A Breath of Fresh Air- Alfa Romeo's exotic, V8-powered Montreal was like nothing the marque had made before, but can it compare with a Porsche masterpiece, the 911S 2.4?

The stereotype of the ItaloGermanic automotive rivalry is that the Latin car will be brilliant to drive, but poorly built and ergonomically flawed, while the Teutonic will be the opposite. Yet these 2+2 sports coupés both ran against orthodoxy. In the Montreal, Alfa Romeo created an outlandish-looking two-door more comfortable, more powerful and more refined than anything it had produced for decades. Meanwhile, Porsche continued to refine its back-to-front, austere and increasingly aged 911. Neither took a traditional development path, but both created thrilling and individual cars that have echoed through the decades.

- By Charlie Calderwood - Photography by Max Eldenson

The stereotype of the ItaloGermanic automotive rivalry is that the Latin car will be brilliant to drive, but poorly built and ergonomically flawed, while the Teutonic will be the opposite. Yet these 2+2 sports coupés both ran against orthodoxy. In the Montreal, Alfa Romeo created an outlandish-looking two-door more comfortable, more powerful and more refined than anything it had produced for decades. Meanwhile, Porsche continued to refine its back-to-front, austere and increasingly aged 911. Neither took a traditional development path, but both created thrilling and individual cars that have echoed through the decades.

Enthusiasts are in the unfamiliar position of having to thank American legislature for this celebrated edition of the 911, the 1972-'73 2.4 S. Tightening Federal and Californian emissions standards, coupled with a worldwide trend towards phasing out lead content in fuels, meant that Porsche had to increase the capacity of its previously 2.2-litre flat-six to maintain power levels. Compression was reduced from 9.8:1 to 8.5:1, cutting NOx emissions and lowering the octane requirement of the fuel, while a slight detune reduced the amount of unburnt hydrocarbons produced.

On their own these changes would have been similar in effect to the first wave of the 'malaise era' in the USA, wherein once-mighty V8s became increasingly vapid through the 1970s.