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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 มิ.ย. 2024
- In this Rare Cars documentary, we are jumping into the history of one of the most INSANE cars to ever be designed back in the late 1960s and early 70's - the 426 HEMI powered mid engined supercar that would have surely destroyed the De Tomaso Pantera - The Monterverdi Hai 450 SS
This 426 HEMI powered mid engine supercar was the epitome of excess and was revolutionary for the period - so why haven't you ever heard about it?
Learn all there is to know about the Monteverdi Hat 450 SS in episode 51 of our documentary series on the world's most fascinating cars.
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Anyone else still have their Matchbox Monteverdi Hai from 1973?
Thanks for another cool video. Glad you're on to the Euro stuff!
LoL. I had an orange one, wish I still had it! Actually, I had another gray and blue one. Made in the 80s in some Asian country.
@@MK-1010 Yep! The first ones in '73 were orange.
By the way, does your Mk-1010 handle relate to the '60s Mk 10 Jaguar?
I do in orange!
@@b3stanga697 😁👍
Yup, I had to go and check what it looked 1st. I collect old matchbox and I probably ended up with the Monteverdi because I bought it along with other cars because it's not 1 that I would have searched out.
This reminds me the De Tomaso Mangusta
I had a Mangusta, for a few min lol. Useless as a car for the real world ( like its 3" ground clearance), just something to be looked at 🙄
Can you imagine how hot and loud that cockpit would be with a Hemi 4 inches from your shoulder? And think of what that would do in a crash!! I also had the Matchbox car, but never realized it was a real vehicle.
I remember seeing photos of this car in a piece (probably in Road & Track) on the 1970 Geneva show. In those long-ago days before the Internet, further information about it was sparse and hard to come by. But I never forgot it -- just the sheer look of the thing, along with that counter-intuitive big iron lump of Hemi in the back made it something of an automotive white whale. I spent a week or so in Switzerland a little later and in spite of knowing better, kept hoping I might see one. Closest I came was the Matra Bagheera I rented.
Love that car! Can you imagine a 426 Hemi screaming next to your ear? 🤔
With a redline of 5000rpm the 426 does not 'scream'. It thumps.
@@CathodeRayNipplezLol...they don't redline at 5 grand....they spin well beyond 6k even totally stock. Setting a lower rpm to rate power was how manufacturers beat a lot insurance and corporate red tape lol
@@LSswapGarage1 Can you point me to a clip of a stock 426 pulling 6k? I'd love to hear it.
From what I observed of the engine sitting right next to the driver, that engine cover should have been made of titanium, if anything on the front of that engine let loose the driver or the passenger would have a bad day.
@@CathodeRayNipplez,
Check with "Nick's Garage" on youtube, he's a Chrysler specialist and he's built plenty of 426s that absolutely scream!
Thanks for the intriguing history and showcasing this beautiful beast.
As i grew up a couple of villages from the Monteverdi Garage i was fascinated with the styling of those Monteverdis sitting in the show room. At an occasional visit i got a glance into the repair shop and saw a (or the) Hai 450SS high in the air on a lift - what a thrill! I will never forget as i'm 60 now...
An early Pantera with a curb weight of around 3150 and a 351 Cleveland would hardly be "destroyed" by a much heavier car with another 100 horsepower or so. Lighter weigh = better braking, handling as well.
The "425" hp of the Hemi was a bit of a wink/nod joke to the insurance companies of the day. If you had a Hemi that ONLY produced that in 69-71 - you had a sick motor. Actual output on a correctly tuned stock engine was north of 500hp. Braking and handling - yeah, definitely things and no disagreement from me... However, for a fact, an '83 4 cylinder base Camaro will handle better and stop shorter than an '83 Z-28 V8 one all day long... but... (friends with new cars back in the day)
I had a couple Matchbox cars of this, didn't know anything about it till just now. Hell of a story, too bad they never made more than a few. Thanks!
Thank you for the vid mate
Loved it! The front end is that quintessential "classic European sports car" kind of gorgeous. The muscular rear bodywork communicates that these wheels mean business. Never heard of this one before watching your video, thanks a lot! I appreciate you!
It sounds like a "Coulda Woulda 'Cuda" to me. Which is what my old 72 Cuda in high school was called.
As a boy I used to visit his ex-dealership / Museum in Basel. He had an impressive collection of cars, including all his own models. The Monteverdi Hai was impressive in the metal
Good Dawg! Could you imagine driving around with a 426 Hemi on your right shoulder!?! That would be like sitting two meters from John Entwistle's bass rig cranked to 11!
There are several Panera's with Boss 429's.
Bring it.
Also in Denmark we build a small number sportscar with an American engine, but with 1000 hp.
It is named The Zenvo! Handbuilt in a small Factory, It has been made in a number of samples.
The Monteverdi Hai is a Timeless classic and was intended to totally disrupt the snooty exotic car hierarchy. First of all, this is dropping a Woodward Ave,
Canarsie Brooklyn Street race scene into Europe. The Hai achieved the most important thing an American Hot Rod can acheive: you looked into a Hai and saw the huge menacing HUMP covering the Hemi and the classic reaction was "Hey!, what do got in there?!?. It looked like a Bomb. Which is exactly what it was. And with a day's simple work, that engine would produce
600 to 900 hp easily. So this was, like the Vector,
one of the real BOMBS
ever put on the road...
I had an orange Matchbox Monteverdi Hai -- a favorite!
Awesome, love to see more one off cars.
426 Hemi in NASCAR trim (around 800hp 800ftlb) would have been an absolute BEAST in that thing.😳
800hp ? LOL
@@ford-oz3vs ,
That was the biggest reason NASCAR outlawed the 426 HEMI, is because the HEMI couldn't be 'tamed' or detuned to compare with the rest of the entries, Ford and Chevy.
@@BobbyTucker I have been building big blocks for 30 years. Nearly 2 horses per inch was not happening in NASCAR in the 60's.
thank you for the story ,,,,very good job
Beautiful car. The back end reminds me of the Porsche 928.
The back end reminds me of a dog doing it’s business.
I'm not seeing it? What am I missing?
@@negativeindustrialNah, don't think so!🤪🙄
@@negativeindustrial,
ROTFLMAO!!!
I see the 928 from the rear also and the Mangusta from the side.
That is the only "factory" version of a 426 Hemi with air conditioning I've ever seen.
A/C was not available in the Chrysler 426 hemi Cars
This is a very interesting article on this car, I'm 74 years old and this is the first I've heard of it. The Jensen was a rare vehicle but I don't think it would be competition for the Monteverdi, I'd like to know more about it especially with it being powered by the 426 Chrysler Hemi. Thank you for posting this, I enjoyed it.
IDK you could get the Jensen Interceptor with a Mopar 440 in it but it was very heavy more of a GT than a sports car😮 in earlier years they had the 383
Very cool and interesting feature!
Made with modern composites, this thing would be EPIC
Mosler has entered the chat.
Very groovy. Glad to know about this.
I think I would have confidently lined up against this car with A Pantera with a 351 cleveland engine with just a small amount of massaging. It would have been a fun day at the track either way.
"Switched hands" = Money laundering using auctions and such! Juuust like art.
The problem most people had with the 426 hemi, they didn't know how to keep them adjusted and in tune, in most situations, the 440's were faster than the Hemi as they stayed in tune longer and were easier to adjust
Yes, Hemis ate sparkplugs fast on the street and were too heavy...
I know from my past attempt to get into a Pantera, just how cramped this car would be, the engine even intrudes well into the passenger compartment. A lot of people that might be interested in such a car would find it impossible to drive. Being very short and very thin is mandatory, so there’s no point in shipping any to North America.
I thought the biggest problem was the intrusion of the wide front tire wheel wells into the foot space.
mattskustomkreations yes, that’s the other big negative, the pedals are toward the centre of the car and the driver sits angled, sometimes the steering wheel is angled as well.
When a Corvette and Pantera are parked side by side, the Pantera looks half as big as most Corvettes...
@@buzzwaldron6195 They are definitely a lot lower. I got to check some out at a national Shelby / Ford muscle event many years ago.
The problem is, it’s too ugly to be a first offering from an unknown manufacturer.
Shhhhh.. 🤫 Like many things Swiss we don't talk about that.
Don't talk about your wife like that
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!
Like this presentation a lot. I wax fortunate enough to rode in a new 4 seater Magnum engined Monteverdi in the very early 70s. To a 19 year old, it seemed like heaven.
Others have touched on the Monteverdi Matchbox car, but nobody in the three comments i looked at mentioned its crazy name. For some reason, the Monteverdi Hai 450 SS was actually stamped as the 'Rallye Royale' underneath.
I think I had two, but i definitely had the white model with the phat number 8 printed in blue with orange highlights.
Although I'd had it for years, I recall studying it closely one day and seeing the word MONTEVERDI embossed in incredibly fine detail across the tail. I played with it a lot as it looked great and had amazing suspension, but i didn't notice the script across the back until it had received a few scratches to the raised lettering.
This was well pre internet, but at some stage i found out about the Monteverdi Hai either straight away from a book, or stumbling over it a while later, i don't know.
I wonder why they were labelled as such and as a result, 10yo me had to go digging for answers.
The 426 Hemi wrote the rulebook for NASCAR and NHRA. What I mean is all the other manufacturers went crying to those organizations and had the rules rewritten to "Make things fair" for them. Seen one set up naturally aspirated cross ram quad intake just like they ran for NASCAR on a dyno that hit 800hp 800+ftlbs torque. Stock cam 30thousandths bore on the piston.
Raging Elephant!🐘 The true power came from the hemispherical head design allowing huge valves with huge lift combined with a perfect wave-front ignition inside the chamber AND an optimum flow into and out of the chamber. Masterpiece of engineering.
The almighty Ford 427 SOHC Cammer V8 got banned first cause Mopar enthusiasts got all whiney and Bill France didn't want to see any Overhead cam engines on the race track as well.
@CJColvin Yeah your 8 foot timing chain was a fantastic idea that was sure to detonate far more than the Hemi. Brilliant!😄
@sadwingsraging3044 Nope it was because the Cammer would smoke the Hemi on the drag strip like nothing.
@CJColvin Yeah right up until it wrapped that chain around the radiator.🤣🤣🤣
At first glance I thought this was an AMC AMX III
yes dr norbert macnamara had the car in the late 1980s. he wanted to put a zf-2 transaxle in place of the zf-1transaxle. we had to swap the input shafts so the zf-2 trans could work with the hemi engine, he traded me the zf-1 foe a abarth 5 speed transaxle
I was also fortunate to know Norbert and lucky enough to work on some of his incredible cars. I painted his ATS 2500 GT #12 car and Spot painted the nose on the magenta colored Monteverde Hai 450 you mention. One of the photos in the video of this car was from late 80’s when Norbert was invited to exhibit both of these cars at pebble beach concourse de elegance show. RIP Norbert
a slightly tuned 426 hemi has more than enough torque to twist a ZF 5 speed transaxle into tiny pieces
At this point it would be easier to ask who DIDN'T have an argument with Enzo?
That is so true LOL
I saw one of these in THAT shade of purple sitting on a driveway in Finchley N. London.
I was working as a courier and quite busy otherwise I would have knocked and asked to look around it.
I never saw it again!
As a kid in the 70’s I had an Italian book which listed every current production car in the world categorized by nation. It included small b&w pics of all the cars plus basic specs. In the back of the book was a list consisting of a dozen or so pages listing all the cars top speeds in order from slowest to fastest. I remember the Monteverdi Hai 450SS well. Peter Monteverdi must have slipped a few people some bucks to have his car included in the book.
it was called "World Car XXXX" (the x's being the year) I checked out "World Car 1968" at least 5 times from the local library, and have several years worth now as an adult. That's how I found out about things like Jensens, Monteverdis, and other truly exotic cars.
A great vid about a car that many knew nothing about, cool vehicle that could swap ends in the wet tho
I’ve never seen this car and I know alot of weird and random cars, good on you, cool channel! Only really rare stuff besides this I know is vector, besides some strange one off’s lol
I love stories about these small boutique manufacturers. Even though the Hai 450 was beautiful l can imagine having that massively heavy engine in the middle of a short wheelbase car would have made it a handful to drive. I wonder if that's why there were no takers when offered for sale.
I LOVE IT!
They were underrated intentionally. Original spec 1971 hemi's have been dynoed at around 575 horsepower with no modifications.
Well, no, about 425 - 450 HP in stock trim... see the dynos on Nick's Garage...
How about the Spanish Pegaso Z-102? Built about 40 in the early 1950s.
'course we know about it. We all had the supercar cards games sporting the Hai 450!
I saw one of the magenta Hais for sale at a place called Fantasy Junction in Emeryville, California many years ago. My chin dropped to the flor.
So that's the story behind the Monteverdi...I've wondered since my Matchbox days
The man featured in the start of the video is Mr Paul Berger, who takes care of the Monteverdi history (museum, events...).
had a crazy reverse shift pattern
As a 6 year old kid, I remember my grandfather who had a Volkswagen and Porsche garage back in the 60's, had a Montiverdi 375C for years in his garage. He drove with his son (my uncle) to get this car in Switzerland for one of his customers, but finally the customer did not bought it, for as far as I can remember because he went bankrupt and therefor had not sufficient money left to buy the car. So this Montiverdi stood still for years in the back of the garage (not even in the showroom) because nobody wanted it. I can't remember what happened with that car , but probably finally my grandad sold it with a lot of money lost...
This car made quite an impression on the 8 years old swiss child I was in '76. Discovered it in a 'familiy cards' deck where it stood next to the Daytona and the 512BB. So out of the world that the hay was, I am sure the if I could have afforded any I would clearly choose a Daytona or a 512 for a portion of the price. But anyway ... Now I wonder how the engine was supposed to be cooled ?
Looks like a Mangusta too
Those specs do NOT justify those low performance numbers!
As an experienced engine and body builder, I have to say that somebody choked back the breathing by putting some emission garbage on it!
I am very familiar with Monteverdi. My friend owned a Monteverdi 375/4 and I was involved in selling Peter Monteverdi's model car collection. The Hai (Shark) is a stunning car and very few were made. There is an English language book available from the Monteverdi Club.
It is amazing looking car
He built it... that's what matters.
Thanks again.
If only they could have had an all aluminum HEMI. That would have solved the weight problem.
I've heard of the Swiss Monteverdi sports cars but wasn't really familiar with this one. Some cool lesser-known history for sure.
Slick ride and great ideas / goal, but for me personally, I like the looks of the Pantera better. Thanks.
That thing is hideous in my opinion, the Pantera though is a beautiful car
What is the Turquoise/mint coloured car beside the Monteverdi at 11:08?
Bizzarrini Manta, 1968.
The biggest issue was the handling, which was awful. The biggest reason was the 800-pound engine. That's why the best compromise was a small block.
I only knew about this car from the Top Trumps game in the 70's. Great to learn more about the story behind the car.
The 426 Hemi dry weight is 843 LBS, the only it's destroying is the scales 😅😂. The 351 Cleveland weighs 550 LBS, by comparison, and frankly, the Pantera would have been a better balanced car, and significantly lighter.
Is the Hemi block Al or steel.. no sports car like this should have to carry that much wt around.. better take less power and halve the wt.
@@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665 lead! Lol. It was cast iron, heads too, and it's a deep skirt block, and massive heads, so they are *HEAVY*
@@jamesgeorge4874
Hmmm definitely not what you want going anywhere other than a short distance in straight lines 💀🙄 were there any alloy V 8 engines in the US car Inventory .. that would deliver a 100bhp less even ...the car would have still been faster and stood a chance of actually getting round
a bend or through twisty bit without ending up plowing into a tree/truck/canyon wall.🤔 😬
I know the old Buick V8 compact all alloy engine ended up in British Rovers .
You have a point they were heavier but from 65-71 they had iron heads and aluminum heads available and made more power na plus had great tq. You could also bore it out and take material off making extreme amounts of power with weight savings same argument with the gen 3 hemi from ford guys lol guess not much has changed. Realize there were hemi cars 3000 lbs back then and that’s regular traffic not some garage built race car which is bound to be less than that but wasn’t because the builder didn’t lighten it and perfect while accounting for this extra weight, poor job in my opinion. 450 is a joke in comparison to what they are capable of. Some people might have bought it because of the brochure but many of the people who went with this motor did it because of its potential. the 351 needed more cubes hence the reason ford came out with the 427 428 429 460 to compete against the hemi and the 454 Chevy 455 Buick, 455 Pontiac 440 hemi wedge and so forth. Although ford eventually made hemis lol just couldn’t call them hemis.
@@joshreynolds729 punctuation my freind. "What they could make" is irrelevant. As delivered from Chrysler, 800 LBS is heavy as F. A 520 Lb 351C would be better balanced. Say what you want, 60's engines didn't make today's power levels. Top fuel was in the 6's.
WOW to bad he didn’t sell a Brazilian of those!! It’s beautiful
One look at that interior with the engine cover off an two things immediately came to mind, On a hot day, that thing would have been a blast furnace, even with AC.
Second, it would have been a maintenance nightmare. Imagine trying lean into that low-slung car to tune two four barrel carbs and dual point ignition system. You would likely have to remove the passenger seat for any serious maintenance. Notice that both are removed in the photo showing the engine.
Still, imagine a Renault A110, but instead of an anemic French four-banger, substitute a proper American monster V8 pushing 4 times the power.
I remember these
You could have included a side by side comparison of stats, price, design features etc of rival models to show where it should have sat in the competition. Look for people that have more knowledge of the Monteverdi history for interviews.. etc.. good attempt though. I knew a guy who had a ride through rome in a high speed Monteverdi after a heavy liquid lunch.. apparently it was terrifyingly fast! Shame they didn't get off the ground. Interesting parallel with Feruccio being pissed at Enzo. Would have been good to see these around. It's a marque that could come back if the rights were bought.
The first Hemi head engine's were used in Crocker moter bikes, in the 30s
the Pipe Car Company from Belgium invented and used hemi head engines from 1901. From 1912 they first appeared in Grand Prix racing cars.
Nice and toasty in that cabin on a Swiss winter’s day. Just make sure you have your snow tires on.
Cool.
Highly doubt it would have destroyed the Pantera due to the fact it never got off the ground ..😂😂😂
It looks like it would create lift at speed
I wanna see a modern version with a modern mopar engine like a red eye 🤯🤯🤯💀💀💀💀
Just how many cars / brands were started by old man Ferrari pissing people off? 😂🤣😁
Nobody shifted a 426 hemi at 5k rpm. No wonder it was only rated at 450hp. Very interesting car.
I have a feeling that the problem with the performance of that first car had nothing to do with anything but somebody not properly tuning the engine.
Like many Distributors of the day, if you did not phase the distributor and get it to fire properly, it would not allow the engine to put out its power potential. Having owned a 1974 Plymouth Fury police car, with a 400 wedge motor in it that I clocked at over a hundred and eighty miles an hour myself 166 plus miles an hour for a 10 Mi scratch on several occasions, I'm telling you that that 4,000 lb car was heavier than this 3,800 lb mid-engine vehicle you're talking about. The fact that the Hemi engines could be temperamental, was true. But so was the hassle of having to face the distributor because they were just slapping them in the vehicles rather than getting them properly adjusted in the first place. And it wasn't just the Chrysler Distributors that had that problem
from what i know the bugatti type 57 atlantic had hemi in 1934 (if I recall correct)
My brother has a Matchbox one.. ❤
"The Car That Would Have DESTROYED The Pantera" I seriously doubt it. The Pantera was more than just an engine. It was a nearly perfectly balanced car. I have never owned one, but I had a friend with one for many years, and drove it quite a bit. This was an original car, it did not have ghetto wheels without tires. It was a 1972 model with original wheels. As someone who also had experience in an early '70s Porsche 911, the Pantera was the moist neutral, well balanced car I had ever drive, and it remains so to this day.
I had a '72 Pre-L Pantera. Mostly stock with minor engine upgrades. I had Porsche 356s, 911S, and 911 Carrera at the time. Above 100 mph the Pantera felt more stable. Above 160 the Porsches were nowhere to be seen. Hot days were its enemy. It always drew a crowd.
While I do appreciate the information given. I find the irrelevant stock footage like the auction for a Mercedes while you’re talking about the Monteverdi just wasted time and extremely annoying. Trim the fat and stay on point.
Brutal honesty but, concise and extremely constructive criticism. You can't grow without some discomfort.
I can forgive the stock footage.
There little to no information around about these cars so il take this with open arms.
It's the story and facts and figures that count, and how much footage of these hyper rare cars is there available?
This is the first proper film I've ever seen about these oddities and I've looked because I own a Matchbox 450SS.
@@AntonHoward-mx9sb all of the videos have an abundance of stock footage and repetitive dialogue. It’s a technique to extend the length of the videos. They’ve lost me as a subscriber.
It's RARE AS FK...there is no footage...would you rather a blank screen...where's your content...MORON!...
Here we have a “Key board” story teller. It’s a story….if you’re bored, move on 😂😂
elephant in the room, great looking design, but where were the cooling ducts, for the life of me, couldn't see any.
Great question!
The car is a so called "bottom feeder" like the C4 Corvette. Radiator in front and air is sucked from under the car in the front. Cooling hoses are routed from under the car between the radiator in the front and the engine in the rear. Over heating of the engine isn't as big of a problem as over heating of the cabin. Ferrari had a similar solution on the 308/BB, leading to Ferrari designing the Testsrossa with two smaller radiators in front of the rear wheels instead.
@@ingvarhallstrom2306 : Which is why the Testarossa had those strakes across the whole door, covering up the radiator intakes. Which were wiedely imitated at the time, whether the imitator had any air intakes there to cover up or not. Männ kool va rom ju...
Is nobody going to mention cooling? If the radiator is at the front it can't be very big. And where would all the hot air generated by that massive engine go? I think the back end would melt a few minutes after the driver. Looks cool for the time though.
Heated argument with Enzo Ferrari starts yet another car company...🤣
I think that the Motor Trend test was sabotaged. Even if the engine was detuned, that torque should have pushed it to a faster 0-60 time and top speed. The speeds are slower than the 351C DeTamaso Pantera which has over 100 less horsepower.
Not sure where the Alpine A310 crept in as a forerunner... the original A310 was sort of contemporary - it didn't hit the streets until a couple of years after the HAI 450 SS was shown... and its successor the GTA / 610 didn't hit the streets until the mid/late 80s... since the A310 made it to production, and the HAI450SS only saw a few examples?
Nah. It would have cost a fortune. Pantera was actually affordable, with a 351 cleveland under the deck, with a built in network to sell it, Ford's Lincoln Mercury dealerships.
A Hemi with dual quads and an RV2 air cond compressor. If the factory offered air conditioning back in the day for Hemi cars, it could've justified their high price tag.
I understand a Hemi engine isn't about luxury but many of them had autos, so I reason Hemi auto buyers were put off because they couldn't get factory A/C.
I'm no Mopar super expert but I am a Mopar aficionado. I believe you could option luxury trim levels and option a Hemi engine.
It is strange that optioning a luxury trim level and auto yet couldn't be had with A/C, no?
This Montiverdi clearly shows the dual quad air cleaner and the RV-2 compressor fits.
My gen 2 hemi dynos in at 650 hp / 750 ftlb in daily trim , switching tunes and fuel types and 800 hp was easily done .
My you tube channel has my first start up in car , enjoy 😉
The Hemi put out way more than 425 hp. It was closer to 500 but you had to spin it.
None of them jump out and say "buy me"
Beautiful, but... Certainly too much heat inside for driver and passenger, V8 being almost between them, (!) and engine cooling problems too...
Whoa, but what IS the turquoise car on the left of the Monte at 11:10??
It's the unique Bizzarrini Manta.
This is a very nice car without a doubt, but I would still prefer a Pantera.
Aston Martin has a T in the last name its not Aston Mar in.
There was a Monteverdi Hai in my neighborhood that had a 390 horse Chrysler 440 magnum. The same 440 they put in the Chrysler 300 H model.
LOL> Woulda, coulda, shoulda... Regardless, the Pantera is a work of art. That Monteverdi is pure fugly. The Pantera was made and today it looks as good as ANYTHING anyone has ever made, back then or today.
$27,000 US
What was the competition’s pricing in 1970?
Pantera
Ferrari
Lamborghini
What else was available then?
The people that looked at the Hai at the 1970 car show, what did they say?
Basic interior, Not flash enough?
Noisy interior with the motor next to the drivers elbow?
How refined was the drive?
No boot for the golf clubs.
No history or dealer network.
Maybe he should have gotten a Chevy dealership for Switzerland to sell Corvettes.
Looks like a Jensen front with a fiat back end