Our neighbor to the north celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1967 and invited the world to its party by hosting Expo 67. The setting of that world’s fair was the Québec city of Montréal, and over the course of six months, more than 55 million people visited the international attraction. One of the most fascinating displays in its “Man the Producer” pavilion showcased two custom built, identical, pearl-white Alfa Romeo gran turismos. The reaction to the cars’ design was so positive that the Italian automaker soon decided to put it in production with minimal changes, even enhancing it with a much stronger, race-derived engine.

The “Montreal Expos,” as this originally unnamed pair are now called, were conceived and constructed in just nine months. A gifted 29-year-old stylist named Marcello Gandini penned a sleek fastback design that Carrozzeria Bertone would fabricate upon Giulia Sprint GT chassis and the cars were powered by 90-hp Giulia 1600 TI twin-cam four-cylinder engines. The harmonious lines of these Alfa Romeo show cars owed inspiration to earlier Bertone projects including the Lamborghini Miura (overall profile and door-glass shape), Alfa Romeo Canguro (vertical vent-slot treatment), and Porsche 911 Spyder (slatted headlamp covers), but the result was cohesive and head-turning.

The enthusiasm for the show cars prompted Alfa Romeo to commission Bertone to create a roadgoing version that would emerge as the honorifically named Montreal. Gandini kept much of his original design, adding legality and usability through retractable covers for the quad headlamps, simplified door glass, and a lift-up rear window that exposed the luggage compartment.

Photo by David LaChance

A flourish not on the show cars was the dummy NACA duct that led a hood bulge necessitated by the special engine below. Sharing design elements with the 90-degree V-8 that powered the Tipo 33 Stradale, the Montreal’s all-aluminum 2.6-liter featured a wet-sleeve, dry-sump design, an 80 x 64.5-mm (3.15 x 2.54-inch) bore and stroke, and a 9:1 compression ratio. Four chain-driven cams actuated two valves per cylinder above hemispherical combustion chambers, and fuel was fed by Spica mechanical injection. The resulting SAE-rated 230 hp and 199 lb-ft of torque were channeled through a ZF five-speed manual transmission to a limited-slip differential.

The Montreal retained the contemporary 105-series platform’s coil-sprung/tubular-shock suspensions with double wishbones in front and a trailing-arm-located live axle in the rear. Intricately finned 14 x 6.5-inch aluminum-magnesium alloy wheels hid disc brakes. Inside the car, gauges were stylish but hard to read, and a folding “+2” rear seat added a bit of practicality.

The production-ready car made its acclaimed debut at the 1970 Geneva Auto Salon, and assembly began the following year. Alfa Romeo supplied Bertone with chassis upon which the Turin-based coach-builder fitted all-steel bodies, installed interiors, and applied paint; the rolling shells went back to Alfa for mechanicals and final assembly.

Inability to meet emissions and safety regulations meant this model was not sold in the country that inspired its creation and name. According to FCA Heritage, just 3,925 Montreals were built through 1977. While none reached North America as new cars, many have been privately imported in the decades since.

Photo by David LaChance

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: DOHC V-8 with SPICA fuel-injection, 2,563-cc (158.2-cu.in)

Horsepower: 230 @ 6,500 rpm

Torque: 199 lb-ft @ 4,750 rpm

Transmission: Five-speed manual

Suspension: Upper-lower wishbones, coil springs, anti-sway bar/solid rear axle, radius arms, coil springs, anti-sway bar

Brakes: Four-wheel discs

Curb weight: 2,926 pounds

0-60: 7.6 seconds

Top speed: 137 mph

Price new: $7,300 (approximately)

Photo by David LaChance

Just when we think Travis Pastrana has dominated everything on wheels, from jaw-dropping gymkhana stunt driving to motocross and rally racing, the motorsports master jumps on another bucket list dream: to race 200 laps the Daytona 500. He moved closer to this goal by qualifying for the 2023 Daytona 500 this week.

Pastrana has never started a Cup Series race, but he did make 42 starts in the Xfinity Series during 2012 and 2013. In 2013 he also reached four top ten Xfinity finishes, placed ninth at Richmond, and won the pole at Talladega. Most recently, he accomplished five Truck Series starts in 2020. He has proven that he can go fast on two or four wheels, on pavement and on dirt, even during death-defying stunts. When his sponsor, Black Rifle Coffee Company, pushed him to reflect on what he wanted to tackle next, his reply was, “Well… The Daytona 500.”

Being the dream chaser that Pastrana is, he didn’t waste any time. Despite having less stock car experience than others in the field, he strapped in to win his place on Wednesday. Pastrana raced alongside other drivers who dedicated their lives to rising up in the NASCAR ranks. Racing against a 40-car starting grid, he finished second against the six open cars, only to be beat by Jimmie Johnson, seven-time Cup Series champion with 83 wins and 686 career starts, who sped around the track in 50.202-seconds. Pastrana’s time was clocked at 50.802-seconds, topping out at 179.254 MPH in 23XI Racing’s No. 67 Toyota.

As he climbed out of his car after qualifying, the media captured the team’s celebrations. “We just qualified for the Daytona 500! You’re the freaking best!” Pastrana gushed to the crew. “Thank you, thank you! Yes! Hot diggity-dog!”

Pastrana’s new venture will bring many new supporters to the NASCAR playing field. Sunday’s main event will air on Fox, while most of the week will broadcast on FS1.

Dredging up older predictions about the future in automotive form can prove both entertaining and enlightening, and Richard Bartrop suggested another one to look at: the 1967 Triumph XL90. “Presented as the car of 25 years hence, it was almost a dead ringer for a Chevy minivan from 1992,” he wrote.

Indeed, the XL90 looked futuristic and thus nothing like Triumph’s contemporary crop of cars. With its one-box format and heavily sloped front, it did have the look of a Dustbuster U-body minivan—itself often described as futuristic—but it was meant more as a prediction of what advanced technologies might be incorporated into automobiles rather than the look and shape of them. Designed in-house by Triumph engineer Ed Pepall, the XL90 ostensibly included a “sealed-for-life” drivetrain, pneumatic controls for suspension and brakes, “handgrip” steering, ultrasonic windshield cleaning, and automatic guidance and speed control.

Exactly what any of those meant or how practical those features would be is anybody’s guess. As Claus Ebberfeld at viaRetro noted, Triumph’s suggested powerplant for the XL90 was its own 2-liter six-cylinder, an engine that would not easily fit anywhere in Pepall’s design or go more than a few thousand miles without servicing. Then again, if the drivetrain is sealed, then the lifetime of the drivetrain becomes the lifetime of the vehicle, and perhaps the XL90 was (and all cars of the early 1990s were) intended to be far more disposable than vehicles of the late Sixties.

Automation and driver-assist systems have long been fantasies for automotive prognosticators, and given that experimental versions of those technologies appeared in British Leyland demonstration vehicles by 1971, it’s likely those systems were already in development when Pepall designed the XL90. Pneumatic suspension was nothing new either, though perhaps Pepall envisioned a less costly and less problem-prone system than Cadillac’s late-Fifties Air Dome feature.

The windshield cleaning system sounds intriguing. Ostensibly, the windshield would vibrate at a specific ultrasonic frequency that would shake off raindrops and dirt and make windshield wipers unnecessary. Makes sense that a British carmaker would be on the forefront of rain-deflecting technology. To our knowledge, nothing along those lines has been proposed or tried in other concept or production vehicles—windshield wipers are a proven technology, after all—though McLaren claimed to do something similar with the windshieldless Elva and its Air Active Management System which directed a stream of air claimed to protect the occupants of the open-topped car.

Ultimately, the XL90 proved to be little more than idle speculation. While it appeared at the Earls Court Motor Show that year, perhaps more people saw it in a print advertisement in which the company billed it as “the shape of Triumph to come,” claiming that “its ideas are so advanced that many of them are still only sketches in a designer’s notebook. Or experiments in the earliest stages of laboratory research. But all of them could be—and probably will be—the talking points of Triumph cars at the Motor Show of 1992.”

Nobody ever saw the XL90 as a full-size vehicle. Instead, it was a scale model cleverly photographed to look larger. That model today exists in the British Motor Museum in England.

1955 Buick Super Convertible for sale

Quintessentially American, and one of the great and abiding brand names in the USA, the Buick marque started as long ago as 1899, set up by David Dunbar Buick. At Beverly Hills Car Club at the moment we have an example of his heritage:

A distinguished 1955 Buick Super Convertible featuring body by Fisher and finished in a beautiful color scheme of Cherokee Red complemented with a matching color interior.

1955 Buick Super Convertible interior

But who was David Buick, the founder of this legendary marque? There is something rather brusque about the name, so it is almost not surprising to learn that Buick was a Scottish-born American inventor, born on 17 September 1854, in Arbroath, Scotland.

At the age of 2, he had moved with his family to the United States, where they settled in Detroit. Working at first in a plumbing company, he and a partner took over the business in 1882. Quickly David Buick demonstrated acumen as an inventor, his several innovations including a lawn sprinkler and a method for permanently coating cast iron with vitreous enamel, allowing the production of ‘white’ baths at a lower cost, a method still used today.

1955 Buick Super Convertible rear view

-Alex Manos, Owner – Beverly Hills Car Club

Looking to Sell Your Classic Car? Let’s Talk!

Date: circa 1980s

Location: Paris, France

Source: David Hermansen, via Ball State University Digital Media Repository

What do you see here?

Today’s find brings us back to the days of big hair, roadies and rock and roll, but with a bit of modern flair. This dual axle custom van has been displayed at the Museum of Automotive Icons, Inc. for the last four years, but it’s time for it to hit the road, so the museum can make room for new additions.

“This custom-built 1980 Dodge B-series van is the epitome of artistic flair,” the curator of the Museum of Automotive Icons, Inc. states. “It’s airbrushed medieval-fantasy-themed exterior sets it apart from others, and the interior is just as outrageous with a full-length bar, numerous insulated ice bins, richly textured bench seats that line the entire driver’s side and rear of the van, dual flatscreen TVs, dual air conditioning units, and LED and fiber optic lighting. Its massive sound system rounds out the multimedia functions, making this Dodge the ultimate party machine.”

The majestic mural set above sparkling chrome side pipes is what custom van dreams are made of. Fully armored knights, horses, castles, wizards, and mysterious orbs surrounded by billowing fiery clouds create a powerful fantasy land that is a beacon for attention. The overall condition of the paint is reported to be in excellent condition, with some minor scratches and paint chips on the lower rocker areas.

According to the listing, the odometer shows just 3,262 miles. It has only been driven 15 miles since in the museum’s possession. The 360-ci V-8 appears to be the original engine, though that has not been confirmed. Minor modifications include an aluminum intake manifold, headers, and, of course, those sweet side-pipes. The seller states that the van runs, drives and shifts smoothly through all the gears as it should, as shown in the below video.

1980 Dodge Custom Van

youtu.be

The luxurious, party-ready interior is fully functional, including color changing fiber-optic lights, working sunroof and power windows, dual flat screen TVs, dual air conditioning units, and massive sound system. The full-length bar holds insulated ice bins to keep the party going.

Who will be the next to own this club VIP room on wheels? Click this link for more details and photos.

Date: circa early 1980s

Location: Muncie, Indiana

Source: Marie Fraser, via Ball State University Digital Media Repository

What do you see here?

Photo by Marie Fraser