With its racing derived, fuel-injected V8 and unorthodox Bertone styling, the Montreal made a splash in the market in the early 1970s. This car was Alfa Romeo's effort at building a high end sports coupe in the mold of the company's offerings before the start of World War II. You don't see many of Montreals on the road in the US and those that are available are highly prized by a dedicated group of enthusiasts. This Montreal for sale in California is a solid runner which was repainted to red from its original golden hue.
1972 Alfa Romeo Montreal
This Montreal was imported in the '80's and has been in California since then. It was owned by a prominent doctor here in Santa Barbara, then it was sold to a well-known Alfa collector/hoarder. I bought it from his estate, along with several other Alfas. Most of the other cars were offered here on the AlfaBB and have already been sold. The Montreal was by far the best car of the collection, and I decided to hold off on selling it until the others were gone. Since there was such a good response on the others, I wanted to offer the Montreal here first before posting it on ebay.
The car has just been serviced. It runs strong and sounds incredible! The car shows approximately 66k kilometers, and this is backed up by the receipts on file. Nice wood wheel, gauges, switches, headliner, 2-tone door panels, etc. The rear seat is excellent, and the fronts have had the original black vinyl replaced by cloth inserts. Clean & original engine compartment. I would consider this a nice looking "driver quality" car. The paint is old and is a color change from the original gold. Minor bubbles and blemishes in the paint, but it still shines and impresses most casual viewers. I see price ranges on these of: $15k-20k for total projects that are not running, and $50k-plus for restored cars. This one falls in between these ranges in condition and value, and I have priced it at $29,500.
Are Montreals poised to jump in price like the SS's and other Giuliettas have done recently? They certainly have a lot going for them (quad cam V8, sexy coachbuilt body by Bertone, limited production, and very few cars available in the US). It doesn't really make sense that these can be had for the same price as a nice GTV. I love GTV's, but Montreals are a heck of a lot more rare & exotic! If I had more space, I would probably be tempted to hang on to it and see what happens with the market. But I have more cars than space, and need to free up some cash for ongoing restorations on my other toys. The car is located in Santa Barbara, and I would be happy to show it to anyone with serious interest.
The sellers price is about on par with what one can expect to pay for a decent runner, if not concours quality Montreal these days. The SPICA fuel injection system is tricky to get in tune, so a thorough examination of that should be carried out to make sure disaster doesn't lie ahead. Otherwise, for the person that wants a usable Montreal and not a garage queen, this car would be a good choice.
-Paul
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