Peter Monteverdi died on 4 July 1998 in Binningen, Switzerland. He was best known as a Swiss carmaker, but his Formula 1 history had two distinct and unusual chapters: one as the builder of the MBM car in the early 1960s, and another as the late-period owner of the fading Onyx team in 1990.
Monteverdi’s first Formula 1 attempt came through MBM, short for Monteverdi Basel Motoren. The car was entered for the 1961 German Grand Prix, but it did not start. He had appeared in a non-championship race at Solitude, but his World Championship footprint remained one entry and no start. Even so, MBM carries a small national distinction as a rare Swiss-built Formula 1 car.
Onyx becomes Monteverdi and disappears
The second chapter was stranger. Onyx had reached Formula 1 in 1989 after success in Formula 3000 and even scored a podium with Stefan Johansson at the Portuguese Grand Prix. Financial trouble and ownership changes followed quickly. Monteverdi became involved in 1990, and the team was eventually renamed Monteverdi Onyx.
The rebadged operation did not last. Cars were moved to Switzerland, staff changes followed, and the team collapsed before the season was complete. By then Formula 1 was becoming less tolerant of fragile private operations with unclear funding and restless ownership. Monteverdi’s intervention did not save Onyx; it became one of the final movements before the team disappeared.
His broader automotive career was far richer than his Grand Prix record, including road cars sold under the Monteverdi name. In Formula 1, however, he remains attached to two edge cases: a self-built Swiss entry that never reached a championship grid, and a rescued team that could not be rescued for long. It is a compact record, but a very particular one.
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