Say the words “analog GT” and not many cars come to mind that truly fit the definition. The Alfa Romeo Montreal, however, is one that checks the necessary boxes. An achingly beautiful car with fewer than 4,000 units produced and featuring a V8 engine derived from the storied Tipo 33 racing program, the Montreal is indeed special and an incredibly difficult car to find in any condition. The seller of this 1973 Montreal listed here on eBay claims it has been in this garage for somewhere between 30-40 years and is asking $30,000 or best offer.
While it is incredibly tantalizing – and no doubt helped by being covered in dust and in seemingly complete condition – the Montreal, like many Italian GTs from the era, is far from a simple beast. Restoring one will suck away years of your life and bank account, and with prices steadily dropping over the last few years, it will be difficult to justify aside from it being a total passion project. Complete running examples have sold recently in the high $50,000 range, which means you better hope this purchase only involves $20,000 worth of recommissioning. The good news? The bodywork looks incredibly sound, and given how much of an issue rust can be, this is potentially a major pain point dodged.
The interior has the tell-tale signs of a project gently started but never finished, and it certainly didn’t get very far out of the starting blocks. The Montreal is a rare beast, so every trim piece that is Montreal-specific will be difficult to recreate if lost or damaged. The Spica fuel injection is also a bit of a rare bird, and it takes a specialist to understand how to tune it correctly. The V8 is an amazing piece of engineering featuring dry sump lubrication and four overhead camshafts, but getting that motor to sing requires someone that understands Alfas on an intimate level. How many of those people are left?
The 2.6L DOHC V8 produced just under 200 b.h.p. and had a famously high-revving personality. It is a competition-proven drivetrain wrapped in one of the most compelling bodies to ever emerge from Bertone, and you hardly ever see them today. Personally, I love the design, and wish we saw these cars in public more often, but there’s a reason not every cars and coffee event has a Montreal in attendance. While I wish I could be the one to bring this car back to life, my appetite for projects of this scale has clearly been depleted. Will one of you bring it home?
Rare, yes. Gorgeous, yes. Worth the asking $$, IDK. A whole lot of work needed here it seems and that doesn’t even address the mechanicals that will need to be replaced because of age.
A shame it sat so long. Goes to show that the “Ah know whut it’s worth so Ah’ll fix it up one a these days and sell it for millions” attitude isn’t just for rusted American Iron sitting in someone’s yard.
I have seen exactly one of these in person, when we were in Quebec City, not Montreal, but almost… We wandered completely serendipitously into a car show taking place adjacent to the Plains of Abraham and as we were walking about I was distracted from the Citroen SM I was looking into by the sound of a bright orange Montreal idling by to take a spot at the end of the row. When I got to it I probably spent 10 minutes just walking around it. Absolutely beautiful machine.
Oof.. 30K Euro is about 34K USD. And with a photo of an unknown part with most of it rust-eaten away, this is going to take a special buyer at half that price to even think about hauling it out for restoration.
I’ve lusted after these for years. This may be my last, best chance at one …
I think I’ll pass.
Partially disassembled, any of those bits made of unobtanium gone missing? And Montreal engines (so THAT’S why the engines drain bank accounts!) are famous for water pump leaks that require a lot of disassembly to fix.
Maybe if it was stored without being messed with….