Tag Archives: Hugus

Au Revoir Le Mans – Ferrari 275 GTB Copetizione #9015

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Last Ferrari Friday I left students of the marque a little challenge to find a photo of Ed Hugus driving a NART Ferrari 250 LM to victory in the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hour Race.

Ferrari 275 GTB/C, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

Unsurprisingly none has shown up, so for the time being I will have to continue to surmise it never happened. If it did the Ferrari would have been disqualified because both Jochen Rindt and Marsten Gregory continued driving the car after the alleged incident and replacement drivers were allowed only if one of the two nominated drivers took no further driving duties. On the other hand it would have been quite a coup for NART owner Luigi Chinetti to pull one over the, at times particularly pedantic, race organisers.

Ferrari 275 GTB/C, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

Ed had a driving career that spanned from the early ’50’s to 1969 that included a class win at Le Mans in 1957 when he was driving a Porsche. He competed as a driver in the Le Mans 24 hours in 1964 for the last, known, time driving a ’64 NART Ferrari 250 GTO, a race from which the car retired with differential issues.

Ferrari 275 GTB/C, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

In 1966 NART, Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team took delivery of today’s featured 275 GTB Competizione and appear to have entered it in the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours under Ed Hugus name for Giampiero Biscaldi and Michel de Bourbon-Parme to drive with Ed named as reserve.

Ferrari 275 GTB/C, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

Giampiero and Michel qualified 35th and made it all the way to lap 218, about two thirds of the distance covered by the class winning 275 GTB/C driven by Mike Parkes and Roy Pike, before retiring with clutch and gearbox issues.

Ferrari 275 GTB/C, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

#9015 is only known to have been entered in one other event at Road Atlanta where Bill Harrahs Modern Classic Motors entered Bob Grossman and Denise McCluggage in the ’66 500 mile race in which they finished 12th.

Ferrari 275 GTB/C, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

Ed continued racing another couple of years in the USA with a Porsche 906 and a fearsome Porsche powered device known as the ‘Tricor Special’ with which he won his last, known, race at Daytona in August 1968.

By 1980 #9015 had passed into the hands of New York collector Anthony Wang. John and Heather Mozart of Palo Alto acquired #9015 in 2011 and entered it into last years Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance where Geoffrey Horton took these photographs.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photographs.

Thanks for joining me on this “Au Revoir Le Mans” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the first hybrid to win the Le Mans 24 Hour race. Don’t forget to come back now !

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LM Daily Driver – Ferrari 250 LM #6045

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Unlike the previous Ferrari 250 LM’s I have looked at today’s featured car #6045 was never raced at Le Mans, on hillclimbs, or even stared in a film, in period, though it did feature in a piece of Don Simpson’s cine film to document the extent of some fire damage.

#6045 was the 19th of the 32 250 LM’s built and supplied to William Harrah through Ferrari’s US Agent Chinetti for his personal use in August 1964.

Ferrari 250 LM, Cottingham, Goodwood Revival

2 years later William sold the car with just 800 miles on the clock and by the end of 1966 Dr. Harold Isaacs had bought it for $17500 from Thomas W. Barrett III.

In May 1969 #6045 won 2nd place in a special interest class at Pebble Beach and in September ’69, #6045 was involved in a road accident when leaving a Concours event at Griffith Park in Los Angeles.

Ferrari 250 LM, Cottingham, Goodwood Revival

Unfortunately fuel spilled from a damaged fuel tank erupted causing considerable damage which was documented on cine film by the cars fourth owner Don Simpson.

Don never got around to repairing the damaged car and Ron Kellog the next owner sold the motor and chassis to separate new owners.

Ferrari 250 LM, Cottingham, Goodwood Revival

By 1989 the chassis had followed a well documented path into the hands of Ulrich Guggisberg of Graber Automibole Limited in Switzerland who had a restoration completed.

Four owners later #6045 belonged to Luay Allawi who had DK Engineering in Chorleywood, just north of London, carry out further restoration which included painting it in dark red as seen in these photographs taken at Goodwood Revival with Jeremy Cottingham at the wheel.

Ferrari 250 LM, Cottingham, Goodwood Revival

DK Engineering acquired a replica 250LM which had the original #6045 motor installed and soon after these photo’s were taken the original motor was reunited with it’s original chassis, while the replica chassis was “destroyed and cut into little pieces by Ferrarti S.p.A. Documented by Ferrari S.p.A. with photographs.”

Ferrari students in need of a little extra home work might like to try and solve the riddle of Ed Hugus and his contribution to the last Ferrari Le Mans victory.

As can be seen on this linked thread your mission, should you chose to accept it, is to find a verifiable photograph taken during the night of the 19th / 20th June 1965 that confirms Ed drove the ’65 Le Mans winning NART 250 LM.

Thanks for joining me on this “LM Daily Driver” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again when quelle surprise I’ll be looking at another Le Mans winning Audi. Don’t forget to come back now !

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