The last supercar of Peter Monteverdi

As it turned out, the feud momment of him with the Enzo Ferrari owned company was the beginning of a success story for Peter Monteverdi along with his own brand. In 1963, he was only 29 years old, he decided to leave the the prancing horse's prestige in search of his personal glory. The feud was prompted when the Maranello-based company requested to prepay for the supply of 100 cars he ordered.

Monteverdi Hai 650 F1 is a supercar built based of an updated Monteverdi-ONYX chassis and is powered by an Ford DFR V8 engine. (Picture from: Box26)

As is well known, that the Monteverdi, a Swiss automotive brand that can grow to be big, certainly cannot be separated from the figure of Peter Monteverdi, a Binningen businessman who continued the Ferrari, BMW, Lancia and Roll-Royce dealership business started by his father.

According to some unconfirmed rumors, among the 100 cars ordered by Monteverdi there are several models of the Ferrari 250 GTO, which is included as the most iconic car ever produced by the Maranello-based manufacturer. There is also a mention of 100 cars also including some examples of the 250 GTO models, even someone said that's all orders for that year.

Monteverdi Hai 650 F1 while sat on display at the 2017 Geneva International Motor Show. (Picture from: Box26)

Peter Monteverdi did not pay for his order in advance as Ferrari wanted, so the partnership with the famous Italian brand was broken off. Monteverdi was not discouraged and took advantage of the experience he had accumulated since the late 1950s, when he started selling the kit cars under the brand of MBM (Monteverdi Binningen Motors), it made in small series by buying the components in the UK.

Monteverdi Hai 650 F1 is built as many as 3 unit which is consisted 2 running prototypes and rest non running show car. (Picture from: Box26)

Since then Monteverdi decided to make and produce cars under his own brand. Several sports car models such as the Monteverdi Hai 450SS and others have been produced at his plant in Binningen, Switzerland. As is well known, that Peter Monteverdi really loves the world of racing, because he himself is a former racer who has raced up to the Formula 1. Years after years, in 1992 to be exact, by his Formula 1 racing experiences then inspired him to create the supercar called the Monteverdi Hai 650 F1.

This Monteverdi's Formula 1 racing DNA supercar is built on an updated Monteverdi-ONYX chassis and is powered by a Ford DFR V8 engine which is also mounted on the Formula 1 racing car, and that's supercar whose owes its name to the engine power of 650 ponies with 390 Nm of torque.

Monteverdi Hai 650 F1 used  Ford DFR V8 engine capable burst power of 650 hp and 390 Nm of torque. (Picture from: Box26)

The Binningen-based car manufacturer considered the development of its supercar at the time as the closest to the Formula 1 racing cars, and the Monteverdi plans to build it as the limited edition. But in reality only two prototypes were actually completed between 1992 and 1995, currently both of them is sat on display at the Monteverdi Museum in Lucerne and also seen frequently fill in the great world's expo halls such the Geneva Motor Show, etc.

Then for its performance, the bright red colored supercar is theoretically said to have the ability to run up to a top speed of 335 kph, while its sprint 0-100 kph capability done in 3.0 seconds and 0-200 kph in 8.0 seconds. This Swiss-made supercar has a length of 4.55 meters, 1.96 meters wide, and heigh only 1.05 meters. Then there is one advantage that the Monteverdi Hai 650 F1 has, namely its low weight which is only about 850 kg, which is a very low numbers if compared to rival supercars at that time, which were much heavier, and less powerful.

Monteverdi Hai 650 F1 non-running model, due to it doesn't have an engine. (Picture from: Box26)

When the Monteverdi Hai 650 F1 was finished being developed, it was already milling around on the European major cities streets its glamourious potential rivals such as the Ferrari F40 (478 hp for 1,235 kg) and Lamborghini Diablo (492 hp for 1,500 kg). However, if the Hai 650 F1 were really to enter the production line, certainly it would become a serious market protagonist, given that the F40 pony of the Maranello-based breeder and the Diablo of the Sant'Agata Bolognese based bull's cage are the most iconic supercars of the time.

Monteverdi Hai 650 F1 non-running model, due to it doesn't have an engine. (Picture from: Box26)

In addition to the two red colored bodywork prototypes, actually there is the third one with a gray-purple colored body, known as non-running model, due to it doesn't have an engine. So, it's said that the third one was built by Monteverdi to be the show car for promotional purposed only.

Peter Monteverdi passed away in 1998 as well as closing the entire of his adventure series in the automotive world and left the great legacy through his auto brand to bring the Monteverdi Hai 650 F1 as the last high performance car that he made. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | BOX26.CH | WIKIPEDIA ]

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