Jaguar E-Type in the UK, so it took a serious case of Italianophilia for folks in those important export markets to consider the Alfa.
Then came the coup de grâce: the V8 was a thirsty little engine, and the 1973 Oil Shock caused the Montreal’s sales to plummet. It’s no coincidence that this is a ’72 car: over half of all Montreals made were produced that year.
A token run of 180 RHD cars were also made (strangely enough, those came out of the Iso Rivolta factory in 1973), but it was clear by 1974 that the car was doomed. It is said that the line was stopped at the end of 1975 and Alfa took over two years to sell the few dozen Montreals they still had in stock.
Alfa badly fumbled the whole deal with this car, unfortunately. But the issue is much more to do with the chassis and engine than the body: according to many sources, Bertone did an outstanding job putting those together and protecting them from rust. And Gandini, who authored such a flawless design for the 1967 prototypes, managed to make the production version 99% as good as the original. Great way to end Gandini Week on, I feel.
Related post:
Cohort Classic: 1970-77 Alfa Romeo Montreal – An Alfa With a Racing Heart, by Roger Carr
I want one.
It would give some class to our parking lot.
Terrific essay on a beautiful automobile. Thanks. I was at Expo 67. I was a young man.
This was good. I learned a lot about a car I have always known but have never seen in person. It looks right in gold.
The name “Montreal” for a very Italian car always struck me a terribly incongruous. Now I understand. I also had no idea about the mechanical shortcomings but boy, does that V-8 look beautiful. Compare that to the lump of a contemporary American V-8.
When new, the various exotic Italians were modeled in 1/43 die cast form by three Italian companies: Politoys, Mebetoys and Mercury. These were cheap though were hard to find in the US. But I did and could not resist buying. The Italian cars were generally just stunning to me. Of course that started with the Politoys Miura. I still have a Mercury model of the Montreal; I believe that was the only 1/43 one done by any of the three toy makers. That introduced me to the car; I’ve known about it and admired it since.
Thanks for putting together this Gandini week series of posts, T87. As always, I learned a lot from your posts.
In the side profile it looks almost like an AMC Gremlin. Maybe this is the car the AMX3 should have been.
Sorry T87 have to disagree about the styling.
Maybe it would look better when the car was lowered a bit. As it stands now, side profile pic, it seems the car may have gotten new too long springs.
And it may have a (beautiful) front engine but the front of the car could be a little bit longer, with that heavy rear. Or maybe the front wheels a tad more to the front.
Looking at its rear, and 3/4 rear, it is clear where the ghastly 70s Datsuns got their inspiration from.
It is an interesting car yes, but not so much a very beautiful car.
On my way to school back when I was about 14, I passed a house where half of the time a red Montreal was backed up in the drive. This made quite an impression on me, I always have liked its front.
Dion, I was just composing the two images below and an almost the identical comment when yours appeared. I too flashed on the Datsun/Nissan F10 fastback.
Yes, the Montreal is too short and tall (regardless of the springs) to carry the basic styling theme of the Miura successfully. It should have been a larger car perhaps. It looks cramped sitting on the too-short Alfa chassis. And its greenhouse is too tall. The proportions are off.
Comparing it to the Miura (below) shows these issues almost painfully. Yes, the Montreal has some nice aspects and I appreciate what Gandini was trying to do, but it is very much compromised. And the real problem is that by the time it was finally being built (1972-1974) the design had aged, and none too well.
Left out in this discussion is Gandini’s Marzal, which I consider a more successful (and influential) adaptation of the Miura’s basic design language on a front engine car.
The Marzal wasn’t a front-engine car. It had a transverse inline-6 rear-mid-engine (1/2 of the Miura V12). The Espada was a V12 front engine car.
That suddenly popped in my head after we drove off for a hike after posting this comment. Doh! I was thinking of the Espada that was very closely based on it.
Either way, the key difference is that it doesn’t suffer for being cramped in a too-short wheelbase. This design needs the proper length in relation to the height.
Both Miura and Marzal have such a long hood that they could be front engine cars, if a sufficiently low-profile engine is used (such as a boxer-6)
The Marzal gives BMW E12 and Quattroporte II vibes from A-pillar forward.
The 71 Roadrunner’s graphics seem inspired by these as well.
This is the specific shot of a Datsun F10 I took over ten years ago that popped in my head when I saw this rear quarter shot of the Montreal:
Agreed on all of this. Also think the Marzal is the most remarkable show car, perhaps of all time. Do wish it was produced. The Espada is lovely, but also a bit gawky in reality.
As to the Miura, as lovely as a car it was, its basic proportions and many styling details were hardly original, having been seen on the Ford GT40 back in 1964. What was really groundbreaking about the Miura was that it brought these race car elements (mid engine chassis and basic styling/proportions) to a true street car.
This is why Gandini’s Countach is a more original and groundbreaking design. Unlike the Miura, the Countach was not derivative; it is an original sculpture, a piece of art.
I said all but the same things on the yellow faux-Lambo post the other day: the gorgeous Muira is arguably a near-perfect refinement of ideas done before, the LP400 is itself only.
Bravo for putting the acute accent on both Qc and Mtl word in your text, thumbs down to Alfa for not putting the emphasis on the “É” .Just a feature which would have emphasized the Latin blood of the machine and of course would have been wonderful for the gymnastics of the Anglo-Saxon mouths. It was my words from a Mon ray-hah-lait .
Count me in as a Montreal fan. Well, at least I think so, since I’ve never seen one in person.
I understand what Dion mentioned above about the relatively high stance, but that’s part of the reason I prefer this design to supercars like the Miura – the high-ish stance here reinforces the design’s aggressive (as opposed to just fast-looking) nature. The front is definitely my favorite angle, and those louvered headlights are an outstanding design element.
And in my opinion, this car’s unique color makes it even more special.
I have seen one in person many years ago in SoCal. Stunning, indeed.
I’ve only seen one Montreal in person, on the Italian coast in 1973. Although I agree with some of the criticism of its body design, I have to say that it looks far better in the metal than in two-dimensional photos. That said, I’ve lusted for one since that sighting, over fifty years ago.
The only Alfa Romeo I realy admire (and desire – to a certain degree at least).
Amazing colour, too.
End Gandini week? More Gandini! More Gandini!
Seriously, thank you for Gandini week, Tatra-san. I’ve always liked the Montreal. And I rather like those chrome fender mirrors on this one.
Agreed, and agreed: and on those mirrors, non, non, non!
They look like a couple of naked thermoses.
Only you, mon ami, only you…..
Jay Leno did a great review. Beautiful sounds.:
A happy coincidence, but the original tower design for Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, reminded me of the Montreal’s B pillar.
What DOESN’T that man have?
Seriously, good to see a show-biz type spending his money wisely.
I have also only seen one. It was on a visit to Boulder Colorado in the late ‘80s. It was certainly a striking vehicle, although it is not my favourite Alfa. There seems to be too much decoration, including the louvers over the lights, the NACA duct on the hood and those rectangles behind the door.
I had only seen them in pictures, and with the thought of a V-8, I kinda figured they would be the size of an Aston Martin V8/Vantage. But I saw one in person finally, and they are incredibly tiny and almost dainty because of it. I wasn’t as impressed as I thought I would be Still beautiful.
Very quickly, played around a bit, with subtle design elements. As Paul suggested, extra length (6 inches added aft of the rear wheels), and lower ride height (3 inches), would help the exterior. One of the first things I was taught in graphic design, is to line up ambiguously aligned design elements. To present a cleaner design, that is less distracting to your eye. Base of gas filler door and bottom of door handle, now line up. Door handle moved forward a few inches, to relieve a visual ‘pressure point’, with the handle too close to the rear of the door. Top of roof above the windshield lowered 2 inches. Tidied up the vent window trim.
Nice, and I saw two recently a whole herd of Alfas arrived in the village I was staying in a club run, it included 2 Montreal’s the 2nd and 3rd Ive ever seen here.
This is Richard Anderson in his Montreal (driven and built by him) at the 1998 Classic Adelaide tarmac rally:
Very nice. Can only imagine it took a lot of money and time to get the Spica injection working like that 26 years ago (pre-internet), let alone the rest of that beautiful but terribly exxy little motor!
Got to admit, Dr T, I don’t see what you see, not on this one.
The Canguro is really quite nice, the rear especially, but productionization gave the whole thing the messies, and besides, even the original’s eliptical, curvy front was always a bit ill-matched to that squarish rear.
All the too-high and short stuff is true, and the vents annoy me. They’re entirely functionless, and they look like too much those crapulous wiggly wrought-iron ceramic “sculpture” things folks put on their outside front walls in the ’70’s.
Incredibly, about 50 of the right-hookers came here new. I have absolutely no idea (yet again) who’d have had the dosh in inflation-ravaged Oz of ’74 and ’75 to afford such a car. I should add I’ve seen a few close up – one actually lived in this street for a while – and I’m afraid the comparisons made above to gaudy Datsuns aren’t relieved by that experience.
Gandini was quoted as saying he didn’t have a favorite design, essentially saying that as a designer, you just move on. And I can’t help but think he probably moved on from this one a bit quicker than his others.
All that said, they sound outrageously good, and contrary to what I always thought, they’re quick. A 1972 UK Autocar test shows 0-60 in 7.6 secs, and 140mph flat-stick. Ok, maybe not a Miura time, but not at all shabby for a small machine with just 2.6 litres in ’72.
A pity Gandini week is done, but thank you for it, Prof T. Plenty of food for thought (and rabbit holes down which to search for that sustenance, but I digress).
Both of the Lambos are up there in the Pantheon of design but my favorite of that era was the clean designed sultry and gorgeous DeTomaso Mangusta, and that car still is just about my favorite of all time.
I saw several Montreals for sale quite reasonably almost cheaply in the ’80s, as a part-time collector car curbsider maybe should have picked one up, but couldn’t help comparing it to the “mongoose” I really wanted. Woulda coulda…
sorry meant both of the Gandini cars, Lambo & Alfa. Not even Gandini could top the greatest master of the time, maybe all time, Giugiaro and his Mangusta.
So when it was released it was a convertible since the stadium only had its ‘B’ pillar in 1987 …je plaisante .
One really neat detail, which I only noticed and appreciated quite recently, is how the belt-line-to-haunch-line crease actually disappears completely where it intersects the stack of (notional) extractor vents in the B-pillar, yet your eye/mind insists on seeing it as continuous anyway.
Look really closely at the front and rear 3/4 pics; that surface between the 2nd and 3rd vents from the bottom is completely smooth, no crease at all, but in profile you could swear that curve runs all the way through.