1971 Alfa Romeo Montreal - Jay Leno’s Garage

he's dropped out few years Jeff ela machine welcome to the episode of Jay Leno's Garage today one of the most misunderstood supercars this is a 1971 Alfa Romeo Montreal some of you might question why I'm calling it a supercar well it's got a v8 engine for cam 230 horsepower 237 something like that just some wonderful little v8 7000 rpm redline 5-speed transmission when this period most cars are still for speeds remember most Alfa Romeos were just four-cylinder engines and a lot of people think oh this is just too alpha for similar engines put together no not at all not at all not even close this is a bespoke motor to me this is the right size for a supercar you know when I ride in a big Aventador or something like that it just seems so big and wide and well heavy this is what I think 2800 pounds out the door you know loaded which is still pretty light anything under 3,000 pounds is still pretty tight disc brakes all the way around this car was never introduced in America it was never sold here because album a oh just couldn't get their emissions and their crash testings and we give up but no more America that's it do it you know they said they'd make a car you're like you don't like it you know this car was introduced in Montreal hence the name I think there's some sort of expo back in 67 Alfa Romeo displayed this as a show car I guess and at the time I think as I remember that prototype car had a regular four-cylinder Alfa engine which is a Joule in itself and by the time production came out it had turned into this mini I say mini supercar this is the size cars used to be this is a normal size for a sports car back in the 60s and early 70s it's only later they've gotten just so big and wide and heavy this car was designed by Marcello Gandini who I was proud to have here at the garage actually and not that long ago he came for a tour and that was a huge honor you know he designed the Miura the Countach just one of the brilliant brilliant designers you get see some of the influences of the Miura you know the eyelashes here to me this is the most successful part of this car the front end is just beautiful in the way these these these eyebrows he he loves eyebrows he had them in the mirror remember and those fold under and it's kind of cool you know not many people know about these I think they made something like thirty nine hundred and seventy one not quite four thousand cars over six or seven year period the bodies didn't change much in that time didn't need to actually you know it's funny in different colors this car looks different I've seen weird gold and lime greens where I just go god it's horrible of the proportions look awful whereas this one it does something to me this one really looks right and sits right I'm not sure about the tires these are modern tires I'm I'm guessing the original tires were a bit taller so it's at just a little bit higher I could be wrong there's just not a lot known about these here in the United States because they didn't they didn't come here and now you can bring them in of course under the 25-year rule and all that kind of stuff if you get a pre seventy seven or pre seventy six you can be smog exempt in California I don't know how many are in the states maybe a hundred maybe a hundred and fifty all told it's a lot of work to get one in here because as I said it was never certified for America there's no power steering I mean it's it's it's a proper supercar actually they call it a 2+2 or I call it actually two plus zero you can't get anybody to come back see but it has a backseater I don't know maybe you can put a child's seat back there if you've got a little kid it's not a crazy excessive horsepower car it's not some 400 or 500 horsepower beast it's just a nicely balanced car that makes a great sound it's one of these cars when you're driving by yourself on a two-lane road up in the hills of Malibu or you know up on the crest in Los Angeles you just having the time of your life because it sounds fun and it is fun you're competing against yourself and that's what makes it kind of nice I think these are the stock wheels on it I know the wheels changed over the years and of course the legendary Bertone badge for the designer that's one Gandy knee work for them I mean it's a true Italian car I mean people who know nothing about cars will look at this and goes in Italian yeah it is Italian cost the classic wood steering wheel this is a great period the late 60s early 70s because it was that era of the old hand belt stuff and then modern techniques were coming in so there's a lot of things happening here it's got the spica fuel injection I think that's how you say it that Italian system a lot of people took that off and put on Weber's which is a shame because it was very very good but they just weren't many people here you know climbed the Shell station you're not gonna know how to fix you spike your fuel injection they got a bad rap that way you know they just were not parts available and as I said earlier you couldn't you couldn't buy when he had to wait until it was you know a ten year old used car or bring it in yourself under gray market which was something gray market was allowed in the late 70s I guess early 80s you're allowed to bring in one uncertified car you know so it was just confusing and it's a shame and it's America's loss really because it really is a beautiful car it's a car that nobody really knows about you may take this to a Cars and Coffee dude what's that then they get it confused with the GTV and some of the other alpha males but I know I did I mean it was one of those deals where I did this day I have never driven one I'm going to drive this in a few minutes and and then you'll see what it's like I mean I've been a passenger in them and I was really knocked out about how nice it was all kinds of room inside and it's a you know it's a car you well you don't want to parallel park it like I said there's no no power steering you've been the engine over the front wheel so it makes steering a bit heavy but once you're rolling over 10 or 15 miles an hour that all goes away you've got this duct here I don't think this is functional that's just style this looks mirror the way this dork this whole curve here this is almost a signature for a Gandini it has no radio because you have at the engine what you did the radio what you hear the beautiful music from the engine it's silly to have the radio let's open the hood show you what that engine looks like let's open the hood now see here something we countyians do better than the Americans whenever we have a hood that opens backwards this way like on the old Lincoln said they lost go this they open to this much are they open to this much so you really can't get in there and work on it the Italians no look you're gonna break it so why not to make it easy you see so this hood goes straight up and down you got two lights here soon you break down at night you can see what you're doing you know this I would call it an Italian Cobra or Italian Sunbeam tiger because it's a small car with a v8 2.6 litres for cam this is extremely sophisticated engine I mean as much as any supercar like am you or any of those across those are 12 cylinders you have four cams and they're all completely different they're not like you can all put the camp on the left and then no I mean every part of this car I think the distributor runs off the lower cam there and this is not a car you your average foreign car quote mechanic can work on you you've got to have the experts you've got that I mean look the cams are doing so much work here look what they're driving look at all the different things here's you spike a fuel injection but nicely done extremely compact and they get a lot under this engine compartment here and when they're running right they're unbelievable whether or not we run and right they're unbelievable so you have that sort of problem but you you get the right alpha guy you've got to have your own Tony who came from Italy you know and and and it's really this is one of those cars you need the Italian mechanic but when they're set up right well you'll see what I'm talking about when we when we drive it it's it's a great drive by yourself on a windy road kind of car don't need to race anybody to compete with anybody you know and when you go to the cars and coffee you're not gonna run into yourself in one of these because there's so few of them in the state and as I said most of you'll have no idea what it is the most fascinating thing about you about this car is nowhere on the car does it say it's a Montreal the only place it says it is on the ashtray I don't know why that is when the car was introduced I don't know what the name was it was introduced in Montreal the most beautiful city in North America by the way if we've never been there it's it's just incredible and so they named the car after it you couldn't couldn't buy one in Montreal you couldn't buy one in Canada you couldn't buy one in the United States but the name sounds romantic and and the car is romantic and as I said it's just the perfect size it's it's the size most cars should be not taking up a lot of road space not over-tired not big jack just a nicely balanced package although I don't know how well balanced it is being a front-engine car but well we'll find out we'll find out in a few minutes here as I said four-wheel disc brakes very unique styling just a nice looking slats here somewhat controversial some people like them some people don't this sort of looks 240z ish to me this here this rear quarter if I just showed you this okay what kind of car is that you might guess 240z although two point six liter is small by American standards that's a big engine in Italy especially back in 1974 this was a fast powerful car when it came out and it just sort of been overlooked by people I think and underappreciated they tend to run in the seventy thousand to a hundred thousand maybe 125,000 and I can't imagine that price coming down as they get rare and rare and it's people appreciate them more you know they say we lust after what we saw when we were seven or eight years old on the street and if you're a younger guy in your 40s and you're successful this is this is a car you saw in the cover rodent track and you saw them driving through the hills of Sicily and all that kind of stuff so I think to a certain demographic this is the car to have because it was just unobtainable so let's let's take of her ride and see how she goes see those headlights Alfa Romeo is the classic example of letting a car warm up you know this is a car when you turn the key let the engine idle for a good four or five minutes which team is memorable when you have to go somewhere but it really makes all the difference in the longevity of the automobile you know an old Italian mechanic told me one time and I'm sure you will let me know in the comment section whether this is true or not the Italian cars are made in a warm climate so consequently the oil passages are quite small because the oil is is warm and it can flow easier and when you take it out for a mail to a cold climate like New England or Minnesota is somewhere and you start it up you're forcing heavy thick oil through a small aperture small hole and it it's not gonna flow as easy so consequently you can wind up starving the bearing but if you turn it on let it idle for a few minutes have a cup of coffee send an email do something that's probably the best way to go and any of my Italian cars I have a Monte I let the electric gauge get off of I like food well I think why wouldn't we all have a big age you're the oil is warm enough okay I can drive in the manner which it was intended you know this is not a car you want a short shift at 2,000 rpm it likes do that that's when it runs Beth it's just a wonderful sound anyway that's the reason Italia cause of an oil temperature gauge rising just an idiot like like we have on American guts you got a big old lazy v8 with big oil passages like that you know okay oils gonna flow but are these small motors oil is critical oil but of an engine and if it's not getting what's supposed to go you have quote organs out here nicely the other problem with this car when it came out it costs more money than a Jaguar exchange all Porsche 911 and of course well we have to tell you about Porsche 911s reputation for durability and reliability I mean people drive those hundreds of thousands of mile and of course Jaguar XKE even Enzo Ferrari called the most beautiful car in the world plus the fact that you had and the seventies Alfa meiody lives in America were not electric it wasn't like going to a Ford or a Chevy dealer where every part is on the shelf and eval do it let's maybe be freaking car you had to be a true Alfie stuck that healthy stuff had to be a true alpha romão enthusiast like and this car will make you one and Ralph Kramden driving position those you outside the United States who don't know who Ralph Kramden was on a show called the Hyundai Motor's Jackie Gleason comedians it was a it was a comedy show and Ralph Kramden lived downstairs I guess and he was a bus driver and this is what so and for that expression comes and it is the weirdest steering angle it doesn't make any sense until you try to parallel park this car and they realize follow that's why is that because you can get a little ball for us a little more shoulder into it that's why you have this big giant steering wheel I mean I have a 356 Porsche twin cam and I have a big steering wheel like this M and it's thin and it's wood which is what I love is just very nice there's a very nice place to be and just Falls and Falls up to about a hundred and thirty seven miles an hour that goes to 9 grand and they're even redlining the car you drive by feel 7,000 feels about right this car is a perfect example of what fast cars were life back in the 70 there's no traction control there's no ABS so you've got just the right amount of horsepower all that you need all that you could use that's what's fun you can use all the horsepower almost all the time if you want to it's still fast by modern standards it's not crazy fast but it's sensible fast the tires obviously aren't going to break away function like monocot you've got all that kind of traction control and stability so you you can't get into trouble this the would want ours name we've got a nice Road feel through the wheel the dogleg gearbox take some getting used to my dogleg that means the first gear is pulled to here and down and they shift it much like the early portion 901 bucks it makes you think if dear and thinking here but there is no six but even five speeds in 1971 was very exotic don't forget it wasn't that long ago American cars came standard with a three speed or a three speed on the floor like Corvette Peter three I guess 57 the 4-speed came out and it was filled much much slower at wet dough but the Corvette's get a vice me 80 90 was unlike them this had in 1971 you chop down three into here which are for tonight fellow machine the other fun fun part is the gauges are all in Italian so in kilometers who live going a hundred nine out you're going to take these in miles an hour we've have an idiot friend you're gonna press the lookers 155 I must say it has a little fall to write it for you you know 60 70 our Italian car doesn't overheat oil fresh it's good I'd lived for an hour if you want it's not gonna do any harm it's it's very nothing kind of makes you wonder why alpha didn't do more with this v8 put it in a little duet Oh or one of those or the Julia I mean it's such a jewel of an engine I think they use some version of this in the model 33 it's a cross plane crank I understand it just it's just a wonderful engine nice and Turkey plenty of power and it loves to rap red line is hard to test about one thing it does share with other supercars is it's pretty thirsty at about 70 miles an hour and in fifth gear you turn in are we looking at almost 5000 rpm so that's gonna drink down the gasoline but you don't care not to be sacrilegious but this reminds me a little bit of a car called the scarab that was a guy that was taken years ago 25 years ago 240 Z's and dropping in 327 Chevy putting Weber carburetors out and then making them all and while it was a wonderful car to drive and this kind of makes me feel like that gearbox is delightful works fantastic you know everything now has 900 horsepower 800 horsepower the most part you can't really use at all this you can use all the power you have all the time that's what spawned I mean you know first like this evidence Evan take a step around you know so many bottle cars I love the p1 but it's okay got thrown out at 50 miles an hour this you can enjoy the journey you know if we hand on big-ish if you put your foot in it you feel that needle sweep around as it gets close to 70 you go watch it go 66 67 68 boom shift it's just a nice experience you don't have to be the fastest guy in the block cause chances are you're not gonna be but it could be the happiest guy in the block would you drive something like this it's really the way the car makes you feel and that's that's really the exciting part about an oil deal it's how it makes you feel when you buy yourself but you having a good time or is it a lot of work the only time this a lot of work is when time to parallel parking let me tell you one of the Italian girl winks out you like watch what's the headlines you like I think I cut you where this car like a suit you know you get in it like a suit exactly as big as it needs to be there's no extraneous things out of them big giant doors no giant wing on the back you know it's just a sensible supercar mark my words ten years from now people say oh I remember those there's $60,000 to $70,000 it wasn't that well it was almost time to go but back in 1989 I bought my Lamborghini Miura the orange the s4 $80,000 the putter what was that you know an old sports car but I think you'll see the same thing with this I guess what I'm saying is did you see one bite at mouth all right hey we'll see you guys next week then I'm gonna drive this thing around a little bit more see you later [Music]

Channel: Jay Leno's Garage

Views: 663,864

Rating: 4.9623384 out of 5

Keywords: Alfa Romeo, Montreal, headlights, V8, Italian car, 70s car, supercar, sports car, Italia, car nerd, imports, 25 year import law, rare cars, Jay Leno, Jay Leno's Garage, car reviews, compares cars, classic cars, vintage cars, sports cars, super cars, cars, car gear, jay leno garage, jay lenos garage, car collection

Id: OwLQ7jbdVV0

Length: 25min 16sec (1516 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 05 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/viTRi0LL]

That's a beautiful car and it sounds awesome.

[u/MagneticGray]

Obligatory Matt ringing one of these out for The Smoking Tire. Turn up the volume because that 2.8l 4 cam V8 echoing off the canyons sounds so freakin good.

[u/_polemarch_]

The sound at the start... wow!

[u/verdegrrl]

It's spee-ka Jay! No spike-ka.

[u/mazurri]

someone actually managed to fit this V8 engine into an Alfa GTV6 back in the days. wonder how will that "GTV8" going to handle likes.