Montreal Vision GT, Luca Serafini’s futuristic take on the old-school Alfa Romeo Montreal

 

Automotive designer Luca Serafini brings the Montreal nameplate back in the Alfa Romeo supercars lineup

Italian rendering artist Luca Serafini unveiled a modern update of the original Alfa Romeo 1970s Montreal. The futuristic renderings presents a stunning speedster featurings Alfa Romeo’s trademark triangle grille and badge.

Design to recollect memories

The Alfa Romeo Montreal was a 2+2 coupé sports car produced by the Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo from 1970 to 1977.

The Alfa Romeo Montreal was introduced as a concept car in 1967 at Expo 67, held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Originally, the concept cars were displayed without any model name, but the public took to calling it The Montreal. It was a 2+2 coupe using the 1.6-litre engine of the Alfa Romeo Giulia TI and the short wheelbase chassis of the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT, with a body designed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone. One of the two concept cars built for Expo 67 is displayed in the Alfa Romeo Historical Museum in Arese, Italy, while the other is in museum storage.

“Back in 1986 my father bought a shiny orange Alfa Romeo Montreal. … I remember the night he came home with quite irregular V8. He was parking in rear in the garage. The smoke was surrounding and the first things I saw were red taillights and chromed mufflers,” he wrote on his website. “As a young boy I can call it as the beginning for my growing love towards the whole automotive world,“ wrote Luca Serafini.

“I tried to create subjectively something able to bring me back as a child. Something on 4 wheels that’s making you say WOW!” added the Italian designer.

“The visual comparisons to the original Montreal are obvious. Alfa Romeo’s signature triangular grille, hood-mounted vents, and dual headlights with nifty louvers all carry over. We can only hope that a modern take on the Montreal’s original 2.6-liter V8 (maybe with the help of an electric motor) would find its way underhood,” commented motor1.

“With its streamlined design, Luca Serafini’s Alfa Romeo Montreal Vision GT concept updates the car’s most striking feature — the four headlamps on the car’s front end,” wrote designboom.

Stylistically, the most eye-catching feature of the original Alfa Romeo Montreal was the car’s front end with four headlamps partly covered by unusual “grilles”, that retract when the lights are switched on. Another stylistic element is the NACA duct on the bonnet. The duct is actually blocked off since its purpose is not to draw air into the engine but to optically hide the power bulge. The slats behind the doors contain the cabin vents, but apart from that only serve cosmetic purposes. Paolo Martin is credited for the prototype instrument cluster.

The Montreal remained generally unchanged until it was discontinued in 1977. By then, production had long ceased as Alfa struggled to sell their remaining stock. Total production was around 3,900. None of them were sold in Montreal since Alfa did not develop a North American version to meet the emission control requirements in the United States & Canada

Alfa Romeo’s Montreal model was more expensive to buy than the Jaguar E-Type or the Porsche 911. When launched in the UK it was priced at GB£5,077, rising to GB£5,549 in August 1972 and to GB£6,999 by mid-1976.