Peter Monteverdi

Peter Monteverdi (7 June 1934 – 4 July 1998) was a Swiss carmaker and creator of the car brand Monteverdi.

Peter Monteverdi
Born(1934-06-07)7 June 1934
Binningen, Switzerland
Died4 July 1998(1998-07-04) (aged 64)
Binningen, Switzerland
Formula One World Championship career
NationalitySwitzerland Swiss
Active years1961
TeamsMBM
Entries1 (0 starts)
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points0
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1961 German Grand Prix
Last entry1961 German Grand Prix

At the beginning of his career, Monteverdi was a car salesman. His father ran a garage and truck business, which Peter used as his initial inspiration.[1] He built his Monteverdi Special in 1952 using the remains of a wrecked 1949 Fiat. It is now on display at the Swiss Transport Museum in Lucerne. In 1957 he acquired the Swiss franchise for Ferrari, subsequently becoming Swiss importer for other international prestige brands including Rolls-Royce and Bentley.[2] In 1952, he started producing cars under his own name.

Formula One involvement

Peter Monteverdi was born in Binningen, in the northern Swiss canton of Basel-Landschaft. He engaged in the construction of Formula One 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[3] having been injured in a prior race. He subsequently retired from race driving.

In 1989 Monteverdi bought the Onyx Formula One team after its original backer ran into financial difficulties. The team's best result was when Stefan Johansson 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.[4] He was 64.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 WDC Points
1961 Piero Monteverdi MBM Porsche Flat-4 MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER
WD		 ITA USA NC 0

Non-championship results

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
1961 Piero Monteverdi MBM Porsche Flat-4 LOM GLV PAU BRX VIE AIN SYR NAP LON SIL SOL
Ret		 KAN DAN MOD FLG OUL LEW VAL RAN NAT RSA

References
  1. Brown, Allen. "Peter Monteverdi". oldracingcars.com. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  2. "Nachtschicht im Schloss: A report on a concours d'elegance at Schloss Bensberg". Auto Motor u. Sport. Heft 25 2010: Seite 46. 18 November 2010.
  3. John Thompson, "The Formula One Record Book", Leslie Frewin Publishing, 1974. pp. 40-41
  4. "Traumautos aus der Schweiz: Monteverdi gestorben". Auto, Motor und Sport. 1998 Heft 15: Seite 11. 15 July 1998.
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