The
Delta Monza is celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Monza auto racing
track in Italy. I was almost able to guess this just from looking at the
pen, before I even heard about it. The design does have a bit of the race
car to it. Since I guess this is what they were going for, we'll have
to give them full marks for success in that department!
The Monza is a new look for Delta, although you may notice some resemblance to another recent model from this company, one celebrating their own anniversary, the 20th Anniversary Edition. The design is similar, but not identical, with several important differences. More about those in a bit.
First, the basics. The Monza is a large pen, similar in overall size to their other full size models. However, it seems a bit smaller, in length if nothing else, thanks to a new short cap design, and the placement of the clip on the barrel. Overall length when closed in just barely under five inches long, and the width is a very comfortable (to me, anyway!) 5/8 inches across at the widest point of the barrel. The gripping point at the section is a bit slimmer, but not by much. It still feels like a "big pen" in the hand.
This
is great news for me, I like a bigger pen. If you're a fan of slim pens,
this might be a problem. Even if you are, you might want to try the Monza
out. That design might just bring you over to the dark side.... It's a
very cool looking pen!
The overall impression is one of gentle curves. It reminds me of the Ferrari racers of the 1950s and 1960s. I don't think you would call it "sleek" exactly, it's chunky enough to avoid that, but the width is partially disguised by the softly curved shape of the cap and barrel. With no straight lines, the width of the pen seems less than it actually is.
If you're coming to the impression that I like the looks of the Monza, you're in the right ballpark! I think it's one of the best looking modern pens to come along in a while.
Removing
the cap brings another surprise. Instead of the traditional Delta section
and nib, there is what I would describe as a semi-hooded open nib. A clumsy
description, but accurate. It looks to be the basic Delta nib and feed,
but set into a metal section that covers about half the nib. This section
is cut at an angle on the front edge.
The result is a front end that looks like it's going a hundred miles an hour, but still uses a traditional Delta nib and feed. I absolutely love the way this section looks. That said, it does bring me to my one complaint about the Monza. The threads. The cap threads on the section fall right into the area in which fingers are going to be grabbing the pen in use. Now, this could either be a huge problem, or scarcely noticeable, depending upon your grip. I didn't find it to be much of a handicap. Others in the office thought it was annoying to one degree or another. Since grip is a very individual thing, it would be best to try this pen out in person before you made up your mind.
The
nice thing about those pesky threads is that they are cut to secure the
cap in just one complete revolution. One turn and the cap is snugged down
tight. This also holds true at the rear of the pen, where the barrel is
threaded to accept the cap when it's posted.
No worries about having the cap fly off the back of the barrel if you get worked up and start waving your hands around! Normally, I'm not a big fan of having the cap thread onto the barrel for posting, but in this case, it's so quick that it didn't bother me. Now if only they could move the threads at the front of the barrel a bit....
But that's it, just one little tiny complaint! For such a strong design, that's doing pretty good, I'd say. Any time you take a step in a new direction, you are bound to gather complaints as well as kudos. Taking steps in a new direction is always a bit of a risk.
In this instance, I think Delta has managed to come out well on the positive side of the ledger in that regard. The Monza is a very nice pen, no matter how you regard it. If you are a fan of auto racing, sports cars, or even just red pens, taking a look at the Monza will be well worth your while. It is made in an edition size of 922 pieces.
copyright 2002 Mike Stevens