A real one dream car ethereal and tangible at the same time, suspended in midair between the elusive force of an idea and the pragmatism typical of industrial objects destined to change an era. It had to be a little bit of a dream and a little bit of reality the prototype that Alfa Romeo was preparing to set up to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation, in 1967when the Montreal International Exhibition christened the Montreal “Expo”a model with which the car manufacturer of the Biscione responded to the request of the organizers of show the whole world the infinite possibilities of human ingenuity “In terms of cars”. Queen of an exhibition area with the somewhat marinettian title “The Producer Man”, the car stole glances and flashes as happens only to the divas of the cinema.
The Montreal “Expo” began to look forward to a future as a production car only three years later, when it appeared in the spotlight at the 1970 Geneva Motor Show. There was no time for the prototype (and perhaps not even the necessary budget). ) to design a frame from scratch, so nine months before the great Canadian kermesse at the Bertone bodywork was asked to set up a coupe with fascinating lines on the mechanics of the Giulia Sprint GT. Marcello Gandini – to whom the Lamborghini Miura masterpiece had earned him the promotion at the head of the Bertone style center (a role previously held by Giorgetto Giugiaro, who would soon set up on his own, founding Italdesign with Aldo Mantovani) – designed a low and sleek coupe, with a series of slits at the height of the rear pillar and front headlights “half closed” by two elegant lamellar lids. Unmistakable signatures of a design that has remained one of the most romantic in the history of the automobile.
After the enormous success of the Montreal Expo, the decision to put the car into production by the management of the Milanese company was immediately evident that the four-cylinder engine of the Giulia 1600 TI mounted on the prototype had little or nothing to do with the futuristic design of the bodywork, in itself an element that made the Montreal one of the most exclusive Alfa Romeos ever even before you see the lights on the assembly line. The choice could only fall on a top-class engine, the same 8-cylinder V dry sump just conceived for the Type 33 racing. The displacement grew from 2 to 2.6 liters, with the sporting heart of the 33 forced to sacrifice about seventy horsepower on the altar of fluidity and softer delivery, essential prerogatives for a grand tourer conceived to become a true queen of the road. However, two hundred horsepower was more than enough to push the Montreal to the 220 km / h threshold, a highly respectable performance that gave the Alfa Romeo technicians a lot of headaches in the choice of gearboxes, who after a series of experiments with uncertain results opted for a proven 5-speed ZF.
There dual soul of racing thoroughbred and comfortable grand touring, so well highlighted by the sporty and elegant design of the bodywork, it was also revived in the passenger compartment, which compared to the 1967 prototype appeared much richer and more refined in the finishes. Outside, the differences compared to the Montreal “Expo” were first noticed in correspondence with the engine hood, deprived of the longitudinal slits and modified with a large bulge to accommodate the mighty V8. The four circular headlights were half covered by two finned and retractable eyelids through a pneumatic mechanism. The circles seen on the Montreal stage in 1967 also disappeared, replaced by elegant “Millerighe” already available for different models of the Biscione.
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