Monteverdi tiara
| Monteverdi | |
|---|---|
 Monteverdi Tiara
in the Monteverdi Car Museum |
|
| Monteverdi tiara | |
| Production period: | 1982-1983 |
| Class : | Upper class |
| Body versions : | limousine |
| Engines: |
Petrol engines : 3.8-5.0 liters (150-170 kW) |
| Length: | 5270 mm |
| Width: | 1820 mm |
| Height: | 1440 mm |
| Wheelbase : | 3070 mm |
| Empty weight : | 1650-1690 kg |
| Previous model | Monteverdi Sierra |
The Monteverdi Tiara was a vehicle from the Swiss car manufacturer Monteverdi , which was presented in 1982. It was the last road vehicle that Peter Monteverdi designed before ceasing to operate. Like its predecessor, Sierra, the Tiara followed the concept of the boutique car. It was based on the S-Class from Mercedes-Benz and differed from the original vehicle mainly in the newly designed body parts on the front and rear of the vehicle. Contrary to initial plans, Monteverdi decided against series production. Overall, very few copies of the tiara were made.
background
Monteverdi had produced various coupés, convertibles and sedans of the High Speed 375 series in small series from 1967 to 1976 . In the mid-1970s due to the oil crisis broke, sales of expensive high-performance sports cars, Monteverdi stopped producing the SUV Monteverdi Safari to, which was based on American mass production technology and was inexpensive to produce. Monteverdi also implemented this concept in the four-door Sierra sedan presented in 1977, which was a stylistically modified version of a Dodge Aspen . The sedan sold far less well than the SUV, but the Sierra remained in Monteverdi's program for over five years. Production of the Sierra ended when Chrysler discontinued the Dodge Aspen in late 1981.
Monteverdi had already resorted to large-scale production technology for the Sierra in order to limit development costs as much as possible. This consideration was all the more true at the beginning of the 1980s, as the legislative requirements for vehicle safety had been further increased in many potential sales markets and attempts to meet these standards with own products would have required very cost-intensive development work. Regarding the base vehicle for the new Monteverdi, recourse to Chrysler products was no longer an option: In the course of downsizing its own model range, Chrysler no longer had a sedan in its range that was sufficiently motorized to meet Monteverdi's demands on a sports car. Instead, Peter Monteverdi chose the S-Class sedan (W 126 series), which had been presented in September 1979, as the basis for the vehicles of the new Monteverdi generation.
Peter Monteverdi described his new vehicle in a sales brochure as “Superlative Monteverdi”. In order to underline the exclusivity of the model, the model was given the name Tiara .
details
The Tiara was based on the long version of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan. As in the case of the Sierra, Monteverdi took over the entire drive technology, but also the passenger cell including doors and glazing of the base vehicle unchanged. The external changes were limited to a redesign of the front and rear sections as well as independent bumpers.
body
The front section was angular. Instead of the aerodynamic shape of the basic model, Monteverdi installed a vertical, heavily chrome-plated vehicle front with four round headlights. The grille consisted of chrome struts. The front fenders have been modified accordingly. The hood was also redesigned; it was now smooth and smaller than the Mercedes-Benz. The shape of the light units and their surrounds cited classic design elements from the High 375 series; some observers, however, felt more reminiscent of the third series Alfa Romeo Alfetta .
At the rear, the trunk line has also been made more angular. The rear lights donated the Peugeot 505 ; they were suitable to create an association with the inexperienced observer to the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit , which was presented recently . The bumpers were also new. Instead of the large plastic units of the base vehicle, Monteverdi used very narrow bumpers that were encased in chrome and reached into the sides of the vehicle. The so-called Sacco boards - the plastic paneling on the lower edge of the doors - were omitted with the Monteverdi.
Overall, the design of the tiara was not without controversy. Most observers felt that the angular extensions of the Monteverdi did not match the flowing lines of the base vehicle, which was widely believed to be one of the best works by designer Bruno Sacco . The vehicle has occasionally been described as "baroque", others said that Monteverdi had distorted the S-Class to such an extent that not even Mercedes-Benz recognized the car.
Motorization
Monteverdi used the two largest engines in the S-Class as engines. H. the 3.8 liter or 5.0 liter eight-cylinder engines . They were adopted unchanged. As in the case of the Mercedes-Benz, their power output was 204 or 231 hp.
Furnishing
In the case of the Sierra introduced in 1977, Peter Monteverdi had largely designed the interior of the car himself, but now he has taken over the interior design from Mercedes-Benz. The only new thing was a steering wheel, the impact pot of which bore the Monteverdi emblem. The equipment of the tiara was complete. Monteverdi took over the complete equipment program from Mercedes-Benz, including air conditioning and some of the most modern systems at the time, such as ABS and airbags ; on request, it could be supplemented with typical Monteverdi attributes such as television and dictation machines.
Selling price
The Monteverdi Tiara was offered in 1982 at a price from 172,000 Swiss francs, a year later the base price was 187,000 Swiss francs. This returned Monteverdi to the category of high-price providers, which he had left in 1977 with the High Speed 375. The Tiara was almost three times as expensive as a Sierra and twice as expensive as a corresponding Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
production
According to Peter Monteverdi's concept, the Tiara limousines were to be manufactured at Monteverdi; sales, on the other hand, should take place through Mercedes-Benz dealers. There are reports that Monteverdi reached an agreement with Mercedes-Benz in early 1982. However, after the responsible Mercedes-Benz employee died a few days before the 1982 Geneva Motor Show , Mercedes-Benz was no longer interested in the tiara. Monteverdi then gave up the project.
In late 1981, Monteverdi made three copies of the tiara, which were exhibited at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1982. It is doubtful whether more vehicles were built later. In the sales prospectus from 1982 a gold-colored and a brown copy are shown. Regular car production in Basel ceased in 1984; According to other sources, it ended in 1987. The 1983/84 car catalog published in September 1983 still lists the Monteverdi Tiara with a picture and price.
Duration
Up to the summer of 2015 there were verifiably three copies of the tiara:
- A silver vehicle with a cream-colored leather interior stood in Monteverdi's automobile museum in Binningen until it was closed.
- A black tiara with a cream-colored leather interior, which was at least temporarily approved in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, is occasionally shown at exhibitions.
- Finally, there was a tiara with gold-colored or light green metallic paint, which had an interior made of fabric. This copy was destroyed in a fire in a hall in Winterthur in July 2015 .
literature
- Roger Gloor, Carl Wagner: Monteverdi - Development of a Swiss Brand , 1980 (out of print). Factory-supported chronicle of the Monteverdi brand
- Auto catalogs No. 26 (1982/83) and No. 27 (1983/84)
- Mark Siegenthaler, Marco Schulze: With a hard hand and a big heart. The life and work of Peter Monteverdi . In: Swiss Classics No. 10 (04 2008/2009), p. 28 ff.
Web links
- Private Monteverdi website
- Sales brochure of a Monteverdi Tiara from 1982
- Article on the tiara on the website www.automobilrevue.ch
Individual evidence
- ↑ Individual copies of the High Speed 375/4 sedan were possibly built up to 1979 at the request of customers.
- ↑ From 1976 to 1982, over 1000 Safari-type off-road vehicles were built, while the Sierra was only made in a few dozen copies.
- ↑ Gloor, Wagner: Monteverdi. P. 215.
- ↑ Chrysler offered various models of the M platform during the 1980s . On the one hand, these vehicles were larger and heavier than the Dodge Aspen used previously, on the other hand, even the eight-cylinder engines only made 120 to 145 hp, so that sporty driving performance could no longer be achieved.
- ↑ See sales prospectus from March 1982 (accessed on May 5, 2011).
- ^ Auto Catalog 1982/83 (No. 26), p. 129.
- ↑ Auto Motor und Sport Issue 5/1984, p. 127.
- ^ Auto Catalog 1982/83 (No. 26), p. 129.
- ↑ Auto Catalog 1983/84 (No. 27), p. 131.
- ↑ Swiss Classics No. 10 (04 2008/2009), p. 39.
- ↑ Swiss Classics No. 10 (04 2008/2009), p. 39.
- ↑ Illustration of the exhibition stand ( Memento of the original from September 15, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on September 28, 2012).
- ↑ Auto Catalog 1983/84 (No. 27), p. 131.
- ↑ Image of the black vehicle ( Memento of the original from September 15, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on September 28, 2012).
- ↑ Illustration of the golden vehicle. (accessed March 1, 2012).
- ^ NN: Mercedes collection burned, outbreak of fire is determined . Message on the website www.tagesanzeiger.ch. The destroyed tiara can be seen in picture 2 of the picture series.
