Tag Archives: Ferrari

Salmon Over Metallic Grey – Ferrari 375 MM Ghia Coupé #0476AM

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In 1955 Ghia built the body work for a new Ferrari for the last time, and one might well wonder if this had anything to do with the salmon over metallic grey paint job.

Ferrari 375 MM Ghia Coupé, Blackhawk Museum

Today’s featured Ferrari 375 MM Ghia Coupé chassis #0476AM, photographed by Greoffrey Horton at the Blackhawk Museum earlier this year, is not only the last Ghia bodied Ferrari it is also the only Ghia bodied 375 MM chassis making it unique among the 23 street and racing versions of 375 MM.

Ferrari 375 MM Ghia Coupé, Blackhawk Museum

This particular car was shown at the 1955 Turin Motor and New York Auto shows before it found a home with a family in Milwaukee, WI. By 1970 #0476AM had recorded just 12,000 miles, four years later it was sold to a Milwaukee doctor who kept the car for 10 years.

Ferrari 375 MM Ghia Coupé, Blackhawk Museum

In 1984 #0426AM appeared in the Blackhawk Museum for a couple of years before going on a sojourn to Switzerland which lasted at least until December 2002 when the car failed to sell at auction. I am not entirely sure when #0426AM returned to the Blackhawk Museum, if you happen to know please do not hesitate to chip in below.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton once again for saving Ferrari Friday.

Thanks for joining me on this “Salmon Over Metallic Grey” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at an open wheel Formula 5000 car. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Formula One Cabriolet – Ferrari 342 America, Vignale Cabriolet, #0232AL

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Between late 1952 and early 1953 Ferrari built six 342 America chassis powered by a 200hp 4.1 litre / 341 cui version of Ferrari’s latest atmospheric induction V12 designed by Aurelio Lampredi and raced with success in the Ferrari 375 Formula One cars.

Ferrari 342 America Vignale, Blackhawk Museum

Five of the 342 chassis went to Pininfarina where 3 were fitted with coupé bodies and two with cabriolet bodies, the first chassis #0232AL, featured in today’s photographs by Geoffrey Horton taken at the Blackhawk Museum, was sent to Vignale where it was fitted with a cabriolet body.

Ferrari 342 America Vignale, Blackhawk Museum

Upon completion Herr Otto Wild of Muri in Switzerland. Before the end of the 1950’s were out the car is thought to have made it’s way to the USA, from 1971 until at least 2000 the car was kept in single ownership.

Ferrari 342 America Vignale, Blackhawk Museum

The 342 America was said to be capable of 115 mph, not quite on a par with the contemporary Jaguar XK120 in it’s original aluminium bodied form.

Ferrari 342 America Vignale, Blackhawk Museum

The Lampredi V12 motor would continue in production until the 1960’s powering Ferrari’s large engine America series cars up to and including the 500 Superfast of which the last was built in 1966.

Thanks for joining me on this “Formula One Cabriolet” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be loocking at the first of this months big banger Formula 5000/A open wheel racing cars.. Don’t forget to come back now.

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Out Of Disagreement – Lamborghini 350GT

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With his back against the wall and desperate for cash to keep Ferrari afloat in 1962 Enzo Ferrari fell out with many who crossed his path including potential saviours Ford, which led directly to Ford initiating it’s GT40 competition program, Count Giovanni Volpi di Misurata who promptly employed Ferrari’s recently departed designer Giotto Bizzarrini to develop and build the legendary Ferrari 250 Breadvan, and agricultural machinery magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini, the latter who allegedly fell out over the shade of red his car was to be painted.

Lamborghini 350GT, Carmel Concours By The Sea

Ferruccio Lamborghini, undertook to build a GT car to compete with the best Ferrari could build and employed Giotto Bizzarrini to design the motor and chassis.

Bizzarrini moved on to ISO Rivolta before the design was ready for production and Gian Paolo Dallara working with Paolo Stanzani and Bob Wallace were employed to complete the task.

The first Lamborghini, GTV, appeared at the Turin Motor show in October 1963 and went into production the following year by which time the substantially redesigned for the road model was known as the 350 GT powered by the Bizzarrini inspired 4 cam V12 which could easily be tuned to give 400hp.

Lamborghini 350GT, Carmel Concours By The Sea

With just 270hp the 350 GT was capable of nearly 160 mph. The bodies were built by Touring of Turin, the chassis by Marchesi and the motors in Lamborghini’s own factory in Sant’Agata, Bolognese.

It is thought 135 350 GT’s, like the one seen here at Carmel Conours by The Sea, were built of which 85 are believed to have survived.

This particular car was found in France by the current owner and is in preserved original condition having only been serviced and cleaned.

I believe the 350GT would originally have been fitted with oblong headlights which may have been changed to the current quad round set up to meet US regulations.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photographs of today’s featured car.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Out Of Disagreement’ edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at an extraordinary special built by the equally extraordinary John Bolster. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Bertone With A Hint Of Michelotti – ISO Rivolta IR

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Welcome to the first December 2013 edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”. This months Sunday posts will feature five ISO Rivolta’s to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the first ISO Rivolta cars the first of which was the Isetta perhaps the best known examples of which were manufactured under licence by BMW.

ISO Rivolta IR, Auto Italia, Brooklands,

By the 1960’s Renzo Rivolta set his ambitions a little higher and decided to build a vehicle which would compete against the FIAT 2300 Coupé> Rivolta commissioned Bertone to design a body which would enclose independent front suspension, a de Dion rear axle and a Chevrolet Corvette V8 motor which over the years of production from 1962 to 1970 would produce between 300 – 350 hp.

ISO Rivolta IR, Auto Italia, Brooklands,

The recirculating ball steering required five turns lock to lock on the car which had a, large, turning circle of 12.5 m / 41ft. The car was fitted with a leather interior which included a standard floor mounted 4 speed manual gear stick.

ISO Rivolta IR, Auto Italia, Brooklands,

The stylish IR touring car appears to owe a nod of inspiration to the three Vignale built Ferrari Coupes; 212 Inter, 375 America and 250 Europa who’s design was credited to Giovanni Michelotti.

Dependent on the engine tuning option the rest to 60 mph time for an IR, like the one seen here at Auto Italia Brooklands, was in the 8 second range with a top speed of over 140mph quoted for the most powerful models.

Thanks for joining me on this “Bertone With A Hint Of Michelotti” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a cute li’l pick up from France. Don’t forget to come back now !

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3 Ferraris By Fury – GALPOT Automobilia

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This weeks Ferrari Friday will be the last GALPOT blog this year to feature Automobilia items currently on offer from my lightpress e-bay listings. All three of today’s items feature Ferrari Formula One cars designed by Mauro ‘Fury’ Forghieri.

MotorSport August 1974, Niki Lauda, Ferrari 312 B3, Dutch Grand Prix

From August 1974 this MotorSport Magazine front cover depicts Niki Lauda streaking away driving his Ferrari 312 B3 to his second Grand Prix victory of the 1974 in the Dutch Grand Prix in which he again finished ahead of his team mate Clay Regazzoni as he had in Spain a couple of months earlier. Just as his former March team mate Ronnie Peterson driving a Lotus had done in 1973, Niki claimed 9 pole positions in the 1974 season, but alas only two victories enough to finish fourth in the final championship table one spot ahead of Peterson who with 3 victories and only one pole.

MotorSport, September 1975, German Grand Prix

1975 was Niki Lauda’s first championship year in which he drove his Ferrari 312 T with a novel transverse gearbox to five victories. This front cover dated September 1975 features an image depicting Niki Lauda leading the field on opening lap of the 1975 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. Niki eventually finished 3rd in the race that was won by Carlos Reutemann in 5th place in the photo driving the Martini Brabham Cosworth BT44B

Michelin Ad, Carlos Reutemann, Ferrari 312 T3, South African Grand Prix

Finally, for this year at least, this Michelin Radial advertisement from 1978, features an image of Carlos Reutemann driving a Ferrari 312 T3 at what appears to be the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami, a race in which Carlos ironically spun off on oil dropped by his team mate Gilles Villeneuve on lap 55. The race was won by Ronnie Peterson driving a Goodyear shod Lotus 78 after an exciting last lap dice with Patrick Depailler driving a Goodyear shod Tyrrell 008.

At the time the advert was published Carlos had won the Brazilian and United States West Grand Prix in Michelin’s first full season in the top flight of motorsport. Reutemann would secure two more victories for the tyre manufacturer, that introduced radial tyres to Formula One in a partial season of competition with Renault in 1977. Gilles Villeneuve won his maiden Grand Prix at the final race of the season in Canada driving his Michelin shod Ferrari to give Michelin 5 wins from 16 championship races.

Thanks for joining me on this “3 Ferraris By Fury” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for the last in this months series of road vehicles painted with racing liveries, this one will be an MG as I have never seen an MG before, or since. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Ferrari Covers & Ad – GALPOT Automobilia

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This weeks Ferrari Friday features a couple more Ferrari related items from the 1970’s currently on offer from my lightpress e-bay listings.

MotorSport Cover 05/70, Andretti, Ferrari 512S, Sebring

First up a MotorSport cover from May 1970 featuring an image depicting Mario Andretti on his way to winning the Sebring 12 Hours driving a Ferrari 512S which he shared with Ignazio Guinti and Nino Vaccarella.

Mario Andretti cited this drive as the drive of his life in the British magazine Autosport many years ago because he was co opted into the #21 Ferrari after the #19 he had qualified on pole with Art Mezario had retired with gearbox trouble while 11 laps to the good over the rest of the field.

To win the 12 Hours Andretti had to catch and pass the Solar Productions Porsche 908, shared by actor Steve McQueen and pro driver Peter Revson, when he stepped into the #21 with just an hour of the once round the clock race to go. Having passed McQueen for the lead Andretti had to come in for fuel and as he left the pit lane he was but a few seconds ahead of the famous actor and remained there just 22 seconds ahead at the flag.

Michelin Ad, 12/73, Ferrari Dino

The Michelin advertisement above depicting a Ferrari Dino comes from the back cover of MotorSport in December 1973.

MotorSport Cover, 06/74, Niki Lauda, Ferrari 312 B3, Jarama

Finally the another MotorSport front cover from June 1974 depicting Niki Lauda at the wheel of a Ferrari 312 B3 on his way to winning the 1974 Spanish Grand Prix, this was Niki’s first Grand Prix win.

Thanks for joining me on this “Ferrari Covers & Ad” edition of Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a Ford Thunderbird with an unusual paint job. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Ferrari Ads & Cover – GALPOT Automobilia

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Shell Advertisement, Chaparral, Ferrari, Ford,Porsche,

A couple of Ferrari items I put up for auction on e-bay at lightpress this week include this Shell advertisement published in MotorSport in October 1967 showcasing the success of Shell sponsored cars in the 1967 world sports car championship which was won by Ferrari after Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt driving a Ford won the 1967 Le Mans 24 hour series glamour event and Chaparral won the BOAC 500 mile race at Brands Hatch with Phil Hill and Mike Spence sharing the driving.

Castrol GTX Advertsement, Ferrari 275 GTB/4

Despite the model being out of production for 3 years by the time it was published, this July 1971 Castrol GTX advertisement features a Ferrari 275 GTB/4.

MotorSport Cover, 08/71, Clay Regazzoni, Ferrari 312 PB, Zeltweg

Finally from August 1971 the front cover of MotorSport featuring Clay Regazzoni driving a Ferrari 312PB during the 1971 Zeltweg 1000 kms sports car race in Austria.

Thanks for joining me on this Ferrari Ads & Cover edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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