While small series manufacturers such as Ferrari, Aston Martin and Lamborghini could afford to build their own engines, less well-funded sports car manufacturers had to work with third-party units. This cost significantly less than developing their own engines and the risks were also much lower. And because the Americans built powerful V8 (and in-line six-cylinder) engines and also offered them to smaller companies, Bristol, De Tomaso, Facel-Vega, Iso Rivolta, Jensen, Monteverdi and TVR were happy to take advantage.
This resulted in "half-breeds", as a German automobile magazine once called them, which did not score points with exotic technology, but with reliability and low maintenance costs. They could also have been called hybrid sports cars and saloons.
A meeting of the non thoroughbreds
The obvious thing to do was to organize a meeting of such hybrid cars, but you had to come up with the idea first. Michi Koch and Felix Kistler from the enterprising Jensen Car Club of Switzerland took on the topic and organized the first meeting at Motorworld Kemptthal between Zurich and Winterthur.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, many hybrid owners registered, and even more than expected turned up on the beautiful August 15, 2020. Almost the entire range of vehicles was there, except for a few exotic cars, such as a Bizzarrini, an Allard, a Monica or a TVR with Ford V8 power.
Instead, other manufacturers were represented in particularly large numbers.
Hot Italians
The Italian hybrid sports car manufacturers were represented by several De Tomaso Pantera, two De Tomaso Mangusta, three Iso Rivolta Lele (out of 284 built), another Iso Rivola IR 300 and an Intermeccanica Italia, which would perhaps be better categorized as American.
Elegant Brits
In addition to the almost somewhat dominant Jensen, which was represented by a large number of Interceptors, several SPs, two 541s, two C-V8s and an FF, there were several Bristol (411) and Sunbeam Tigers from British production.
There were also two AC Cobras, albeit of more recent manufacture. Unfortunately, an AC 428 or a TVR with a Ford V8 engine was missing. Instead, they were joined by other TVR sports cars with non-American drive technology.
Distinguished Frenchmen
The sporty GTs and saloons of the Facel-Vega brand come from France. It is rare to see so many coupés and four-doors from this manufacturer together, but the HK 500, Facel II and Excellence made a big impression in Kemptthal.
They were also accompanied by a non-hybrid Facelia. Facel had tried to develop its own engine in the four-cylinder sector, which also called into question the continued existence of the company. If only they had been content with the hybrid approach!
The Swiss exotic
Peter Monteverdi never thought of building his own engine. From the very beginning, he planted Chrysler V8 engines in his elegant front-engined GT coupés, but also in the mid-engined Shark.
Two high-speed coupés (375 L and 375 S) were presented in Kemptthal, complemented by a Safari off-road vehicle.
The double hybrid from Erich Bitter
It was no coincidence that the Opel logo was on the invitation card as well as the Bitter trademark. The German car manufacturer Opel was already using American engine technology for the KAD series in the 1960s.
And Erich Bitter then used this technology in his elegant coupé called the Bitter CD. And indeed, both an Opel Diplomat and a Bitter CD were on site in Kemptthal.
Two absolute exotics
As if cars built in the hundreds weren't exotic enough, two sports cars that you hardly ever see in this country were also present in front of the atmospheric walls of the former Maggi production facilities.
There was once one of the 57 Ghia 450 SS cars built. This open-top sports car was created on the initiative of the American Burt Sugarman, who had seen the Ghia G 230S based on the Fiat 2300 Coupé on a Road&Track cover. Instead of the Fiat mechanics, components from the Plymouth Barracuda were used, yet the hand-built one-offs cost four times as much as the standard Barracuda. The car was not easy to sell, especially as only one dealer in Hollywood was exclusively responsible for it.
At least not quite three dozen of the cars are said to have survived, with one showing its best side in Kemptthal.
The Gordon Keeble GT, which motor racing driver and journalist Paul Frère once compared with the Ferrari 330 GT and also wrote that the British GT was faster and quieter, not least thanks to the engine of the Chevrolet Corvette, is similarly rare, although almost twice as many were built.
Around 100 units of the coupé designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro were built with a plastic body until the mid-1960s. It was a minor miracle to see one of these cars in Kemptthal.
After all, the owner had to make a long journey from Germany to see it.
Informal
It was supposed to be a friendly meeting without stress and constraints. And so it was. Instead of concours voting or history tests, socializing and a beer together were the order of the day.
It was a perfect fit and the restaurants and bars at Motorworld Kemptthal were delighted with the visitors. A perfect fit! We'd like to see it again!
