Re: Monteverdi Sahara

[n9ads@domain.elided (Howard R Pletcher)]

On Wed, 16 Dec 1998 11:30:49 -0600 jbade@domain.elided writes:
>Good morning all,
>Happy Holiday's... etc etc etc..
>
>Anyway.. I was just thinking about my Scout sitting here at work and was
>thinking about the Monteverdi Sahara.  A Swiss made truck (although I
think
>they called it a 2 door station wagon) which was made from old Scout II
>parts..
>1.  Did they buy a bunch of stuff from IH as they where going under?
>2.  Is any of they parts still around?  (the grill was really
different..)
>maybe some of the Europe Scout owners...
>3.  Anyone have any pics around.. I have on.. I guess I could put it on
my
>web page as soon as I get a minute..
>4.  Anyone have more detailed info on what is was?  Howard?
>
>
The Sahara was one of several modified Scouts sold in Europe by at least
two custom builders.  No, they ddn't buy stuff from IH at the end in
1980, these were done in the mid-70's and later.  They did buy complete
Scouts and sometimes just partial Scouts off the assembly line.  Parts
are still around in Europe.  The vehicles are in demand by the Scout
collectors over there, just as the CVI and Midas conversions are
desirable over here.

Peter Monteverdi was a builder of some rather exotic custom
luxury/perfomance cars before he discovered 4WD's and applied his talents
there.  The Sahara was his basic conversion of the Scout II as I
remember--new grille, not sure what else, nothing too dramatic as I
recall.  I'm not sure it it retained the IH drivetrain or not, but I'd
expect this to have a relatively stock IH drivetrain.

He also had a model called the Safari that was much more dramatic.  This
started with a Scout frame and body tub.  He cut the belt-line down to
about 2" above the door handles, and installed a top with large windows
that looks much like a Range Rover's.  The front end sheet metal was new
and  lower.  It started with the front bumper from a BMW 530i that
continued down the sides as a large, black, rub-strip.  There was an air
dam below the bumper and an egg crate grill with dual headlights above.
The height of the grille was about the same as the little dual
headlights--it looked a something like an early Chevy LUV.  The hood
sloped upward slightly from this height and was probably 3 or 4" lower
than a Scout's.  There was a kick-up at the rear so that the rear of the
hood partially hid the windshield wipers.  It appears he used his own
windshield frame and the top was not removable.   Front seats were from
BMW.  The dash was considerably modified, being lowered with a large
instrument pod installed.

The drivetrain was a 318 or 360" Chrysler (a 3.3L diesel was reportedly
also offered and one article refers to the 440" engine as available too),
fitted with an 8 quart oil pan to help with cooling when cruising the
autobahn at 170 Km/Hr.  A Chrysler 727 was the standard transmission,
with a German ZF 4 speed optional.  The Dana 20, Dana 44 axles (Power-Lok
rear, manual locking front), and Scout suspension and brakes were used.

The whole vehicle reminded me a lot of the Range Rover in appearance,
although from side, the Scout body tub was apparent.

I've got a photo copy of a PV4 Magazine article on the Safari.  It was
the July issue, but I dont' know the year.  It mentions the Range Rover
has been the only European SUV available in the US fo the past 6 years,
so I think that would make it about 1976 if anyone has access to a file
of these.

Another Swiss builder was Willie Felber, who built a version of the Scout
called the Felber Oasis, which appeared to be a bit more of a CVI type
conversion of the base Scout.  It had a top with more glass, but not the
lowered belt-line or altered hood height of the Safari.  It also offered
the 360 Chrysler as standard with a 418" Rolls Royce or a 3.3L diesel
optional.

They weren't cheap.  One article compares prices in Swiss DKK with the
Scout going for 120,000 DKK, the Safari for 200,000 DKK, and the Oasis
for 310,000 DKK.  The PV4 article mentions prices of $15,000 to $27,000
at a time when Scouts were still in the $6,000 to $8,000 range in the US.

Howard Pletcher
Howteron Products Scout Parts

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