Rare Rides: A 1971 Monteverdi High Speed 375/L, Where L Means Luxurious
Rare Rides featured a Monteverdi once before, the large and luxurious 375/4 sedan. While that limited-run model marked the culmination of theÂ
High Speed series of cars from the brand, today’s 2+2 coupe represents the brand’s mainstream product offering.
The High Speed line was the debut sports luxury offering from the Monteverdi brand, a marque established in 1967 by 33-year-old Peter Monteverdi. The Swiss gentleman was born and raised around cars, as the son of a garage owner. Peter developed his father’s repair business into a large dealership by the early sixties and shifted high-end wares from BMW, Ferrari, and Lancia. Monteverdi’s dealership lost its Ferrari supply in 1963 when Enzo Ferrari himself wrote a letter to Mr. Monteverdi and demanded he pay up front for his shipment of 100 Ferraris. Monteverdi declined and set to the creation of his own luxury firm.
Just a dozen examples will be built.
With our streets filled with unimaginative, anonymous crossover utility vehicles, you could be forgiven for concluding that good automotive design is all but a lost art in the 21st century.
Thankfully, though, you d be wrong.
Say hello to the Ares Design Wami Lalique Spyder - a vintage-looking roadster so breathtakingly pretty we can scarcely believe it originated in this century. Lalique is a French crystal maker, and the company is serving as a partner for the project, producing a number of crystal embellishments for the limited run of 12 examples that Ares plans to build.