Italy has produced some brilliant eight-cylinder engines, including the straight-eight in Alfa Romeo's prewar 8C models, but thanks to high fuel prices and road taxes, many Italian eights have been reserved for racing or export duty. That's what makes Alfa Romeo's Montreal so remarkable: It's one of only three postwar Alfa products powered by a V8 engine.

The Montreal was built as a concept car for the 1967 Montreal Expo. Based on Alfa's four-cylinder 105 series (Giulia/1750) platform, it sported bodywork by Marcello Gandini of Bertone, which also designed Alfa's regular-production coupes. Created in only six months, the show car looked like a cousin of Gandini's Lamborghini Miura and the later Lamborghini Espada; its Kamm tail, slatted headlight covers and B-pillar louvers implied that the Alfa, like the Miura, was mid-engined.

There were two copies of the concept car, which drew a strong public response and prompted Alfa to develop a production version.

The car was previewed at the 1970 Geneva motor show. Since the original concept car hadn't really had a name, Alfa dubbed the production model the “Montreal.”

It would have been straightforward enough to “productionize” the concept car with the running gear and engine of Alfa's standard coupe, but Alfa opted for a bolder course. The company's racing subsidiary, Autodelta, had recently developed a 1,995cc DOHC V8 for use in the Tipo 33 sports racer and its rare street-going counterpart, the 33 Stradale. A detuned version of that engine would give the Montreal performance to match its looks and help to rationalize the engine's development costs. The inspiration may have been the Fiat Dino, which featured a race-bred, Ferrari-designed V6.

For the Montreal, the V8 was bored and stroked to 2,593cc, trading the racing engine's 10,000-rpm redline for midrange torque. The production engine had an aluminum block and heads, hemispherical combustion chambers and a dry-sump oil system, but it used Alfa-SPICA mechanical fuel injection like U.S.-bound four-cylinder Alfas. The results: 200 hp at 6,500 rpm and 173 lb-ft of torque at 4,750 rpm, necessitating the adoption of a five-speed ZF gearbox with greater torque capacity than the Alfa five-speed.

The Montreal was roughly 5 inches longer than a 1750/2000 GTV coupe, but shared the same wheelbase and rode a modified version of the same platform. That meant unassisted recirculating ball steering, coil springs and antiroll bars front and rear, double wishbones in front and a lightweight live axle in back. Ven-tilated disc brakes, and wider wheels and tires were fitted to cope with the Montreal's weight and power.

Development delays and Italy's ongoing labor disputes pushed back the launch, and cars weren't available in quantity until late 1971. The V8, special body and convoluted production line (the basic structure was made at Alfa's Arese factory near Milan, shipped to Bertone's plants around Turin for body fitting, and then back to Arese for assembly) were reflected in the price, about twice as much as a 2000 GTV's.

With 200 hp and a 2,900-pound curb weight, the Mon-treal was quick for its era: 0-60 mph in less than 8 seconds and a top speed of more than 135 mph. The V8's free-revving nature and addictive exhaust note were also attractive.

Sadly, the rest of the package was less engaging. The suspension was tuned for strong initial understeer, and while you could balance that with the throttle, the fatter tires and extra weight on the nose made fast cornering or parking-lot maneuvers a chore. Beyond that, the brakes inspired little confidence, ventilation was mediocre and the dashboard favored style over ergonomics.

Ultimately, the V8 was the Montreal's undoing. The engine was charismatic, but it was thirsty and expensive to run. Worse, proper maintenance and repair required a technician with specialized tools. Alfa opted not to certify the Montreal for U.S. sales.

Buyer interest largely evaporated after the 1973 OPEC embargo, and a brief, largely unsuccessful racing career didn't help. The Montreal expired in 1977; total production was between 3,917 and 3,925 cars.

While not a great success, the Montreal remains Alfa's only postwar try at a regular-production V8. The 33 Stradale barely qualified, and Alfa's next V8 model, the Maserati-based 8C Competizione, was a limited edition, of which only 1,000 were built through 2010. Flawed as it was, the Montreal still stands alone.

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