To Be OFFERED AT AUCTIONEstimate:
€75,000 - €90,000
- Bertone coachwork designed by the legendary Marcelo
Gandini
- Race-bred Tipo 33-based V-8 engine
- Fully restored over the course of three years with over £45,000
worth of invoices on file.
Please note that this lot will need to be collected in Chobham,
U.K.
Alfa Romeo received a tremendous honor in late 1966 when it was
selected to create a conceptual exhibit of man's aspiration for the
automobile at the 1967 International and Universal Exposition, held
in Montreal. Alfa assigned coachwork duties to Bertone, and the
project was spearheaded by Marcelo Gandini, the young designer who
had leapt to the forefront of the automotive imagination with the
Lamborghini Miura.
Two identical prototypes were prepared for the exhibition, and
Gandini did not disappoint. Channelling many of the same cues that
made the Miura so innovative, the new Alfa was wide and low with a
shark-like nose extending through a curved fender and shoulder
haunches into a truncated tail. The headlight "blinds" and stacked
horizontal vents on the C-pillar were attractive, as well as
futuristic in concept.
Strong customer interest prompted Alfa to develop a production
version, which continued to be based on the respected 105 Series
chassis, as with the Expo show cars. A new direction was taken for
the model's engine, however. Discarding the 105's standard twin-cam
inline-four, Alfa's engineers installed a modified version of the
competition-pedigreed V-8 from the Tipo 33 Stradale prototype race
car. Featuring aluminium alloy construction, dual overhead-cam
actuation, and a dry-sump lubrication system, the advanced racing
engine provided the new production model with nearly unprecedented
power for an Alfa road car.
Just 3,925 examples of the appropriately named Montreal were built
between 1971 and 1975. The landmark design on the resume of the
great Marcelo Gandini features one of Alfa Romeo's most legendary
motors, and the Montreal has arguably grown to be Milan's most
iconic road car of the 1970s.
This Montreal was manufactured on the 29th October 1973 and sold on
the 6th November 1973 to Alfa Romeo Belgium, Brussels. In 2015, the
Montreal was acquired by the consignor, who decided to have the car
fully restored. The engine was entirely rebuilt by a French marque
specialist, the body restored and repainted in the original AR 826
"Oro Metallizzato". The brakes and suspension were also upgraded to
Alfaholics fast road specifications with four-piston calipers in
the front and a handling kit comprising bigger anti roll bar,
specific springs and shock absorbers.
After being driven in for 2,000 km, the consignor entrusted the
renown Alfa Romeo Montreal specialists at Super Engineering Ltd to
further improve and correct all details to make this car near
perfect. This Montreal is now ideally suited for driving pleasure,
while still remaining show-worthy in presentation.To view this car
and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM
website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/0420.