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A rare 1972 Alfa Romeo Montreal, a beautifully designed but often overlooked Italian sports car, has been discovered in a garage in Oregon.
With race-bred engineering, Gandini styling, and a rebuilt V8, it's a hidden gem priced far below its Ferrari and Lamborghini peers.
This undervalued classic offers a unique restoration opportunity before the collector market fully recognizes its true worth.

ASTORIA, OR — There are few things in life more exciting than stumbling across a forgotten automotive masterpiece tucked away in some forgotten corner of the world, slowly gathering dust while the rest of us drive around in soul-crushing crossovers with all the character of a microwave oven. Today, that forgotten masterpiece is a 1972 Alfa Romeo Montreal, currently hiding in a garage in Astoria, Oregon, waiting for someone with enough sense and passion to rescue it from its current state of automotive purgatory.

For those unfamiliar with the Montreal, you're not alone – and that's exactly the problem. While the automotive world has spent the last five decades obsessing over the Lamborghini Miura and Ferrari Dino, showering them with the sort of adoration normally reserved for Renaissance masterpieces, the Alfa Romeo Montreal has been sitting in the corner like the brilliant but overlooked middle child of the Italian sports car family. This is automotive injustice of the highest order, particularly when you consider that all three cars were sculpted by the same genius: Marcello Gandini, working at Bertone during what was arguably the most creative period in automotive design history.

Image originally posted to Craigslist, available at [**link**].

The Montreal debuted in 1970, carrying with it all the visual drama and mechanical sophistication that defined the golden age of Italian automotive design. It was gorgeous, it was exotic, and it possessed the sort of presence that made other cars look like they'd been designed by committees of accountants. Yet somehow, it never achieved the recognition or collector status of its more famous siblings, becoming instead one of the most underrated sports cars of the 1970s. This oversight has created what might be the greatest bargain in the classic car world – assuming you can find one that hasn't been completely destroyed by decades of neglect.

Image originally posted to Craigslist, available at [**link**].

The forgotten masterpiece of Italian design

The Montreal's story begins with Expo 67 in Montreal, Canada, where Alfa Romeo displayed two concept cars that would eventually become the production Montreal. The styling was pure Gandini magic – all sharp edges, aggressive angles, and dramatic proportions that looked like they'd been carved from a single block of Italian marble by Michelangelo himself. The distinctive slotted headlight covers became the car's signature design element, giving it a predatory appearance that suggested it was always ready to pounce on unsuspecting curves.

Under the hood lived a 2.6-liter twin-cam V8 that produced 200 horsepower in European specification – impressive figures for the early 1970s, when most sports cars were still making do with considerably less power. This wasn't just any engine, either; it was derived from Alfa Romeo's racing program, specifically the Tipo 33 sports prototype that dominated endurance racing in the late 1960s. In other words, the Montreal was essentially a road-going race car with air conditioning and a proper interior.

Image originally posted to Craigslist, available at [**link**].

The engine note was pure Italian opera – a mechanical symphony that started with a purposeful growl at idle and built to a crescendo that could wake the dead at full throttle. Combined with a five-speed manual transmission that actually required skill to operate properly, the Montreal offered the sort of analog driving experience that modern supercars, with their computer-controlled everything, simply cannot replicate. This was a car that demanded your full attention and rewarded precision with a driving experience that bordered on the spiritual.

Yet despite all these qualities, the Montreal never achieved the commercial success of its competitors. Production lasted just seven years, from 1970 to 1977, with only 3,925 examples built. Compare that to the Dino, which managed nearly 3,000 units in a shorter production run, or the Miura, which built its legend on just 764 examples. The Montreal had the performance, the looks, and the pedigree, but somehow failed to capture the imagination of buyers in the way that its more famous contemporaries did.

Image originally posted to Craigslist, available at [**link**].

Part of the problem was timing. The Montreal arrived just as the automotive world was beginning to grapple with emissions regulations and safety standards that would fundamentally change the character of sports cars. The early 1970s marked the end of the era when manufacturers could build cars purely for performance and beauty, without worrying about whether they would pass increasingly stringent safety tests or meet new environmental standards. The Montreal was one of the last pure expressions of the philosophy that had defined Italian sports cars throughout the 1960s.

The other issue was Alfa Romeo's reputation for reliability – or rather, their reputation for the lack thereof. While Ferrari and Lamborghini were building equally temperamental machines, they had the benefit of exotic badge appeal that made owners willing to overlook minor inconveniences like regular breakdowns. Alfa Romeo, despite their racing heritage and engineering excellence, never quite achieved the same level of mystique. The Montreal was seen as a beautiful but potentially troublesome Italian exotic at a time when buyers were beginning to value reliability alongside performance.

Image originally posted to Craigslist, available at [**link**].

A bargain hiding in plain sight

This brings us to the current situation, where a drivable Montreal can be purchased for around $60,000 – a figure that would barely buy you into a decent Porsche 911 from the same era, let alone a Miura or Dino. The price differential is staggering and represents one of the most significant value discrepancies in the classic car market. When a Miura can easily command seven figures at auction and even a Dino rarely sells for less than $300,000, the Montreal's relative affordability is either a massive oversight by the collector car market or evidence that most people have no idea what they're looking at.

The example currently hiding in that Oregon garage perfectly illustrates both the potential and the challenge of Montreal ownership. It's a 1972 model with a rebuilt twin-cam V8 and a five-speed manual transmission, meaning someone has already invested in the most expensive and crucial aspect of the car's restoration. The engine rebuild alone would likely cost more than the car's current asking price if done properly, making this a project that's already overcome its biggest hurdle.

However, the car isn't perfect. The wheels are aftermarket units rather than the original alloys, there's visible paint and body damage, and the interior needs attention. These aren't insurmountable problems, but they do represent additional investment beyond the $60,000 asking price. The seller would need to source correct wheels, address the bodywork, and probably invest in a comprehensive interior restoration to bring the car up to proper standards.

Even with these additional costs, though, the total investment would likely remain well below six figures – a fraction of what you'd pay for a comparable Miura or Dino in similar condition. This creates an interesting opportunity for someone who wants to own a genuine piece of automotive history without paying the premium that comes with the most famous names in Italian sports car manufacturing.

The Montreal's current position in the market represents a fascinating example of how perception shapes value in the collector car world. Objectively, the Montreal offers everything that makes its more famous siblings desirable: stunning Gandini styling, a race-derived engine, manual transmission, and the sort of mechanical character that modern cars simply cannot replicate. Yet because it lacks the brand cachet of Ferrari or the exotic appeal of Lamborghini, it remains accessible to enthusiasts who might otherwise be priced out of the Italian sports car market.

This situation won't last forever. As the collector car market continues to mature and buyers become more sophisticated about automotive history, the Montreal's relative affordability will likely disappear. Cars like this represent the last opportunity to own a significant piece of Italian automotive design history at a reasonable price, before the market inevitably corrects itself and Montreal values begin to reflect their true significance.

The car in Oregon represents everything that makes barn finds so exciting. Here's a genuine piece of automotive art, created during the golden age of Italian design, hiding in a garage while the rest of the world drives around in vehicles with all the character of household appliances. It's a reminder that there are still discoveries to be made, still automotive treasures waiting to be rescued by someone with enough vision to see past the surface flaws to the masterpiece underneath.

For someone with the skills, patience, and passion to restore it properly, this Montreal could become the centerpiece of a serious collection. It's a car that will start conversations, turn heads, and provide a driving experience that connects you directly to the golden age of Italian automotive design. The fact that it can be purchased for less than the price of a new luxury SUV is almost insulting to its pedigree, but that's exactly what makes it such an opportunity.

The Montreal story is ultimately about recognition – the recognition that great design and engineering don't always come with the most famous badges, and that sometimes the most rewarding discoveries are hiding in plain sight. This particular example in Oregon is waiting for someone to recognize its potential and give it the restoration it deserves. The question isn't whether it's worth saving – any car with this much history and character is worth saving. The question is whether someone will have the vision to see past its current condition to the masterpiece it could become.

And on that note of automotive archaeology and hidden treasures, I can only hope that this Montreal finds its way to someone who understands what they're looking at. Because cars like this are becoming increasingly rare, and once they're gone, they're gone forever. The world needs more people willing to rescue forgotten automotive masterpieces, not fewer.

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Source: "Someone Save This Alfa Romeo Montreal Barn Find", available at Motor1, Accessed 28th May 2025.