The Monteverdi Hai 450 SS was a prototype and follow on to the 375 High Speed

Monteverdi High Speed

The Monteverdi High Speed was a grand tourer automobile built by Monteverdi in Basel, Switzerland from 1967 to 1970. Contemporary rivals included the British Jensen Interceptor....

. It was intended to be a direct competitor to the top of the list super sports cars of Lamborghini

Lamborghini

Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., commonly referred to as Lamborghini , is an Italian car manufacturer. The company was founded by manufacturing magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini in 1963, with the objective of producing a refined grand touring car to compete with established offerings from marques like...

, Ferrari

Ferrari

Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...

 and Maserati

Maserati

Maserati is an Italian luxury car manufacturer established on December 1, 1914, in Bologna. The company's headquarters is now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. It has been owned by the Italian car giant Fiat S.p.A. since 1993...

.

A magenta Hai 450 SS prototype debuted at the 1970 Geneva Auto Show. It had a 6974 cc V8 from Chrysler

Chrysler

Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....

 positioned behind the two front seats. It took its name from the output of the engine, and the German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 word for shark, Hai. The body was designed by Trevor Fiore, of Carozzeria Fissore. A second car was made with a longer wheelbase and minor detail changes like door handles and red bodywork. This car was named the Hai 450 GTS to mark the changes.

Monteverdi initially planned to produce 49 copies, but the production was halted after the two prototypes. This is most likely due to the car's speculated $27,000 USD price tag, a considerable sum for such a car in that era. In the 1990s, two additional replicas from spare parts were made by Monteverdi

Peter Monteverdi

Peter Monteverdi was a Swiss automaker and creator of the automobile brand Monteverdi....

, that now reside in the official Museum in Basel-Binningen.

Specifications

Monteverdi Hai 450 SS Technical Data
Chassis	Steel Tube Chassis with rectangular tubing.
Engine	Chrysler 426CI Hemi V8. Twin Four-Barrel Carter Carburetors. Mid, longitudinal engine, rear drive.
Bore & stroke	107.9 mm x 95.25 mm / 4.25 in x 3.75 in.
Compression	10.25:1
Capacity	6974 cc
Power	450 hp @ 5,000 rpm
Torque	664.35 N·m (490 ft·lbf) @ 4,000 rpm
Transmission	ZF 5-Speed Transaxle. Ratios: 2.40:1, 1.40:1, 1.00:1, 0.90:1, 0.80:1, Reverse 3.60:1.
Steering	Worm & Roller.
Front suspension	Wishbones w/Coil Springs, Adjustable Koni Shock Absorbers.
Rear suspension	De Dion System w/Lateral Watts Link, Lower Trailing Arms, Coil Springs, Adjustable Koni Shock Absorbers.
Brakes	ATE Vented Discs. ATE Inboard Vented Discs.
Body	Steel body over Steel Tube Chassis.
Measurements	4343 mm (171 in) X 1788 mm (70.4 in) X 1021 mm (40.2 in); Wheelbase 2548 mm (100.3 in); Front Track 1499 mm (59 in); Rear Track 1458 mm (57.4 in).
Unloaded weight	1247 kg (2,749 lb)
Maximum speed	More than 289 km/h (179.6 mph)
Acceleration	0 to 100 km/h (0-62 mph): 4.8 s
Fuel consumption	17.2 L/100 km
Number of cars built	2