Official Marketing Text
Keeping up appearances
At the age of 33 the Swiss Peter Monteverdi founded his car company Automobile Monteverdi AG in 1967. In the market segment of luxury-class cars he found a niche, which he met with his model range “High Speed 375”. The attached number 375 of the designation gave information about the performance of the engine in terms of horsepower. 375 hp – this was the official specification of Monteverdi for the fitted V8 big-block Chrysler-engines, which were used only. Until 1973 this sales concept proved to be very successful but then the oil crisis affected the sales figures negatively and the Monteverdi AG got into financial difficulties.
Nevertheless, in order to prove their capability of production, Monteverdi presented a newly developed convertible christened with the name “Palm Beach” on their booth at the Geneva Motor Show in 1975. Underneath the long-drawn front hood a V8 Chrysler-engine with a displacement of 7.2 liter was fitted. The very noble-looking copper-colored paint, discreetly used chrome decorations, aluminum wheels and an interior, which also made a very appealing and noble impression with its cream-colored leather, should appeal the well-healed upper class. Even if also a sales price of 124,000 SFr for the 237-km/h-fast convertible was mentioned, the car never progressed beyond the show car stage. Peter Monteverdi sold his car but purchased it back later on and presented the unique copy to the public at many exhibitions.
Thereby car enthusiasts became apparently such familiar with this car, that the Palm Beach is even nowadays referred to as “one of the most beautiful convertibles of the 1970s”.
