Monteverdi High Speed 375
| Monteverdi | |
|---|---|
 Monteverdi High Speed 375 / L with Fissore body
|
|
| 375 L / 375 S / Berlinetta / 375/4 | |
| Production period: | 1967-1976 |
| Class : | Upper class |
| Body versions : | Coupé , sedan , cabriolet |
| Engines: |
Otto engines : 7.0–7.2 liters (250–287 kW) |
| Length: | 4610-5310 mm |
| Width: | 1790-1795 mm |
| Height: | 1230-1330 mm |
| Wheelbase : | 2490-3180 mm |
| Empty weight : | 1700-1940 kg |
From 1967 to 1976 , the Swiss automobile manufacturer Monteverdi sold a range of sports cars with different bodies under the name Monteverdi High Speed 375 . The high-speed series comprised several coupes, a convertible version and a sedan. The model family also includes the Coupé Berlinetta and the Cabriolet Palm Beach . The Monteverdi High Speeds are rare and high-priced classics 40 years after production was discontinued.
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, MBM presented the MBM Tourismo as a supplement to the racing cars , a closed two-seater that was suitable for use in road traffic. While Peter Monteverdi gave the impression of having designed the MBM Tourismo himself, there is now consensus in the specialist literature that the car was identical to the British Heron Europa . Monteverdi took over the Heron, a kit vehicle, in individual parts and issued it as a separate vehicle after assembly.
After Monteverdi had ended relations with Ferrari and Jensen, he developed the idea of designing similarly designed luxury vehicles and selling them under his own name. This resulted in the High Speed 375, which was sold from 1967 to 1976.
Conception
The Monteverdi High Speed 375 combined an elegant Italian body with uncomplicated American high-volume technology. This concept wasn't new. This idea had already been tried out at Facel Vega in France in the 1950s ; in the 1960s, brands such as Iso Rivolta and de Tomaso in Italy and AC , Bristol , Gordon-Keeble and Jensen in Great Britain entered this market niche.
Most of the time, the Monteverdi models of the High Speed series are described as straightforward from a technical point of view. They were based on a box frame made of square tubes. Monteverdi attributed the design of the frame to himself; The frame was manufactured by Stahlbau AG in Muttenz in the canton of Basel-Landschaft , which, according to some information, was at least temporarily part of Monteverdi. A Chrysler V8 was regularly used as the engine, and its output was said to be 280 kW (381 hp). This explains the number following the vehicle name. However, if this power peak was actually reached, the values were in accordance with the SAE standard; the corresponding DIN values were about 35% lower. On the other hand, the big block engines from Chrysler, especially with components from Chrysler's Mopar department, can be brought to far higher performance values without major problems. For example, a 375 L with approx. 330 kW was offered for sale in Switzerland some time ago.
The series
Between 1967 and 1976 Monteverdi presented a large number of variants of its high-speed concept. All of these models were uniformly designated by the factory as High Speed 375; they were each given name additions for coupés on standard wheelbase, short coupés, convertibles and sedans.
In general, two series can be distinguished. The first series, produced from 1967 to 1968, comprised a handful of coupés, the design of which came from Pietro Frua in Turin and the body of which was built in the Frua works. The second, far more extensive series debuted in the summer of 1968 and ended in 1976. These are vehicles that were largely (but not exclusively) built by the Carrozzeria Fissore in Savigliano. The first vehicles built by Carrozzeria Fissore still had a body in the Frua design; From 1969 there was an independent Fissore body, from which various modifications were derived.
The Frua models
The High Speed 375 S (Frua)
The first model, the High Speed 375 S, was a two-seater coupe with a body designed by Pietro Frua in Turin . It was no coincidence that the generous lines with the long front section were reminiscent of the impressive and immensely successful Maserati Ghibli, which had been designed by Ghia shortly before . On the other hand, there were some details on the Monteverdi that took up features of Frua's earlier work. There were obvious similarities, especially with the Maserati Mistral and the British AC 428 . Some sources claim that the similarities go so far that individual components of these cars, such as glass panels and doors, are interchangeable.
The High Speed 375 S with Frua body was presented in September 1967 at the 43rd IAA at the Auto Becker stand and received very positive reviews. The Zürcher Zeitung Blick , for example, saw it as "the most beautiful shapes that ever saw the light of day between the Alps and the English Channel". In addition to the elegant body and the solid handling, the luxurious and well-made interior was particularly popular. Regular production, which was based on the division of labor, began in 1967. First, the workers in Monteverdi's Binningen workshop provided the chassis with the motor and drive technology. The ready-to-drive chassis was then delivered to Turin, where Frua put on the handcrafted body and completed the car. The vehicle, which was ready for registration, was then returned to Monteverdi.
In this way, a total of twelve coupés were created in the first six months of the collaboration between Monteverdi and Frua.
The High Speed 375 L
In parallel to the regular two-seater coupés, Frua developed an extended version on behalf of Monteverdi, which was designed as a 2 + 2-seater. The side line and the roof section had been changed considerably. The prototype was shown to the public in 1968. He stayed with Monteverdi in the factory. The 2 + 2-seater did not go on sale in this form. Frua kept a second 2 + 2 body; it was delivered a year later to the British sports car manufacturer AC , which in turn had a coupé designed by Frua and a Spyder in its range with the AC 428 model . The remaining Monteverdi body was sold as a one-off under the designation AC 429 with minor modifications, including the installation of semi-concealed headlights in the style of Iso Lele .
The high speed 400
At the same time as the 375 S, Monteverdi announced in its first sales brochure the production of an even more powerful model with a 7.0-liter eight-cylinder from Chrysler, which should produce 294 kW (400 hp). Here it remained with the announcement; no such model with a Frua body was ever made.
The end of the collaboration with Frua
In the spring of 1968, Peter Monteverdi considered a significant increase in annual output; around 100 vehicles per year were planned. These dimensions did not correspond to the efficiency of Atelier Frua, which was based on pure manual work and had no capacity for such a high vehicle output. Frua then suggested that production should be outsourced to Carrozzeria Maggiora , where a number of Maserati models had already been made and there was capacity for partially mechanical production. Monteverdi, however, refused this step because it involved high investments, especially for press tools, which the Swiss avoided. Instead, he was looking for another body shop that could handle the purely manual production of the desired quantities. He found this in the Carrozzeria Fissore in Savigliano near Milan, a smaller and less well-known design studio on the northern Italian level that designed the De Tomaso Vallelunga in the 1960s and some DKW models for the South American market and sold through the Veículos company e Máquinas Agrícolas had revised.
From the summer of 1968, Monteverdi had a total of around ten bodies, which corresponded to Pietro Frua's design, manufactured by Carrozzeria Fissore . At the same time, Peter Monteverdi refused to pay royalties to Frua, whereupon the latter had Monteverdi legally forbid the use of his design. Monteverdi then had to have a new body designed, which was available in 1969. Until then, Monteverdi could not sell all of the bodies built by Fissore in the Frua style; the last of these rare models were not sold until 1973.
Pietro Frua used the main features of the Monteverdi 375 in a modified form in other later designs. In 1971 he designed a fastback coupe based on the Dodge Challenger that repeated many of the features of the 375. The Challenger Coupé still exists today and is shown regularly at European exhibitions.
The Fissore models
As a consequence of the legal dispute with Frua, Monteverdi had to set up a new body for his coupé in 1969. On the occasion of this new beginning, Monteverdi changed its concept. Unlike before, the pure two-seater should not be the volume model; rather, various inquiries from prospective buyers had shown that a 2 + 2 coupé on an extended chassis was preferred. Accordingly, the High Speed 375 L was to become the base vehicle in the Monteverdi range. In the next eight years, the bodies were to be produced mainly, but not exclusively, at Fissore in Savigliano. In this case, Fissore received - unlike previously handled at Frua - the pure chassis, which was provided with a body in Savigliano before it was brought back to Binningen, where the Monteverdi mechanics then installed the drive technology. However, individual vehicles were also manufactured by other bodybuilders - possibly in view of the tight capacities at Fissore. Several vehicles are documented that were manufactured by Poccardi and Embo . However, they did not receive an independent body design; rather, only the manual process of body manufacture was shifted to these plants.
The High Speed 375 L
The High Speed 375 L with Fissore body was to become the volume model of the Monteverdi product range. After Safari , albeit by some distance, it is the brand's best-selling type. The proportions of the new body corresponded exactly to the Frua model, but it was designed with an extremely angular design at the front and rear. The front section featured double round headlights framed in heavy chrome, which were later replaced by rectangular broadband headlights in a few cases. The rear lights of the Alfa Romeo Giulia Berlina could be seen. It is not clear who was the author of this draft. Peter Monteverdi claimed to have designed the body himself. Fissore never contested this. It is likely that Fissore worked out the details based on Monteverdi sketches and that Monteverdi ceded the rights to the design, in return for the production order.
In a sales brochure from 1972, Peter Monteverdi emphasized the style of the vehicle and the outstanding performance. In it he described the Monteverdi High Speed 375 L as “today's coupés with tomorrow's technology”.
The German trade magazine auto motor und sport tested a high speed 375 L with a 7.2 liter engine in spring 1972 and determined the following performance:
- Top speed: 229.3 km / h
- 0-100 km / h: 8.2 seconds
- 1 km with a standing start: 28.3 seconds.
The Monteverdi was thus roughly on par with the British Jensen Interceptor , but did not achieve the performance of the Aston Martin V8 or the Maserati Indy and clearly missed the factory specifications.
During the production time, smaller or larger improvements or changes were continuously incorporated into the series. The most striking of these was probably the complete redesign of the dashboard with the 1972/73 year. Until then, with a lot of wood and classic instruments, the Monteverdis was more based on traditional English chic, but now the Monteverdis is presented in a sportier style in a black velor design. However, since the entire high-speed series was crafted individually anyway, it cannot be ruled out that Monteverdi may also adapt certain detailed designs to individual customer requirements.
The High Speed 375 S.
In parallel to the 2 + 2-seater, Monteverdi reactivated its initially presented short chassis for another pure two-seater. This car received a body that was significantly modified. With recessed headlights and six round tail lights, this semi-fastback car was not reminiscent of the Ferrari 365 GT 2 + 2 by chance . The two-seater with a Fissore body was much less successful than the 2 + 2-seater of the 375 L type. Between 1969 and 1971, a total of six short coupés with a Fissore body were produced. One of them now belongs to the extensive car collection of the American talk show host Jay Leno .
In the winter of 1971/72 the 375 S was further developed into the Monteverdi Berlinetta . The tubular frame has been reinforced in favor of improved torsion resistance; the car received a new front section with a narrow radiator grille that spanned the entire width of the car. Monteverdi emphasized the increased passive safety of the Berlinetta.
The High Speed 375 C
In 1971, Monteverdi derived a convertible version called the 375 C from the 375 S with a short chassis. In the literature there are repeated indications that the initiative to create the convertible went back to a paraplegic friend Peter Monteverdi, who wanted a Monteverdi that he could climb alone. Unlike the 375 S, the Cabriolet was not six round taillights, but the lamp units already used in 375 L Alfa Romeo Giulia .
The 375 C, which was initially painted yellow, was presented to the public at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show . The purchase price was stated there as 75,750 Swiss francs. In total, only two copies were made. One was sold to the client, a second remained in the factory and was converted into the Palm Beach Cabriolet in 1974 using body parts from the Monteverdi Berlinetta . Monteverdi later bought the 375 C back; the car is now in Monteverdi's Automobile Museum and is occasionally shown at exhibitions.
The High Speed 375/4
The crowning glory of the high-speed range was a large four-door sedan called the 375/4 .
The vehicle's wheelbase was lengthened to 3.15 meters, the key technical data - especially the drive technology - remained unchanged. While the front section remained the same, four wide-opening doors (with handles from the Fiat 128 ), a sharply drawn roof section and an elongated trunk, the upper edge of which continued the belt line , followed on from the A-pillar . The interior was luxuriously furnished with leather upholstery, air conditioning, electric windows and, if desired, a Sony TV set , and it was also generously dimensioned; the car could be used as a chauffeur-driven limousine without restrictions. Individual copies were accordingly delivered with a partition between the driver and passenger compartments. External details were repeatedly the object of change, and Monteverdi sometimes also followed the customer's request. A late model, for example, was delivered with two rectangular headlights borrowed from the Ford Granada , a matt black grille and rubber-covered bumpers. In addition, after the rear lights of the Alfa Romeo Giulia , which were already known from the 375 L , had been installed, the units of the Triumph TR6 were used in the last models , which had already been seen at Monteverdi's Berlinetta and gave the sedan a more modern appearance.
The following values were achieved in the tests of cars, engines and sports :
- Top speed: 211.8 km / h
- 0-100 km / h: 9.8 seconds
- 0–180 km / h: 34.0 seconds
- 1 km with a standing start: 30.7 seconds.
The Monteverdi was roughly on par with the Mercedes 450 SEL , but did not achieve the performance of the Mercedes 450 SEL 6.9 and clearly missed the factory specifications.
The car was primarily intended as a representative vehicle that was intended to draw public attention to the Monteverdi brand. Many vehicles were sold in the Arab region; The Qatar royal family reportedly acquired no fewer than five 375/4 sedans, which are said to be still in the royal fleet today. One model went to Tokyo, another to Australia and one to Great Britain. Peter Monteverdi repeatedly offered the 375/4 to the Swiss government as a representative vehicle, most recently even for free use. Of course, his request went unheeded; the Swiss government continued to use Cadillac sedans in the 1970s .
The production figures are - as always - unclear. There is much to suggest that 28 copies were made. In the unofficial production statistics of a former Monteverdi driver, which were temporarily published on the Internet, there is the information that a total of 13 copies of the sedan with the chassis numbers 3001 to 3010 and 3111 to 3113 were produced between 1971 and 1973. Two of the cars were right-hand drive. During this time, Carrozzeria Fissore built three, Poccardi eight and Embo two vehicles. However, it can be assumed that further sedans were also manufactured from 1974 onwards. In the fleet of the King of Qatar there is a 375/4, which supposedly was the last to be built in 1978, at a time when the 375/4 was no longer on the official Monteverdi list of offers. This vehicle bears the chassis number 3128. With this in mind, provided that Monteverdi has assigned the chassis numbers consecutively, 28 units will be produced.
Other models
Although they do not explicitly have the addition High Speed in their name, the Berlinetta and Palm Beach models also belong to the High Speed family. They are further developments of earlier Monteverdi constructions that achieved a certain technical independence. In view of the very high selling prices, only a few copies were made.
data sheet
| Monteverdi | 375 p | 400 pp | 375 L | 375/4 | Berlinetta | Hai 450 GTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine: | 8-cylinder V-engine (four-stroke), fork angle 90 ° | |||||
| Displacement: | 7206 cc | 6974 cc | ||||
| Engine type: | Chrysler 440 | Chrysler 426 Hemi | ||||
| Bore × stroke: | 109.7 x 95.25 mm | 107.95 x 95.25 mm | ||||
| Performance at 1 / min: | 279 kW (380 SAE PS) at 4600 |
299 kW (406 SAE PS) at 5000 |
250 kW (340 PS) at 4600 aW seven liters like Berlinetta |
287 kW (390 hp) at 5000 aW 7.2 liters |
331 kW (450 PS) at 5000 |
|
| Max. Torque at 1 / min: | 653 SAE-Nm at 3200 | 657 Nm at 3300 | 572 Nm at 3200 | 584 Nm at 4000 | ||
| Compression: | 10.1: 1 | 10.25: 1 | ||||
| Mixture preparation: | 1 quadruple carburetor | 2 quadruple carburetors | 1 quadruple carburetor | 2 quadruple carburetors | ||
| Valve control: | Overhead valves, rocker arms, central camshaft, chain drive | |||||
| Cooling: | Water cooling | |||||
| Transmission: | 4-speed transmission aW three-speed automatic (Chrysler TorqueFlite) rear-wheel drive |
Three-speed automatic ( TorqueFlite ) (Hemi versions also four-speed gearbox) rear-wheel drive |
4- or 5-speed gearbox aW three-speed automatic (Chrysler TorqueFlite) rear-wheel drive |
ZF 5-speed gearbox | ||
| Front suspension: | Two wishbones of unequal length each, coil springs | |||||
| Rear suspension: | DeDion axle, longitudinal thrust struts, Watt linkage, coil springs | |||||
| Brakes: | Disc brakes all around, servo | |||||
| Steering: | ZF worm steering, some with servo | |||||
| Body: | Sheet steel on a square tube frame | |||||
| Track width front / rear: | 1500/1460 mm | 1500/1450 mm | 1510/1470 mm | 1500/1460 mm | ||
| Wheelbase: | 2510 mm | 2680 mm | 3180 mm | 2500 mm | 2620 mm | |
| Dimensions: | 4600 × 1795 × 1240 mm | 4800 × 1795 × 1270 mm | 5310 × 1790 × 1330 mm | 4610 × 1795 × 1230 mm | 4350 × 1795 × 1020 mm | |
| Empty weight: | 1620 kg | 1680 kg | 1820-1840 kg | 1920-1940 kg | 1700 kg | 1350 kg |
| Maximum speed (factory): | 250 km / h | 270 km / h | 245–260 km / h | 235-250 km / h | 260–290 km / h | 295 km / h |
| 0-100 km / h (factory): | 6 s | 5.5 s | 6.5-6.9 s | 6.9-7.9 s | 5.9-6.5 s | 4.9 s |
| Consumption (liters / 100 kilometers, factory): | 18-23 pp | |||||
literature
Monographs, articles in specialist books
- Roger Gloor, Carl Wagner: Monteverdi - Development of a Swiss Brand , 1980 (out of print). Factory-supported chronicle of the Monteverdi brand
- Dean Bachelor, Chris Poole, Graham Robson: The Big Book of Sports Cars. The fastest, most expensive and most beautiful cars in the world . Erlangen (Karl Müller Verlag) 1990, without ISBN.
- Jürgen Lewandowski, Marion Zellner: Cult convertibles. The most legendary convertibles from 1945 until today . Munich (Steiger) 2000. ISBN 3-89652-195-0 .
newspapers and magazines
- Automobil Revue , catalog numbers 1968, 1969 and 1973 (technical data)
- auto motor und sport: Alpentraum , test of a Monteverdi High speed 375 L in issue 12/1972 from June 10, 1972.
- auto motor und sport: handicrafts . Presentation of the Monteverdi program and short biography of Peter Monteverdi in the 13/1978 issue.
- auto motor und sport: With the Monteverdi through the vineyards , travel report and impression of a trip with a Monteverdi High Speed 375 L in the 25/1996 issue.
- Bernd Wieland: Schwarz-Brenner , presentation of a late black lacquered Monteverdi High Speed 375/4 with numerous studio photos and a short, not always accurate depiction of the model history in: Motor Klassik No. 1/2003, p. 52 ff.
- Mark Siegenthaler and Marco Schulze: With a hard hand and a big heart, the life and work of Peter Monteverdi , in: Swiss Car Classics No. 20, 04/2008
- Rob Scorah: The full Monte . Driving report on the Monteverdi High Speed 375L (Fissore) in: Classic Cars, Issue 2/2013, S: 58 ff.
Web links
- Private Monteverdi website
- Monteverdi car museum Binningen
- Detailed description of the history of Pietro Frua, his work and relations with Monteverdi
- Original sales brochure of the Monteverdi High Speed 375 L from 1972
Individual evidence
- ↑ On the whole: Gloor: Monteverdi, p. 128 f.
- ↑ Auto Revue. No. 11/1962 of March 15, 1962, p. 11.
- 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.
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ Motor Klassik, issue 11/1997
- ↑ Bachelor, Poole, Robson: Das große Buch der Sportwagen, p. 20 (in the contribution to AC 428)
- ↑ quoted from Oleski / Lehbrink: Seriensportwagen, p. 332
- ↑ Presentation of the history of the car at www.pietro-frua.de
- ↑ Figure at [1] in the article on the Monteverdi High Speed 375
- ↑ Expressly, for example, in his sales prospectus from 1972
- ↑ Sales prospectus (pdf)
- ^ Lewandowski / Zellner, Kult-Cabrios, p. 80
- ↑ The vehicle was exhibited at the 1976 Geneva Motor Show. Illustration in Gloor / Wagner, p. 217.
- ↑ Auto, Motor und Sport 21/1975 p. 37
- ↑ sale display of 375/4 from 1977 on the website www.bdmclassiccars.com (accessed on 10 February 2017).