Monteverdi shark 450

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Monteverdi
Monteverdi shark 450
Monteverdi shark 450
Shark 450
Production period: 1970-1973
Class : Sports car
Body versions : Coupe
Engines: Petrol engines :
7.0 liters
(287–331 kW)
Length: 4350 mm
Width: 1795 mm
Height: 1020 mm
Wheelbase : 2620 mm
Empty weight : 1756 kg
successor Monteverdi Hai 650 F1
The chassis of the Monteverdi Hai 450 and the wooden model for the assembly (background).

The Monteverdi Hai 450 is a two-seater mid-engine coupe from the Swiss car manufacturer Monteverdi , which caused a sensation in the 1970s for its sleek body and high performance. From 1970 the Hai 450 supplemented the model range of the Basel company, which had started producing exclusive luxury vehicles three years earlier with the High Speed ​​375 series . As there, Monteverdi combined uncomplicated American drive technology with a handcrafted European-style body for the Hai 450. Between 1970 and 1973, two versions of the sports car, known as the Hai 450 SS and Hai 450 GTS, were made, which differed slightly in terms of technology and dimensions. Monteverdi initially only made one copy of each version. Almost 20 years later, however, Peter Monteverdi , the creator of the Hai 450, had two more vehicles made, which are known as factory replicas.

concept

Unlike the High Speed ​​375 Coupés, the Hai 450 was designed as a mid-engine coupe. It had a tight, two-door hatchback body with pop-up headlights. According to Monteverdi, the development of the shark was a response to the Mercedes-Benz C 111 , which had been presented at the IAA in Frankfurt in 1969 and had attracted considerable attention there.

The shark rested on a steel frame made of square tubes, which was manufactured by Stahlbau AG in Muttenz . The chassis consisted of two triangular wishbones of unequal length at the front with coil springs, while Monteverdi used a De-Dion axle with a Watt linkage and coil springs at the rear . An American eight-cylinder Chrysler engine was installed in front of the rear axle . A manually shiftable five-speed transmission from ZF , which was also used in the Maserati Bora and the De Tomaso Pantera , was provided for the power transmission . Allegedly, it turned out to be too weak and was later replaced by a gearbox from Ford USA that was designed for the Ford GT 40 .

The body of the flat, elongated sports car was designed by Peter Monteverdi , owner of Automobile Monteverdi, according to his own statements in 1970. Whether this is correct is doubtful; According to another representation, the design goes back to the Italian body construction company Fissore , which had been producing the bodies of the Gran Turismo High Speed ​​375 models for Monteverdi since 1969 . In Fissore the British designer had Trevor Fiore a draft for a new model of the French sports car brand in the late 1960s, Alpine developed which later than Alpine A 310 was sold. According to Fiores, on the occasion of a visit to Fissore, Peter Monteverdi had seen Fiores designs for Alpine and copied their striking lines. In recent press reports, fundamental similarities between the Alpine A310 and the Monteverdi Hai 450 are increasingly being conceded. A current chronicle of the Alpine brand also sees considerable similarities between the Hai 450 and the Alpine A310, but leaves the question of who was the author of the design open.

The technical layout and the limitations, which resulted from the tightly cut shape of the car, justified some shortcomings of the Hai 450. The mounting position of the engine was, due to the shape of the tubular frame, very high. This resulted in a high center of gravity that was opposed to a sporty driving style. The engine was not accessible from the outside. It protruded between the two bucket seats into the driver's compartment and restricted the freedom of movement of the driver's right arm, so that the shift lever could only be operated to a limited extent. The very low height of the vehicle also forced a stooped sitting position, in which hardly any driver could endure for a long time. Overall, the passenger space in the Hai 450 was too tight. Monteverdi's sales manager later confirmed that it was hard to sit in the first version of the shark.

Versions

Shark 450 SS

Monteverdi Hai 450 SS (factory replica with extended wheelbase)

The Hai 450 SS, presented in 1970, was powered by an eight-cylinder, seven-liter Chrysler 426 Street Hemi engine that delivered around 425 SAE horsepower . According to Monteverdi, the power was 450 SAE PS, which corresponded to about 360 PS according to DIN measurements . The curb weight measured 1756 kg, a good 450 kg more than the factory specification.

Monteverdi stated a top speed of over 290 km / h for the Hai 450 SS; The car should accelerate from 0 to 100 km / h in 4.9 seconds, and the kilometer with a standing start should be completed in 23.9 seconds. The Belgian racing driver and tester Paul Frère , on the other hand, achieved significantly lower values ​​on a test drive: 270.6 km / h, 0-100 km / h in 6.9 seconds and needed 26.1 seconds for one kilometer. These values ​​were also achieved by a contemporary Porsche 911 S 2.4 .

Hai 450 GTS

Monteverdi Hai 450 GTS (original vehicle from 1973)

Three years after the Hai 450 SS, Monteverdi presented a further developed version of the mid-engine sports car in 1973, which was called the Hai 450 GTS. It differed from the 450 SS primarily in that the wheelbase was 50 mm longer, which benefited the space available in the passenger cell. The then sales manager Monteverdis later explained: “The second shark was better. You could sit in it ”. The engine of the 450 GTS was also new: it was powered by a 6.974 liter eight-cylinder engine from Chrysler (type Hemi 426), which was now equipped with aluminum cylinder heads. Monteverdi put the power of the engine at 450 DIN-PS at 5000 / min, the maximum torque was 586 Nm at 4000 / min. The acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h took place within 4.6 seconds according to the factory specifications. In the test, according to Auto Zeitung, a top speed of 280 km / h and 0-100 km / h was achieved in 5.5 seconds. The vehicle was sold for 142,000 Swiss francs , around 150% of the price of a Lamborghini Countach . It was equipped with headrests, electric windows and air conditioning.

Presentation and effect in public

The Monteverdi Hai 450 SS was presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 1970. The car caused quite a stir in public and in the press. Newspaper reports contain indications that the Swiss national anthem was sung by passers-by when the car appeared in downtown Basel. In practice, however, it was a problematic car. The vehicle repeatedly collapsed in traffic in Basel and had to be brought back to the Monteverdi plant by truck. A former Monteverdi employee reported that the shark suffered multiple sheet metal damage during test drives and had to be repeatedly and extensively repaired.

distribution

Monteverdi Hai 450 GTS (front; factory replica) and Hai 450 SS (rear; factory replica)

In the early 1970s, Peter Monteverdi claimed that the Hai 450 would be produced in series or "in small series". This claim was sustained into the 1980s. That is not true. In fact, Monteverdi only built one of the 450 SS and 450 GTS in 1970 and 1973. Series production did not materialize because, for financial reasons, the company was unable to remedy the structural defects of the vehicle and develop the shark to readiness for series production.

History of the two original vehicles

It was unclear for a long time how many models of the Hai 450 SS were built. Monteverdi showed the press and at exhibitions repeatedly differently painted vehicles (sometimes red, sometimes purple, sometimes silver), which also differed in details such as the position of the door handles and the indicators (they sometimes corresponded to those of the Fiat Dino Spyder , sometimes they were in narrow grille), so it was generally assumed that several different Hai-type vehicles existed. It was only a few decades later that it became known that only a single example of the 450 SS had been produced, a vehicle with the chassis number TNT 101. All of the Hai 450 SS publicly shown in the 1970s were one and the same car that Monteverdi simply repainted several times and detailed changed to suggest series production. The TNT 101 went on sale. The car belonged to several South German red light big names one after the other before it stood in the yard of German workshops for a few years and was finally sold to a collector in the USA in 1982. In 2006 the car was fully restored and returned to its original condition. In this context, it was given a striking purple paint. The car was initially in the USA before it was sold by the Bonhams auction house for € 398,000 on January 23, 2010 during the Paris Retromobile.

The Hai 450 GTS also remained a one-off. It has the chassis number TNT 102. It is now in Monteverdi's car museum in Basel.

Factory replicas

Around 1990 - at a time when vintage and classic sports cars were getting top prices on the global market - Peter Monteverdi had two more copies of the shark made. The trigger for this was a customer from the Middle East who ordered a replica of a shark. In the hope of further business, Peter Monteverdi had a second replica built next to it. Both vehicles were assembled at LITLA in Turin . One model received the chassis number TNT 103; optically it corresponds to the Hai 450 GTS (TNT 102), while the second with the chassis number TNT 100 is externally a copy of the Hai 450 SS, but also has the long wheelbase. In the end, Monteverdi couldn't sell any of the replicas.

Importance of the shark models

The Monteverdi Hai 450 were primarily used as exhibits in the 1970s. The Hai 450 SS and later the Hai 450 GTS were shown regularly at trade fairs and exhibitions until 1977 and attracted potential customers. The advertising effectiveness of the Hai 450 will continue - at least in Switzerland - into the 21st century. The Swiss bank UBS made the Hai 450 the subject of an advertising campaign in 2010, which - also with reference to the corresponding character traits of Peter Monteverdi - was about perseverance and perseverance.

The Hai got an indirect successor of the same name in the early 1990s with the Hai 650 F1, which is based on Formula 1 technology .

literature

  • Wolfgang Blaube : Hai Live. In: Oldtimer Markt 2/2006. (Documentation about the Monteverdi Hai 450 SS)
  • Kevin Brazendale: Encyclopedia Automobile from Alfa Romeo to Zagato. Weltbild, Augsburg 2000, ISBN 3-8289-5384-0
  • Roger Gloor, Carl Wagner: Monteverdi - Development of a Swiss Brand. Factory-supported chronicle of the Monteverdi brand 1980
  • Daniel Hug: We only sold the Monteverdi Hai once. The story behind the Swiss car in UBS advertising. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) on Sunday, October 19, 2010.
  • Hartmut Lehbrink, Frank Oleski, Rainer W. Schlegelmilch: Gericke's 100 - 100 years of sports cars . Düsseldorf 2005, ISBN 3-938118-00-8 .
  • auto motor und sport : handicrafts . 13/1978. (Presentation of the Monteverdi program including the Hai 450 SS and short biography of Peter Monteverdi)

Web links

Commons : Monteverdi Hai 450  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gloor, Wagner: Monteverdi, p. 181.
  2. ↑ Gloor, Wagner: Monteverdi. P. 181.
  3. ↑ Kevin Brazendale: Encyclopedia Automobile, p. 455
  4. ↑ Oldtimer Markt, issue 2/2006, p. 10 ff.
  5. ↑ Gloor, Wagner: Monteverdi, p. 181. The drawings of the shark 450 exhibited in Monteverdi's Basel Automobile Museum still bear the note “Copyright by Peter Monteverdi” in 2011.
  6. ↑ Quoted from Oldtimer Markt, issue 2/2006, p. 10 ff.
  7. ↑ a b c d e f NZZ on Sunday October 19, 2010 .
  8. ↑ See Bernard Sara, Gilles Labrouche: Alpine. La passion bleue . ETAI (Antony) 2011. ISBN 978-2-7268-9549-8 .
  9. ↑ Automobil Revue of November 12, 1970: "The shark does not particularly appreciate wagging and rapid lane change attempts at high speeds".
  10. ↑ Kevin Brazendale: Encyclopedia Automobile, p. 455
  11. ↑ Oldtimer Markt, issue 2/2006, p. 10 ff.
  12. ↑ quoted from Oldtimer Markt, issue 2/2006, p. 10 ff.
  13. ↑ a b Gloor, Wagner: Monteverdi, p. 201
  14. ↑ Auto Zeitung 12/2004 . Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  15. ↑ Quoted from Gericke's 100 - 100 Years of Sports Cars, p. 285
  16. ↑ What does the car of the future look like? - Interview with Peter Monteverdi in: PRO No. 6 from May 1, 1971.
  17. ↑ Gloor and Wagner refer to the Hai 450 in their brand biography as a “mid-engine coupé that can be bought”, thus suggesting series production. See there p. 201.
  18. ↑ Monteverdi's long-time partner and colleague Paul Berger confirmed this to the NZZ in 2010. See NZZ on Sunday October 19, 2010.
  19. ↑ Oldtimer Markt, issue 2/2006, p. 10 ff.
  20. ↑ Oldtimer Markt, Issue 3/2010, p. 149
  21. ↑ UBS full-page advertisement with a picture of a Monteverdi Hai 450 SS  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on March 20, 2011).@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.persoenlich.com