Retro Perfection (from someone a bit tired of retro design)

"BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast." (boxerfanatic)
03/19/2019 at 11:18 • Filed to: Alfa Romeo, Alfa, Montreal, Concept Cars

How have I not seen this before? If this is digital fakery, it is first rate, to appear to be at a live car show.

The video is from AutoBild, and in a foreign language, and mostly talks about the original Montreal.

I know Alfa has done many different retro concepts, from Duettotanta, to TZ2, 6C, Diva, and the Disco Volante.

I had not seen this Montreal remake... and it is fantastic.

I’d almost second-mortage my house to have a car that gorgeous in the garage, like keeping a mechanical mistress. It would probably end as badly as the metaphor suggests.

Imagine a car like that, with performance-oriented PHEV hybrid drive, like BMW i8, but with the engine/ regen in the front, and a tesla-style electric drive rear axle, and 20KWh or so worth of battery capacity for a bit of full-speed electric-only range, cruise charging on the highway, or combined-output performan ce mode.

Why can’t gorgeous be attainable and enjoyable?

DISCUSSION (6)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
03/19/2019 at 12:16

|LED headlight shutter mimicry

It, uh, well, that...

Kinja'd!!!

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
03/19/2019 at 12:38

yep.

LED headlights don’t need that much real estate, and the areas under the “slats” are probably enough.

LED markers/DRL/signals are always used to create visual trademarks

It couldn’t pass as a Montreal revival without that visual effect

I t fits right into the fender arch to hood transition.

This looks like diffused LED strip tech from a year or two ago... current fashion would probably be optic lens individually projected emitters in the headlights, and optic-pipe edge-lit DRL/marker/signal elements with sequential lighting effects or something, to compete with the likes of Audi.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
03/19/2019 at 12:51

I wonder what the actual effective center height of the headlights is - because it’s possible that this would fall below US headlight standards minimums.

I like the design, but I think it needs a little more suggested roundness to the headlights under the “ shutters”, and a little more dark contrast area , I would scale the shutters back a little bit, and I’d reduce the Mako Shark-pointyness of the nose a tad. It’s got just a teensy bit too much “’70s fiberglass kit car” going on, and the scoop pops out in a way that I’m not sure works. Little stuff, though. Fine tuning to try to hit the harmony of the original design.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
03/19/2019 at 13:28

stupid regulations... I know headlights need to be up off the ground, but seems like there are far too many headlights TOO HIGH than a problem with them being this low on a sleek car.

See, I kind of like the re-interpretation of the four headlights, as four horizontal slots, (sort of like Duettotanta’s LED headlights), and the mimimalism of the grille and the bumper emphasizing how low and pointed the nose is... and I do like that... as you referenced, to the Mako Shark/C3 Corvette (although Pontiac Banshee concept did it before that.)

I could see the NACA duct being fully submerged, rather than having the step up above the hood surface.... but I like it as is, the raised hood center isn’t over-exaggerated, and on cars like Corvette, Jag E-type, classic Nissan Z, etc... and with the hood being the low surface between the fenders and the raised center section, again emphasizes how LOW this hoodline is.

It has a proper glass roof non-transition, unlike LC500, Mu stang, Porsche 991/992, and others, where the roof and windshield don’t share side-lines.

It has the Bertone trademark horizontal vents. It has a bit of a waistline between the doors and rear fender arches, and I can imagine that the back retains, and maybe even better integrates a rear fastback hatch like the original Montreal.

I actually quite like this design, as I also like the neo-Stratos design, that are absolutely identifiable from their origins, but aren’t strict re-creations, and don’t stick TOO rigidly to the original details, like having to have the headlights be rounded, or having to stick to 70's proportions... it adheres to the theme, while incorporating new details.

There have been concepts of new DeThomaso Panteras and such that stick so close to the details, they look like resto-mods of the original car shape, not a NEW iteration of the theme.

Mustang, Camaro, Challenger, Beetle, Thunderbird, and other retro designs have been done for so long now, and are so doggedly tied to the original design that they almost refuse stylistic innovation, and even to the point where Camaro makes huge compromises in visibility to preserve a specific look, rather than just preserving a theme.

Montreal was innovative styling and mechanicals in it’s day. Those other cars for the most part were originally designed in *the now* of their age, and looking to their future, where current versions are designed firmly in their past.

This Montreal concept looks futuristic, while having the original’s legacy . I would prefer hybrid drive for range and refuelable use cases out here in the wide open and sometimes intemperate spaces , but as a battery electric vehicle, or a PHEV with a small engine behind the front axle, there is really nothing that prevents it from having a hoodline that low and sleek. So many modern cars look about as streamlined as a barn door... like the bulge in the hood of a Lexus RC-F. Thankfully LC500 is much better.

Tapas > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
03/19/2019 at 15:13

Good render. Does not need LED shutters.

Terrible “video”.

pip bip - choose Corrour > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
03/20/2019 at 04:57

i like it