Photo: Luca Serafini
Back in the 1970s, Alfa Romeo customers could pick a V8 grand tourer for more money than the equivalent Jaguar E-Type with the XK6 inline-six engine. The Montreal is how the oldtimer is called, stylized by Marcello Gandini at Bertone with grilles for the headlights.
The unconventional styling is one thing, but the NACA duct on the hood is where the fun starts. The Montreal boasts 2.6 liters of naturally aspirated V8 connected to a five-speed manual transmission tasked with driving the rear wheels, and the exhaust sound is glorious. Alfa Romeo had experimented with low-displacement V8s a decade before in the Tipo 33, namely 2.0- and 3.0-liter engines developed by engineering legend Carlo Chiti.
Given how hard it’s to find a Tipo 33 these days and the exorbitant price of pre-war models with the inline-eight engine from the 1930s, the Montreal makes a lot of sense as a weekend warrior with eight cylinders. The question is, how would the Montreal look if Alfa Romeo were to redesign the 2+2 grand tourer these days with hommage the original model?
Luca Serafini thought about it as well, inspired by the shiny orange car his father bought in 1986. The pixel artist claims the Montreal was “all original except for the exhaust system.” As a youngster with not too many interests at that age, Luca “often went downstairs to uncover the Montreal and see its reflections, lines, and shapes.” This turned into a passion for all things automotive, and thus, a petrolhead was born.
The Montreal Vision GT Concept on his personal page “isn’t about style choices or functional engineering.” Luca underlines the subjective nature of these renderings, and we wouldn’t imagine a successor to the original otherwise either. Only Alfa Romeo could offer a more boring redesign because FCA is more interested in crossovers and trucks nowadays.
From the side profile, Mr. Serafini appears to have taken inspiration from the Dodge SRT Viper as well as the Zagato TZ3 from the early 2010s produced in extremely limited numbers. TZ stands for Tubolare Zagato, and the preceding TZ2 was the product of the Autodelta department where Carlo Chiti was working when he designed the V8 in the Tipo 33.
If these renderings were to morph into the real deal, what Fiat Chrysler Automobiles powertrain would suit the Montreal Vision GT Concept? The most obvious answer is the plug-in hybrid V8 and three e-motors from the Ferrari SF90 Stradale, but only if the internal combustion engine can be relocated to a front-midship layout.
Given how hard it’s to find a Tipo 33 these days and the exorbitant price of pre-war models with the inline-eight engine from the 1930s, the Montreal makes a lot of sense as a weekend warrior with eight cylinders. The question is, how would the Montreal look if Alfa Romeo were to redesign the 2+2 grand tourer these days with hommage the original model?
Luca Serafini thought about it as well, inspired by the shiny orange car his father bought in 1986. The pixel artist claims the Montreal was “all original except for the exhaust system.” As a youngster with not too many interests at that age, Luca “often went downstairs to uncover the Montreal and see its reflections, lines, and shapes.” This turned into a passion for all things automotive, and thus, a petrolhead was born.
The Montreal Vision GT Concept on his personal page “isn’t about style choices or functional engineering.” Luca underlines the subjective nature of these renderings, and we wouldn’t imagine a successor to the original otherwise either. Only Alfa Romeo could offer a more boring redesign because FCA is more interested in crossovers and trucks nowadays.
From the side profile, Mr. Serafini appears to have taken inspiration from the Dodge SRT Viper as well as the Zagato TZ3 from the early 2010s produced in extremely limited numbers. TZ stands for Tubolare Zagato, and the preceding TZ2 was the product of the Autodelta department where Carlo Chiti was working when he designed the V8 in the Tipo 33.
If these renderings were to morph into the real deal, what Fiat Chrysler Automobiles powertrain would suit the Montreal Vision GT Concept? The most obvious answer is the plug-in hybrid V8 and three e-motors from the Ferrari SF90 Stradale, but only if the internal combustion engine can be relocated to a front-midship layout.
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