Volume 44 Number 23 - 9 November 2019 PADOVA AUTO e MOTO d’EPOCA 2019 By Marc Sonnery The 36th edition of Italy’s equivalent of Retromo- hands of Belgian importer Jacques Swaters in 1967. In bile in France and Techno-Classica in Germany took 1980 he had it restored to its original color which must place October 24-28. More than 130,000 visitors at- be noted had been a very discrete two-tone color with tended from all over Europe and beyond. dark green metallic on the lower part of the body. It then Padova is a large, historic and wealthy city in Ita- took part in major events including the Mille Miglia, Spa ly’s north eastern Veneto region just 40 kilometers from Ferrari Days, FF40 in Brussels, the 50th anniversary of Venice thus benefiting from its international Marco Ferrari in Rome, and the 60th in Maranello, before being Polo airport. It is less than two hours drive northeast sold in 2012 to London-based Beecham. of Maranello. Regal appearances continued with Beecham. It As ever in Ferrari’s homeland there were many took part in the Windsor Castle Concours d’Elegance, historic and recent Ferraris on display or for sale. the Mille Miglia and won Best of Show at Lo Stile Mille The highlight of the whole show however was a Bar- Miglia. In 2015 came its greatest award in concours, chetta themed exhibition which grouped a very nice se- the Coppa d’Oro at Villa d’Este; Ferrari royalty indeed. lection of historic ones to salute the current limited edi- tion Monza SP1 and SP2. One Monza sat in the center of the purposely dimly lit hall setting an evocative mood. Tommaso Vesentini Photo Tommaso Vesentini Photo The earliest example was the 1950 166 MM Tour- ing Barchetta S/N 0064 M owned by British collector The next one in the exhibit certainly was major: Clive Beecham. It was just back from the superb UK 1953 375 MM PF Spyder S/N 0362 AM. Sold new to and Italy raid organized by Touring gathering a signif- Tony Parravano and raced by Jack McAfee who won icant number of 166 Touring-bodied cars. This has also the SCCA National in it at Golden Gate Park near been shown at the MoMA museum in New York City in San Francisco, CA, weeks after setting a 172 mph top 1993. It has quite a history. speed at the El Mirage Dry Lake record runs. He won It was sold new in deep blue metallic to the future at Omaha and several times at Palm Springs. head of Fiat and later owner of Ferrari, Gianni Agnelli, in It was then modified with a shorter chassis before 1950. The Turin industrial empire scion owned it for two being bought by Frank Arciero who finished the job with years before it was sold to Belgian Viscount Hendecourt. a non-original body. He had it raced by future star Dan A year later in May 1953 it won the Coupe de Spa Gurney in 1958 and 1959 with victory at Pomona. with Belgian star Olivier Gendebien at the wheel. The There was an engine swap, whether because of a pair would race it with less success in a couple of rallies failure or for more power, and a Maserati Indy 500 en- and two more Spa races in 1954. Their compatriot Pierre gine was installed. The 4.2 liter unit had plenty of grunt d’Haveloose bought it and did a couple of hillclimbs in it and Gurney, his friend Skip Hudson, and Bob Bondu- before it was bought for the 1957 season by construction rant scored several podiums in the 1959 to 1961 seasons. magnates Armand and Jean Blaton, alias “Beurlys”. In 1968 an epic restoration began. It was sold to After a couple of other owners it ended up in the California experts Chuck Betz and Fred Peters, true characters who had a legendary knack for finding rare early cars or parts, even in the most remote Midwest- The ern towns. Ferrari What they initially bought was a rolling chassis Market with no engine. The restoration was completed 44 Authority© years later in 2012. Page 2 - 9 November 2019 as hard to tame in period. It won Best of Show at the For years and years they sought original 375 MM 70th Anniversary Concorso. parts, in some cases knowing where they were but not being able to buy them. One mother lode of 0362s origi- nal parts was finally acquired in 1986, and a complete correct body was made. The Parravano family provided precious period photos which were of huge help. Final- ly a proper 375 MM engine, 0376 AM, was installed. Perhaps the most complex, time consuming resto- ration on record, it stood as a tribute to the determina- tion and savvy of the pair. Deservedly it won the Concours on the Avenue Best of Show award in Carmel in 2013 and was sold at the Mecum Monterey auction in 2014. Now owned by German Michael Stehle it is none other than the car in which Charles Leclerc rode in for the driver’s parade before his historic win at Monza Tommaso Vesentini Photo this September; perhaps it brought him luck? Proudly showing its colors of white with blue cen- ter, 1955 750 Monza Scaglietti Spyder S/N 0502 M would spend its first 30 years competing in the United States, doing very well. Sold new to William Doheny of Beverly Hills, CA, he entrusted Ernie McAfee behind the wheel for what would be eight victories in Santa Barbara and Palm Springs that year. Temple Buell bought it for 1956 and had it driv- en by Dabney Collins mostly and by Masten Gregory, though without wins. Its career wound down and it suffered the ignominy of receiving a Chevrolet engine in 1959 when the original engine either failed or was deemed lacking. It soldiered on in various races until 1966. Jim Hall at some point in the 1970s owned the engine and the Tommaso Vesentini Photo then owner of the car, Bruce Lavachek, was able to buy One that lived a much simpler life never leaving it and reunite it with the car though he did not restore its homeland is the bright yellow 1954 500 Mondial it which it needed badly. PF Spyder, S/N 0410 MD. Seen in recent years at the It then left the USA for England where Hall & Fowl- Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari in Modena. er restored it in the 1990s. In 1997 it was sold to Bruce It was sold new right in Modena to S.A.I.P.A. Srl Perrone of Pittsburgh, PA. He had it restored again in and raced by Gino Casarotto in 1955 and 1956 with- Modena, then showed it numerous times at the Cavalli- out notable results. After a succession of owners it was no Classic. It was sold to German Detlef Fischer in 2007. bought before the mid 1980s by famous collector Mario Last, but not least, was the awe inspiring 1955 857 Righini who has a private museum in his castle be- Sport Scaglietti Spyder S/N 0578 M /203 M. One of four tween Modena and Bologna in Anzola dell’Emilia. built this one started life as a 750 Monza Scuderia Fer- Under the centuries-old arches it basks in the ad- rari car, finishing 2nd in the Monza Supercortemaggiore miration of visitors. Righini has had it at four Mille with Mike Hawthorn, and a win at Mugello, which was Miglia, 1988 though 1992, and the Modena Cento Ore at that time a temporary road course made of local roads. Classic in 2005. No stories with this one, though it had There it was driven by Umberto Maglioli who also a raised body section behind the driver’s headrest in won the Aosta Gran San Bernardo hillclimb that sum- early years which vanished long ago. mer. It was a test mule receiving different engines be- The 1953 340 MM Vignale Spyder S/N 0280 AM fore being modified in late summer of 1955 into a 857 was initially a factory team car which wrote two major Sport. The final engine evolution brought it to 3.4 liters, pages of history winning that year’s Giro di Sicilia with the maximum displacement reached by this engine type, Villoresi and Cassani. Two weeks later it triumphed named after each cylinder’s capacity. Gendebien and Hill at the Mille Miglia with dapper industrialist Giannino came second in it at the 1000 km Buenos Aires in 1956. Marzotto who famously raced in suit and tie. After a DNF at Sebring in 1956 with de Portago After various owners it ended up with the respected and Kimberly, it went on on a globe trotting career Mario Camellini in Modena who was close to Enzo Fer- in New Zealand during 1957 (no podiums) then was rari and in fact became his very first dealer. His son sold to Swedish driver Rune Bertilsson. It was raced Umberto now cares for it since 1987. He has raced it by John Kvarnström in Finland and Sweden includ- numerous times on the Historic Challenge circuit, lend- ing some frozen lake ice races with a 4th at Helsinki. ing it to David Piper for the 1997 Monaco Historic GP. After its retirement and a slew of owners it received In October of 1996 Michael Schumacher tested it engine 0584M early this century and is now owned by at Mugello. One wonders what our seven-time world Brit Marc Newson.