Peter Monteverdi (7 June 1934 – 4 July 1998) was a
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
carmaker and creator of the car brand ''
Monteverdi
Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...
''.
At the beginning of his career, Monteverdi was a
car salesman
The automobile salesperson is one of many sales professions. The automobile salesman is a retail salesperson, who sells new or used cars. Unlike traditional retail sales, car sales are sometimes negotiable. Salesmen are employed by new car de ...
. His father ran a garage and truck business, which Peter used as his initial inspiration. He built his Monteverdi Special in 1952 using the remains of a wrecked 1949
Fiat
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
. It is now on display at the Swiss Transport Museum in
Lucerne
Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...
. In 1957 he acquired the Swiss franchise for
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
, subsequently becoming Swiss importer for other international prestige brands including
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to:
* Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct
Automobiles
* Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
and
Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North ...
.
In 1952, he started producing cars under his own name.
Formula One involvement
Peter Monteverdi was born in
Binningen Binningen may refer to:
* Binningen, Switzerland
Binningen ( Swiss German: ''Binnige'') is a municipality in the district of Arlesheim in the canton of Canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland. It is nestled in a valley, on a plateau, and on ...
, in the northern Swiss canton of
Basel-Landschaft
Basel-Landschaft or Basel-Country informally known as Baselland or Baselbiet (; german: Kanton Basel-Landschaft ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Champagna; french: Canton de Bâle-Campagne; it, Canton Basilea Campagna), is one of the 26 cantons forming ...
. He engaged in the construction of
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
cars from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. In 1961, he built the first Swiss Formula One car, which bore the name
MBM (''Monteverdi Basel Motoren''). He made a single Formula One appearance at the
1961 Solitude Grand Prix, where he retired after two laps, and subsequently withdrew his entry for the
German Grand Prix
The German Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Deutschland) was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history; the Nürburgring in R ...
[John Thompson, "The Formula One Record Book", Leslie Frewin Publishing, 1974. pp. 40-41] having been injured in a prior race. He subsequently retired from race driving.
In 1989 Monteverdi bought the
Onyx
Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The c ...
Formula One team after its original backer ran into financial difficulties. The team's best result was when
Stefan Johansson
Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson (born 8 September 1956) is a Swedish racing driver who drove in Formula One for both Ferrari and McLaren, among other teams. Since leaving Formula One he has won the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and raced in a number o ...
finished in third place at the
1989 Portuguese Grand Prix. However, the involvement proved unsustainable and was terminated during the following season. A legacy was the
Monteverdi Hai 650 F1 sportscar, of which supposedly six copies were sold until 1994.
Death
Monteverdi died from cancer on 4 July 1998 in Binningen, in his apartment directly above his own car-assembly workshop.
He was 64.
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
)
Non-championship results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monteverdi, Peter
1934 births
1998 deaths
Deaths from cancer in Switzerland
20th-century Swiss businesspeople
Swiss motorsport people
Swiss racing drivers
Swiss Formula One drivers
Formula One team owners
Sports car racing team owners
Automotive businesspeople