Technical specification The Citroën SM Opera:

Technical specification Monteverdi 375/4:

Technical specification Monica 560:

Technical specification Iso Fidia:

The de Tomaso Deauville was launch in November 1970 at the Turin Motorshow as de Tomaso “Modena” at the Ghia stand. The presented car was a bit different from the first production car e.g. the square versus round head lights. Within a couple of months the Deauville was ready to be shipped to the first owners in 1971. The first series had a leather and velours interior with declining headrests, full leather interior was an option. Standard the de Tomaso Deauvillle featured airconditioning, power steering and electric windows. Outside the Deauville had Ghia badges on the side panels and a rectangle de Tomaso Logo in the grille.
The 1st series Deauville was produced roughly between 1971 and 1974 and can be recognised with the last 4 serial number digits between #1000 and #1220. Before the early Series 2 came onto the market.

Technical specification de Tomaso Deauville Series 1:

After an absence of almost 10 years, Aston Martin reintroduced the Lagonda name at the 1974 Earls Court Motor Show in London. This time not as brand name, but as type-indication of their newest sports saloon. Based on the DBS, this long-wheelbased, four-door version of the Aston Martin V8 was an elegant design. The design itself was already five years old as David Brown already drove the Series 1 Prototype since 1969, but it had to wait until Aston Martin was taken-over and Mr. Brown left the company. The very moderate success was probably due to the late launch, the oil crisis and also the steep price of more than 14,000 Pound Sterling. This exclusive model -even by Aston Martin standards- was catalogued until June 1976, by which time only seven had been made. Chassis numbers ranged from ’12001′ to ’12007′, while a further example – chassis ’12008′ – was sanctioned at a later date. Most of the Lagondas were delivered with a 3-speed automatic.

Technical specification Aston Martin Lagonda Series 1:

Initiated by Erich Waxenberger as an internal ‘spare-time’ project, the 300 SEL 6.3 was the first Mercedes of its kind. Waxenberger decided somewhere in 1966 to plant the huge M100 V8 engine of the Mercedes 600 into the much smaller 300 SE coupé. When development director Uhlenhaut agreed on this somewhat strange project, Mercedes though it would be better to introduce this engine into its 300 SEL model. They mounted a 4-speed automatic to the M100 and kept all the refinements and luxury of the regular SEL model. The car was launched at the 1968 Geneva Motor Show as the fastest limousine of the world. At that time a top speed of 229 KM/h was indeed spectacular, but the same as the already launched Maserati Quattroporte I and the Iso Fidia. However the 0-100 KM/h in 6.3 seconds was much faster than all these existing sport saloons. Mercedes produced the 300 SEL 6.3 until 1972. Apparantly Mercedes decided to go with the project because they wanted to make better use of the M100 engine production facilities. Well, mission accomplished, because it sold more than 6,500 units, compare to just 2,700 units of the 600.

Technical specification Mercedes 300 SEL 6.3:

Karim Aga Kahn was a regular client of Maserati ordering both regular Maseratis and also a bunch of special versions. In 1971 he ordered a new Maserati 4-door sport saloon custom build by Carrozzeria Frua. The car was built on the platform of the Maserati Indy and featured in the 002 car the 4,7 Liter engine and in the 004 Aga Kahn car the massive 4,9 Liter engine. The first car was introduced on the 1971 Paris Motor Show and again in 1972 Geneva Motor Show. As said one car was created for and delivered to the Aga Khan in 1974 and the other Frua II was delivered to the Spanish Royal Family.
Although the Frua Quattroporte II received an official Maserati chassis code (AM 121) and looked a million Dollars, it never made the production stage. Pietro Frua hoped it would be the successor of his own Quattroporte I, but Citroen took over Maserati in the mid 70′s and had their own ideas of how the Quattroporte II should look.

Technical specification Maserati Quattroporte II by Frua:

At the end of the 60′s last century, Maserati was financially in deep trouble and an unlikely buyer came to the rescue: Citroën. As turned out later, the Italian/French culture mix wasn’t a success. During Citroën’s ownership a lot of new models were introduced: the Bora, Merak, Khamsin and under Citroën brand the SM with a newly developed Maserati V6. On the same platform of latter car and with the same engine, the Quattroporte II was introduced at the 1974 Paris Motor Show. The already existing Frua Quattroporte II with its thirsty V8 engine was killed off, because of the oil crisis. The new Quattroporte was not everybody’s cup of tea, the Bertone design was very conventional and not really sparkling, the engine too small for the size of the car and the handling was very smooth, but not very sporty. Not surprise that the Bertone Quattroporte II wasn’t a great success. Untill 1975, probably 13 automobiles were constructed until the curtain fell for Citroën, handing over the power to none other than Alejandro de Tomaso. Under this new leadership the Bertone Quattroporte II was killed off immediately and Alejandro de Tomaso ordered the new Quattroporte III based on the platform of his own de Tomaso Deauville. Leaving the unfortunate number II behind.

Technical specification Maserati Quattroporte II by Bertone:

The first ever Jaguar XJ was launched in 1968 with the six cylinder XJ6. In 1972 Jaguar introduced the V12 powered 5.3 Liter XJ12, at that time the only mass production four door automobile featuring such a large engine. Jaguar also claimed to sell the potential buyer the “fastest full four-seater available in the world today”. As seen on this site, other manufacturers already claimed this status with the Maserati Quattroporte I or the Iso Rivolta S4/Fidia. The engine was a newly developed machine which was first deployed as of 1971 in the Series 3 E-Type. The XJ12 and XJ12L (Long wheel base version) were visually nearly the same as the XJ6, only the bonnet grille, badging and painted steel wheels were different. The XJ12 was also the most luxurious of all early XJ-cars with e.g. automatic transmission as standard (no manual option available) and all leather interior. In 1973 the first XJ12 was already replaced by the new Mark II XJ car, therefore the Mark I XJ12 is the most unique twelve cylinder XJ ever made with just over 3,000 cars produced.

Technical specification Jaguar XJ12 Mark I: