Former racer and car builder, whose main profession was as a car dealer. Monteverdi's father, of Italian descent, ran a garage and truck repair business which inspired Peter, but he went his own way and became a mechanic at Vevey, a tractor manufacturing firm. His father died when Peter was only 22 and Monteverdi took over the garage, turning it into a top-end dealership and a manufacturer of racing cars which Peter designed. Peter then raced himself either in hillclimbs or in endurance racing in Germany, but stopped after a large accident in 1961. Monteverdi became Ferrari's youngest importer in 1957 and became a specialist not only for them, but in time BMW, Lancia and Bentley. The Monteverdi firm then became specialist in GT cars and then in later years, jeeps and also vehicles for the Swiss Army. Although Monteverdi had been involved in motorsport for aeons, he only had a brief involvement in Formula 1, buying the Onyx team with the father of Gregor Foitek, Karl. The team disbanded shortly afterwards and Peter died of cancer eight years later, still very much involved in his firm at the time of his passing.

Biography last updated 11 Sep 2016