Alfa Romeo Montreal – Supercar 1970
November 11, 2009 by Anthony Crawford
Alfa Romeo built some of world’s best looking cars in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, proper sports cars, which drove well and were somewhat affordable to the average hard-working punter.
I myself was the proud owner of a 1975 2.0-litre Spider and to this day remain in mourning over its sale in the interest of furnishing a unit.
My dream car though, as a seven year-old motoring enthusiast, was the beautifully styled Alfa Romeo Montreal.
First introduced as a concept in 1967 at the Montreal Expo, this glamour car from Alfa Romeo was in fact designed by Marcello Gandini at the Bertone styling house, in Turin.
The production version of the Montreal had a major engine upgrade from the 1600 cc unit from the Alfa Romeo Guilia Ti to the race-bred 2593 cc all alloy, quad cam V8 with SPICA (Societa Pompe Iniezione Cassani & Affini) and mechanical fuel injection with a dry-sump.
Race-bred all right, as it was derived from both the equally gorgeous 33 Stradale and the Tipo 33 sports prototype racecar and developed 147kW (197 hp) and 235 Nm of torque.
It wasn’t quite as quick as the Ferrari’s or Lamborghini’s of the day, but 0-100km/h in 7.4 seconds in 1970, was plenty quick.
Moreover the small capacity V8 would rev to an astonishing 9000 rpm, while redline was 7,500. Top speed was also impressive at 224km/h.
The chassis and running gear on the other hand, was borrowed from the Giulia Sprint GT, with double wishbone suspension with coil springs and dampers up front and a live axle with a limited-slip diff at the rear.
There were very few cars of that era, which were as exotic as the Montreal. The front three-quarter view is stunning, but then again, it doesn’t matter where you stand, there just aren’t any bad viewing angles to this Alfa.
You’ll notice the squared-off tail and front apron, both aerodynamic aids as a result of wind tunnel testing by Bertone.
There is no question that Lamborghini’s Miura influenced the design of the Montreal. The vents give the appearance that it’s a mid-engine car, when in fact it’s a front engine layout.
Inside was just as exquisite, with ultra modern instrument dials and uncluttered switchgear, while three- spoked wooden steering wheel and stubby 5-speed shifter, looked superb.
You could even convince your partner, as the Montreal was a 2+2 sports car, so it didn’t matter whether you had young kids in tow or not.
Although only 3917 Montreal’s were produced from 1970-1977, there are plenty of examples still around, and in reasonable shape. That’s probably due to the fact that during the build process the car was partially zinc coated before the engine and mechanicals were fitted.
Less than 100 were imported into Australia and prices leapt as high as $15,570.
In celebration of the Alfa Romeo Montreal, CarAdvice has one copy of the 208 page hardcover bible on the Montreal, entitled The Dream Car, Alfa Romeo Montreal – The Dream Car that came true, by Bruce Taylor. Published by Veloce Publishing and thanks to Capricorn Link Australia.
We would like a review by any of our readers with access to an Alfa Romeo Montreal, pics included please. We will select what we believe is the best review on the car.
Good luck.
Print it: 
Is that Poison Ivy? There’s nothing new under the sun! The Montreal’s an all-time great. Gosh, maybe that’s why it’s on a motoring website!
I really appreciated this article, each to there own.
Funny though that not one single article on a current Alfa, yet at last count 18 on Skoda’s.
Good point Trump…why isnt their ant Alsa reviews and why does a brand like skoda get so much favourable cpverage. More than some of the Japanese manufacturers.
Superb , not many late 60’s designs can stand the test of time , its still got the wow factor .
Sorry about the spider anthony , there are still plenty cruising the streets , another beauty .
What a great classic. Great Italian V8 sound. A dream car even today. Some of the comments here seem to prove the tastless goms that don’t understand motoring heritage. Great work CA…more please.
I well remember seeing an example of the Montreal taking off at a set of lights and the guy really let it unwind – the V8 sounded like something from F1 – it is definitely in my sights as a weekend warrior sometime in the future.
Front is so aggressive, the rest so so. Nice enough I s’pose.
Imagine if Alfa still made RWD cars. U wouldn’t buy anything else.
Art on wheels for the true car lover. The 60’s GTVs are my favorite.Timeless styling and ahead of their time in most respects.
There is a Montreal for sale on Unique cars.Can still remember the launch as a boy.
love these articles. Car Advice rocks.
Thanks for this article, really appreciate it.
A true, exciting car.
What a great article on a unique looking and sounding vehicle. Come on car advice, when are you going to review range of Alfa’s?? With Alfa’s centenary coming up next year, I suspect the car enthusiast is going to be in for a treat with a raft of anniversary / GTA / new models/
why bother reviewing this when there is not a single review of current Alfas on the site?
Do I guess right that Car Advice hasn’t been able to get their hands on the press fleet?
Ateco the distributor have been known to restrict supply if they feel they will get unfavourable press coverage.
You are correct Golfschwein,
We have approached the Australian distributor for Alfa Romeo several times to review their cars, but to date, they have not been willing to provide that access. However, we are in conversation with them to try and resolve the issue.
Great review, more please its a welcome reprieve !
For me the Montreal is a car largely of style over substance. Certainly a great V8, albeit extremely costly to fix, but the suspension/chassis lets the car down in standard form. Having seen Montreals prepared for historic rallys (ie Targa Tasmania, Classic Adelaide etc) they can be made to handle perfectly well, and go quite hard, but in truth you would be far better off with a Fiat Dino IMO, as it has Ferrari’s superb V6, and with a better chassis than the Montreal.
The Montreal is to an extent a junior supercar of the 70’s and if you think about it in that context, it is definitely a nice and interesting Alfa. Personally I would prefer my 105 1750 GTV, as a daily classic as it would be a lot easier to live with, as I have for the past 12 years.
It’s amazing how good it still looks after all these years. Italian emotion at it’s best!
Totally rad! That ride can never grow old or outdated. It has a classic timeless look and it rides as smooth as silk.