Original MONTECARLO GTB CENTENAIRE Bronze Sculpture

This Original MONTECARLO GTB CENTENAIRE Bronze Sculpture is #47 of 100 produced. Given 1990 to the Guests during the car launch in Monte Carlo. 2,8 kgs of bronze. Size ca 315 x 145 x 45 mm. Very rare

The Montecarlo GTB Centenaire is a luxury sports car from the Monegasque automobile manufacturer Monte Carlo Automobile (MCA). To date, it is the only car produced by the eponymous company, excluding the Ala 50 prototype, and it is also the only car produced by a Monegasque company.
The idea of the GTB was born in 1983, the year the company was founded, when the owner and father of the company, Fulvio Maria Ballabio, decided to create a new manufacturer of luxury cars to celebrate the centenary of the Automobile Club of Monaco, founded in 1890.
The prototype was completed in 1989 and tested several times on the race track by Ballabio himself; In 1990, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Automobile Club de Monaco, it was given to Prince Rainier III. presented by Monaco.
The original plan was to build one hundred examples, but in the end only five were built: one of these models belonged to Prince Rainier, one was painted black, one red, one white and two blue.
One of these copies (one of the two blue ones) was a Targa version, i.e. with a removable Targa roof and, unlike the normal GTB, not equipped with a rear wing. There is only one example of this version, whose name is not GTB Centenaire, but Beau Rivage, like the famous curve on the Monte Carlo race track.
The second factor that particularly influenced the price, in addition to being manufactured in such a small number, was the fact that in its manufacture futuristic materials were used to a large extent, having a very limited weight in relation to the metal alloys used until then, but at the same time they had similar resistance properties. However, these new technologies were significantly more expensive, precisely because they were not widespread, but were limited to certain areas of application such as aerospace, aviation and Formula 1 competitions.
Chiti had considerable experience, so much so that he designed some Formula 1 Ferraris that won the world championship and for several years he was technical director of the racing department of Alfa Romeo, for which he guaranteed several world championships in the field of sports prototypes.
Chiti was joined by another designer, Guglielmo Bellasi, who already had some experience in the industry, having also been active in Formula 1.
Ballabio managed to reach an agreement with Lamborghini to be able to install the Sant'Agata Bolognese company's engines in his cars, as it was not possible to design a completely new engine. Lamborghini gave him the license to use the Countach's 5000 cc twelve-cylinder engine. However, MCA's owner decided that his car needed to offer even more power than the original engine in order to rise to the top of the category and be the most powerful car on the market.
Chiti decided to rethink the Countach engine by converting the V12 from naturally aspirated to supercharged and equipping it with two turbochargers, one per inline; This increased the output from the initial 455 hp to 720 hp.
Thanks to these interventions, the GTB Centenaire could count on the most powerful engine available in a road car, and it was not until 1993 that someone did better, the Dauer 962 Le Mans with 730 hp. The engine transmitted power to the rear wheels via a 5-speed manual transmission.
In total, 5 years of design and development work were required to obtain a chassis that ensured adequate torsional and bending rigidity values for the engine. The latter was mounted in a central rear position, allowing optimal distribution of the masses concentrated in the center of the chassis.
For the frame, it was decided to use Kevlar and carbon fiber with a honeycomb structure, as a monocoque.
To complete the work, the three technicians decided to also use a configuration typical of F1 cars for the suspensions, i.e. a low push rod type wishbone with anti-roll bar.
The aerodynamic profile, which was pointed, was also very interesting; The car appeared very round and curved, but the lines were very harmonious, which is why the fluid dynamic performance was quite high. Seen in profile, it had a wedge-shaped shape, typical of the cars from which it descended, the Lamborghinis. The very thin nose faced the asphalt and gave it an excellent aerodynamic penetration coefficient.
In 1993, Georgian Aleksander Mirianachvizi bought the rights that MCA held to Centenaire and renamed it MIG (Migrelia & Georgia). However, the goal was not to continue building it as a road car, but to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Automotive Mig Tako team. The engine was replaced with a V12 turbo engine from Motori Moderni, but with disappointing results. The machine, renamed MiG M100, was entrusted to the pilots Giampiero “Peo” Consonni (who, among other things, took care of its preparation), Pierre Honegger, Alfonso Orleans de Bourbon and Aleksandre Mirianachvizi. They achieved the thirtieth fastest time in qualifying, about a minute and a half behind the fastest car, the Peugeot 905, and the car did not take part in the race. The only race she took part in was the Vallelunga 6 Hours, where she finished 23rd.