Tag Archives: 1978

Monteverdi Safari

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1978 Monteverdi Safari 5700

Offered by Oldtimer Galerie Toffen | Toffen, Switzerland | November 29, 2014

Photo - Oldtimer Galerie Toffen

Photo – Oldtimer Galerie Toffen

Peter Monteverdi founded one of Switzerland’s few automobile companies. He began it in 1967 and it went out of business in 1984. They built some serious luxury supercars in the early years but by 1976 the cars were history and the company looked way into the future: luxury SUVs.

The Monteverdi Safari was their second SUV, behind the Sahara. It was a re-styled International Scout designed by Carrozzeria Fissore. Three engines were offered: a 5.7-liter International V-8 (165hp) or the choice between two Chrysler V-8s, a 7.2-liter (305hp) or a 5.2-liter (152hp). This one has the 5.7-liter International engine with 165 horsepower.

The Safari was built between 1976 and 1982 and sold well in Europe and the Middle East. About 1,000 SUVs were built in total between the base Sahara and the upscale Safari. The price probably won’t be that outrageous compared to when it was new. You can read more here and see more from this sale here.

Ferrari 312 T3

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1978 Ferrari 312 T3

Offered by Bonhams during Pebble Beach | August 15-17, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The Ferrari 312 T3 was Ferrari’s second car for the 1978 Formula One Season. The car used for the first two races was a carryover from 1977. The T3 was introduced for the third race. This car was driven primarily by Carlos Reutemann (who won the 1978 British Grand Prix in it). It also driven by Gilles Villeneuve. Villeneuve won the 1978 Race of Champions (a non-points F1 race) in this car. The engine is a 530 horsepower 3.0-liter Flat-12. Ferrari built five of these cars and this one is offered in more-or-less as-raced conditions and has spent many years in the Maranello Rosso Collection. It should sell for between $1,500,000-$2,000,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $2,310,000.

Stately Soviet Sedan

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1978 GAZ Chaika M13

For sale at Hyman Ltd | St. Louis, Missouri

Russian cars are so weird. But in a really interesting way. The “marque” is usually associated with a particular factory, in this case it is GAZ – which roughly translates to “Gorky Automobile Plant.” It is located in Nizhny Novgorod, which, coincidentally, will be the name of my first-born child.

The Chaika (which kind of translates to “seagull”) was a car used by Soviet government officials – but not the really important ones (they got ZIL limousines). This was for your run-of-the-mill bureaucrats and field officers. You might be thinking “How is this a 1978? It looks like something from the mid-1950s.” Well you’d be right. After WWII, the U.S. government prodded Packard into licensing (or selling) their old body dies to the Soviet Union, presumably to appease them into not nuking us.

Well Packard did just that but Packard also went out of business in the 1950s. So the Chaika (Mark I or “M13”), which was produced from 1959 through 1981 was almost a direct copy of the 1955-1956 Packard Patrician, at least from the outside. The engine was a 195 horsepower 5.5-liter V8. It also used Russia’s first three-speed push-button automatic transmission (which was essentially copied from Chrysler). In 1977, the Chaika M14 was introduced and it was more of an original (and contemporary) design, at least for the time.

Chaikas are really rare – anywhere in the world, especially in the U.S. They were not mass produced by American standards – or anybody’s standards, really. And their limited market ensured not many would be built. It’s really interesting and a piece of Cold War history. This one is in really good shape and can be yours for $69,500. For more information, click here.

All-Cars Charly

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1978 All-Cars Charly

Offered by Mecum | St. Charles, Illinois | October 26, 2012

I am ecstatic that this car exists in this condition and is being offered for sale. So many cars have been built over the years and their collectibility can fluctuate wildly from the time they are built. For some cars, people think they will never be collectible and they disappear from the earth. Other are used – as they should be – and then neglected. This one is all-original, complete, and unrestored. It looks as if it were vacuum-sealed off the end of the production line. It’s unusual – but it isn’t exotic and someone had to really love it to keep it this nice for this long. Thank you, whoever you are.

Autozodiaco was an Italian company that built dune buggies based on VW Beetles in the 1970s. At some point, they designed this strange-looking three-wheeled microcar and then sold the rights to All-Cars Srl of Pianoro, Italy. In production from 1974 through 1985, the Charly used a 49cc single-cylinder engine from Moto Morini. I’m not sure what the power rating was, but the transmission has 4-speeds so it may have a decent top end.

All-Cars built variations of the Charly for a number of years and it was sold as the “Snuggy” in some countries. The body is fiberglass and you don’t see them often – especially not in this incredible condition. The price won’t be extreme, but it should be a high-water mark for the model. I hope you like microcars, because the world’s foremost museum of microcars is going to be auctioned off by RM Auctions in February and we’ll be featuring as many as possible. You can read more about this car here and check out the rest of Mecum’s St. Charles lineup here.

Update: Sold $5,250.