The Monteverdi High Speed is a series of sports cars with different bodies produced from 1967-1976 by Swiss automaker Monteverdi. The High Speed series included several coupe models, a convertible and a sedan. In addition, the Coupé Berlinetta and the Cabriolet Palm Beach also belong to the model family.
Generally, the Monteverdi High Speed series models are described as uncomplicated technically. They were based on a box frame of square steel tubes. The design of the frame was Monteverdi's own; The chassis was manufactured by Stahlbau AG in Muttenz in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, which according to some information at least momentarily belonged to Monteverdi.
Between 1967 and 1976 Monteverdi presented a variety of variants of the High Speed series of models. All of these models have been uniformly designated by the factory as High Speed 375 (denominating the engine's power in SAE gross); they carried suffixes identifying coupés on standard wheelbase, short coupés, convertibles, and sedans.
In general, two series can be distinguished. The first series, produced from 1967 to 1968, included a handful of coupés designed and built by Pietro Frua in Turin. The second, much more numerous series debuted in the summer of 1968 and ended in 1976. These are vehicles that were largely (but not exclusively) built at the Carrozzeria Fissore in Savigliano. The first vehicles bodied by Carrozzeria Fissore still used Frua's design; from 1969 there was a new, Fissore-designed body, from which various derivatives were developed.
The first model, the High Speed 375 S, was a two-seater coupé with a body designed by Pietro Frua in Turin. Some of the Monteverdi's details continued features of Frua's earlier work, with notable similarities to the Maserati Mistral and the British AC 428.
Alongside the regular two-seater coupé, Frua developed an extended version designed as a 2+2-seater on behalf of Monteverdi.
The German magazine Auto Motor und Sport tested a high-speed 375 L with a 7.2-liter engine in spring, 1972 and measured a top speed of 229 km/h and 0–100 km/h 8.2 seconds.
The Monteverdi was about at the level of the British Jensen Interceptor, but did not match the performance of cars such as the Aston Martin V8 or the Maserati Indy.
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