Full Body Restoration

The owner wanted GT Motors to do the bodywork on this vehicle which had been repainted some years before and never reassembled. Unfortunately, the previous work was not very well done and so the decision was made to do a thorough bare-metal repaint. A Pandora’s box was opened as the process revealed rust in many places. The body needed a whole new floor and the rarity of the car meant that the floor pans had to be custom fabricated along with a special die to stamp the unique ribbing pattern into them. Sections of sills and half guards were also constructed. Some complex and double-skin panel construction was required and various trims and bumper parts were made and sent off for chroming. Perhaps one of the most labour intensive elements was getting the body lines perfect. The car is of an unusual design where it has curves, straight lines and angles of both concave and convex nature. Such elegant and aggressive lines had to be spot on. A full exterior, interior and underbody repaint was performed. This same vehicle was subsequently taken to the Monterey car week in 2019 and won several awards.

Background Information from the Owner

Following a disagreement with Enzo Ferrari in 1967, at the age of 33, Swiss entrepreneur Peter Monteverdi decided to design and build his own GT cars. Monteverdi went for classic Italian styling with American power, in this case a Chrysler 440 cubic inch V8.

It is understood that less than 70 Monteverdi 375L’s were built from a total production of less than 100 of all the 375 variants. This example is one of perhaps only nine factory right-hand-drive 375L’s built. The car was sold through Monteverdi’s United Kingdom agent, Simpsons, into Australia and was shown at the 1972 Melbourne Motor Show.

After its restoration, the owners of the car were invited to take it to North America and show it at the Carmel Concours on the Avenue and The Quail – A Motorsports Gathering during Monterey (Pebble Beach) week in August 2019. It was very well received picking up two trophies at the Carmel Concours on the Avenue. It won its class – Best Continental, European & Foreign Sport and the Robert J Richards Best Continental Award (for the automobile that best represents post World War II excellence). The car also made the front page of the Monterey Herald!