Milt Brown , creator of the Milestone Apollo GT sports cars, the Apollo Verona roadster and the Apache Formula Jr. race cars introduced his latest design, the Monza Spyder at the 2005 San Francisco Custom Car Show where it took first place honors for Sports Cars.
The Monza Spyder is an original design that was inspired by late 30’s Alfa Romeo sports cars, including the stunning 2900 series. The styling of the new Apollo blends the passion and flowing lines of the Alfa with modern mechanical components.
The 88 Apollos produced in the 60's won acclaim for their Italian style combined with American comfort and practicality, eventually earning milestone status from the prestigious Milestone Car Society, a group promoting design excellence in post-WW II automobiles.
The BMW powered Spyder is the first car built by Apollo Design, a firm established by Brown to design and engineer one-of-a-kind cars.
Performance
For his latest creation, Brown chose a BMW six cylinder engine.In order to achieve contemporary acceleration times, the power of the 2.5 liter BMW engine was increased to 227 H.P. by the use of custom stainless steel exhaust headers, low restriction air intake and a high performance computer chip.
The Spyder’s low weight of 2310 lbs. combined with the modified BMW engine produces 0-60 times of 5.6 seconds.
Engineering
The Monza Spyder manages to achieve the difficult feat of combining comfortable ride with nimble and agile handling. Brown accomplished this by designing a rigid frame and by placing the BMW motor well back in the chassis to achieve a 50 - 50 weight distribution.
The frame is 4" rectangular cold rolled steel with four cross members and was engineered to be light enough for quick acceleration yet stiff enough to provide a comfortable ride and sports car handling.
The Monza Spyder features a BMW five-speed gearbox, modified to incorporate a gated shifter for precise gear selection. Further, the shift knob and lever are one-piece, machined from 6061 aluminum alloys.
Comfortable Cockpit
The Monza has leg room for drivers up to 6’3" tall, long doors for easy entry and exit and comfortable yet supportive bucket seats covered in soft glove leather that hold the driver firmly in place during hard cornering. Large pockets in the doors provide storage for incidential items. The Carpathian elm dashboard has vintage style gauges, which were designed by Brown and built by Classic Instruments.
Apollo Design
The Monza Spyder was constructed to showcase the capabilities of Brown’s new company, Apollo Design. This new venture was established in 2002 to offer the following services:
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Design & fabricate concept cars
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Design production ready sports cars for limited production manufacturers
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Design & build one-of-a-kind sports cars to customer specifications
Since the main focus of Brown’s new company is designing and building concept cars, only a few cars will be built each year. Like a fine handmade suit each car will be built to reflect the owners style.
"We want each owners car to be special", says Brown. They will be able to select the paint and upholstery combination and choose from a variety of dashboard materials including Carpathian Elm, burl walnut, leather or engine-turned aluminum.Owners will also be able to specify the type of seats - sports, touring or racing.Brown will also custom fit the pedals, controls and seat padding to each owner.
Cars similar to the Monza Spyder with the 333 HP BMW M3 motor, start at $246,000. For customers who desire more low-end torque, a BMW 4.4 liter V8 or a 400 HP 6.0 liter Corvette LS2 motor will be available.
The one-of-a-kind Monza Spyder will be sold to the highest bidder at one of the Scottsdale Auctions in January 2006.
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| 1963 Apollo GT convertible, built by MSC's Design & Technical Editor, Milt Brown. Shown here on the ramp, Concorso Italiano 2004. |
Headquartered in Berkeley, California, Apollo Design is a studio dedicated to maintaining the Apollo tradition by creating elegant, yet practical cars. For more information, call 510-704-0772, or email miltbrown@motorsportscenter.com
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| The BMW-powered Apollo Verona Roadster, designed in the 1980's, is still being produced under license in Germany. |
