Monteverdi with the 750 Ferrari Monza.
By Giles Chapman, from his book, “Three Million Miles in a Volvo and Other Curious Car Stories“
When we received Giles Chapman’s latest book we thoroughly enjoyed the short bios and interesting stories that comprised “Three Million Miles in a Volvo and other Curious Car Stories”. These are just perfect for the VeloceToday format, and here is the second in a series.
Peter Monteverdi remains the most prolific Swiss car manufacturer of all time. However, the older he got the more bitter he became that he received little recognition in his home country.
Born in Binningen, a suburb of Basel on the Franco-Swiss border, on 17 June 1934, he was the only son of Rosolino Monteverdi, who ran a garage specialising in truck repairs at 14 Oberwilerstrasse. Peter was obsessed with vehicles and as a teenager earned pocket money at a local tractor factory. After school he worked a four-year apprenticeship at the Saurer truck works in Arbon. But rather than design some utilitarian farm implement, Peter built his own car, aged just 17.