MBM Tourismo
| MBM | |
|---|---|
 MBM Tourismo in Peter Monteverdi's Automobile Museum
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| MBM Tourismo | |
| Production period: | 1962 |
| Class : | Sports car |
| Body versions : | Coupe |
| Engines: |
Petrol engine : 1.1 liters |
| Length: | 3350 mm |
| Width: | 1500 mm |
| Height: | 1440 mm |
| Wheelbase : | 2030 mm |
| Empty weight : | 1100 kg |
The Tourismo was a compact street sports car that the Swiss racing car manufacturer MBM Automobile built in 1962. The car was based on a British design and was only produced in very small numbers. Its creator Peter Monteverdi produced high-priced upper-class vehicles from 1967.
background
Peter Monteverdi ran a company in Binningen in the Swiss canton of Basel-Landschaft that had developed from a repair shop for trucks into a successful automobile trade in the 1950s. Monteverdi had been a Ferrari concessionaire since 1957 and later also took over agents for Lancia , Bentley , Jensen and BMW . In his free time he drove regularly in automobile races, mostly in Formula Junior and hill climbs . From 1960 onwards he used vehicles he had designed himself, which he presented and offered for sale under the brand name MBM (“Monteverdi Basel Motors”). From 1960 to 1962, 18 monopostos were built , most of which were equipped with a two-stroke engine from DKW.
In 1962, in addition to the racing car, MBM presented the Tourismo, a closed two-seater that was suitable for use in road traffic. Series production of the vehicle was planned, but could not be realized. Until the Monteverdi High Speed 375 , presented in 1967 , the Tourismo was the last road vehicle that Monteverdi constructed.
technology
The Tourismo had a body that rested on a tubular space frame that , according to the factory, weighed only 22 kg . The structure was made of plastic. It was designed as a two-door hatchback coupe. It was powered by a four-cylinder four-stroke engine taken from the range of the British Ford Anglia . Monteverdi had already used such an engine for one of his Formula Junior racing cars (Type C). While there, however, he had modified the stroke and the compression ratio for the purpose of increasing performance, he adopted the British engine for the Tourismo Coupé, structurally unchanged. Only the mixture preparation was redesigned: Instead of the standard Solex downdraft carburetor, Monteverdi installed a double carburetor from Weber . According to the factory, this should increase the engine output from 45 to 85 hp. The engine was installed behind the front axle. A standard four-speed gearbox of the Ford Anglia transferred the power to the rear wheels.
MBM used numerous technical components from high-volume manufacturers. In addition to the engine and the gearbox, the rear rigid axle and the brakes came from Ford. They corresponded to the components of the British mid-range Consul model . The rack and pinion steering, on the other hand, was taken over by Renault Dauphine .
The Tourismo was 3.35 long and 1.10 m high.
A Heron replica?
Peter Monteverdi gave the impression of having designed and built the Tourismo himself. The work history published in 1980 and commissioned by Monteverdi states that Monteverdi attended an “international racing car show” in London in 1960. There he saw a number of remarkable plastic bodies that gave him the idea of building a small GT car for use on normal roads: “That was the hour of birth of the MBM Tourismo”. The plastic body was manufactured in Great Britain according to Peter Monteverdi's specifications. When the vehicle was presented, there was no evidence of any other author.
In the automotive literature, however, there has been agreement for some years that the MBM Tourismo was actually based on the construction of the British Heron Europa , which Monteverdi had essentially adopted. The Greenwich- based company Heron Plastics had been producing the Europa as a kit car since 1961 , which was to be built on the basis of the Ford Anglia. The scope of delivery included a plastic body that looked very similar to that of the MBM Tourismo with the exception of a few details. The technology of the Europa, like that of the Tourismo, was designed for the Ford Anglia. The dimensions of the Tourismo also corresponded to those of the Heron. Observers therefore assume that Monteverdi had a European kit assembled in his workshop, possibly with some changes in detail, and that his plans were to sell the model as a finished vehicle under his name.
production
Monteverdi initially planned to mass-produce the Tourismo. MBM had sales brochures printed in which the Tourismo was described in English as a “dwarf with the acceleration of a giant”. The extent to which series production was planned is unclear. The factory chronicle speaks of an expected circulation of five vehicles, in the contemporary press 100 copies were mentioned. In fact, series production did not materialize. The factory chronicle claims that the Tourismo built in 1961 remained a one-off, while others consider it possible to produce two or three vehicles.
literature
- Roger Gloor, CL Wagner: Monteverdi. History of a Swiss car brand. Self-published by Monteverdi Automobile, Binningen-Basel 1980, OCLC 636862865 .
- Steve Hole: AZ of kit cars. The definitive encyclopaedia of the UK's kit-car industry since 1949 . Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2012, ISBN 978-1-84425-677-8 .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Roger Gloor, CL Wagner: Monteverdi. History of a Swiss car brand. Self-published by Monteverdi Automobile, p. 123.
- ^ Roger Gloor, CL Wagner: Monteverdi. History of a Swiss car brand. Self-published by Monteverdi Automobile, p. 121.
- ↑ a b Auto Revue. No. 11/1962 of March 15, 1962, p. 11.
- ↑ a b Presentation of the MBM Tourismo on the website www.anglia-models.co.uk (accessed on February 24, 2014).
- ↑ Heron Plastics' sales advertisement depicting Europe (accessed on February 26, 2014).
- Jump up ↑ Steve Hole: AZ of kit cars. The definitive encyclopaedia of the UK's kit-car industry since 1949 . Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2012, ISBN 978-1-84425-677-8 , p. 120.