classic Headliner This 290 MM made news when it went to auction in December 2018—but the real story occurred more than 60 years earlier. ew automobiles catch the attention of serious collectors more than a F Ferrari. Even fewer can pull top headlines like a rare and successful Prancing Horse from the golden age of racing. So when RM Sotheby’s and the Petersen Automotive Museum got together to auction off just such a halo car, most pundits predicted a top-ten highest price—ever. The early December setting could not have been more typically Los Angeles, with clear, blue skies and temperatures in the low 70s. The weather was warmer inside the recently remodeled Petersen, with a handful of carefully selected star cars staged inside the lobby. (A few dozen more were artfully arrayed in the parking garaged.) And carefully situated near the auction room, ready to lure a buyer from the 350 bidders and spectators on hand for the last major public auction of the year, was the hero of the night: a 290 MM (s/n 0628). This Ferrari has lived an unquestionably charmed life. In its youth, it was campaigned by Scuderia Ferrari for the 1956 and ’57 seasons and driven in Europe’s storied races by the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio, Phil Hill, and Olivier Gendebien. A few years ago, it received a full-bore restoration by the Ferrari factory, after which it spent some time on display in nearby Ferrari museums. Now it was time for a new caretaker to claim his or her prize. 32 FORZA MAY 2019 FORZA MAY 2019 33 he 290 MM was devel - and its nearly identical twin- that month, Umberto Maglioli Collins, Portago, and T oped to contest both cam 290 Sport sibling. scored his own second-place Castellotti finished a the 1956 World Sports Car S/n 0628 was built specifi - finish at the Aosta-Gran San respectable third overall, two Championship and Italy’s cally as a works car—just not as a Bernardo hillclimb. The car’s spots behind the winning 290 prestigious Mille Miglia— 290 MM. Instead, it entered its impressive season ended on a MM of Masten Gregory, Luigi hence the MM moniker. Enzo first race, the 1956 Mille Miglia, sour note, however, when Musso, and Castellotti (who Ferrari was determined to as an 860 Monza. Driven by engine problems knocked had actually driven three differ - reclaim dominance over peren - Peter Collins, with famed pho - Castellotti and Juan Manuel ent Ferraris during the event). nial competitor Mercedes-Benz tographer Louis Klemantaski Fangio out of the Swedish In February, the engine used and hometown rival Maserati; snapping away from the passen - Grand Prix in August. in Argentina was removed and it was an important to him ger’s seat, our featured car fin - Early the following year, the installed in a different car. In as winning the Formula 1 ished a fine second overall factory decided to remake s/n the meantime, s/n 0628, now World Championship. behind Eugenio Castellotti in a 0628 in a new image. The powered by a different Tipo 130 At the time, Ferrari was 290 MM. Even more impressive, four-cylinder Monza engine engine and wearing a new nose feverishly exploring different Ferrari swept the April race’s top- and transaxle were removed, with polished aluminum brake engine formats—fours, sixes, five spots, thanks to two other replaced by a new, dry-sump ducts, travelled back across the and twelves—in an attempt to 290s and another 860. Tipo 130 3.5-liter V12 with Atlantic, this time to Florida. find that magic combination of S/n 0628 dropped out of its highly developed cylinder Phil Hill and Wolfgang von torque, horsepower, and overall next race, the Nürburgring heads, high-lift camshafts, twin Trips drove the Ferrari in the efficiency. The four-cylinder 3- 1,000-kms in May, where it ignition, and 9:1 compression. sixth edition of the 12 Hours of liter 750 Monza and 2-liter 500 was driven by Alfonso de A new, four-speed Tipo 520 Sebring, but unfortunately Mondial led, in 1956, to the 2- Portago and Olivier transaxle completed the power - dropped out around halfway liter 500 TR, 2.5-liter 625 LM, Gendebien. The following train makeover. With these and with battery issues. and 3.4-liter 860 Mondial. The month, Gendebien was joined a few other upgrades, most Sebring marked s/n 0628’s 3.7- and 4.2-liter 118 LM and by Hans Hermann for the gru - obviously new bodywork final race for the factory, but 121 LM had flared briefly in eling Targa Florio; they fin - [CONFIRM] , the reborn 290 the Ferrari soon found its way ’55, and their six-cylinder archi - ished fourth overall. MM was once again ready to back on track under private tecture would soon re-appear in Gendebien took the wheel race at the highest level. ownership. U.S. Ferrari F1. Among the 12-cylinder again in July, when he and In January 1957, s/n 0628 importer Luigi Chinetti con - cars, the brutish 5-liter 410 Jacques Washer drove to sec - was shipped to Argentina for nected the car to enthusiast Jan Sport gave way to the more ond-place overall in the Coppa the 1,000-kms of Buenos Aires. de Vroom, who reportedly manageable 3.5-liter 290 MM d’Oro delle Dolomiti. Later There, go-to factory drivers traded in his 500 TRC for it. 34 FORZA MAY 2019 De Vroom’s first event, the Weeks in early December, then Chinetti reclaimed the In 1960, Chinetti sold s/n Swedish GP, ended in crash, passed the 290 MM back to Ferrari after Nassau and would 0628 to George Reed, who after which s/n 0628 returned Chinetti. Chinetti quickly sold keep it for the next two years. raced it around the Midwest to Maranello for yet another the Ferrari to Temple Buell, During that time, he displayed for a couple of years. By the new nose, this one in the style who immediately put Stirling s/n 0628 at the ’58 Chicago end of the decade, the Ferrari of the pontoon-fender Testa Moss behind the wheel for the Auto Show and entered it in a had found its way back to the Rossa. He finished 13th in his Nassau Memorial Race and Formula Libre race at Watkins Chinettis, who ended up stor - next race, the Governor’s Nassau Trophy—both of which Glen, where Dan Gurney drove ing it in a warehouse until the Trophy at Bahamas Speed the Briton handily won. it to second place overall. early ’80s. They then pulled the LEFT S/n 0628 started life with a 3.4-liter four- cylinder engine, then received V12 power for the 1957 season; its cur - rent engine was fitted prior to that year’s 12 Hours of Sebring. OPPOSITE Dual exhaust pipes were added along with V12, as the four-cylinder engine only used one. FORZA MAY 2019 35 » The V12 installed prior to Sebring in ’57 still resides under the hood. car out of storage, had it prior to that race still resided with s/n 0628 before the auction, hood’s cowl reflects this sense restored by Francois Sicard, under the hood.) The restora - but what time I did get was well of power and speed, and stands and kept it for another decade tion was completed in 2015, worth it. What a magnificent car! nearly as tall as the cut-down and a half before finally selling after which it was shown at that While it’s not as exotic as windshield. The muscular rear it to collector Jon Shirley. year’s Amelia Island Concours many of the more recognizable fenders hunches up ever so Shirley had the car restored and the Finali Mondiali. For the 250 Testa Rossas, it slides slightly, as if the massive fuel once again, then drove and following two years, s/n 0628 nicely into the “middle” of the tank inside has caused them to showed it for another decade was displayed at both the TR spectrum, with sleek bulge, while the dainty tail - before selling it on to Museo Ferrari in Maranello and styling and smooth curves. lights are barely afterthoughts. Englishman Hugh Taylor. the Casa Enzo Ferrari museum With a little anthropomorphiz - Going fast is what it’s all about. In 2014, a later owner sent in Modena. All of which leads ing, it’s easy to see the covered Thanks to its 2014 restora - the Ferrari home to Maranello us back to the Petersen on headlights (paired with flush- tion, s/n 0628’s body is laser to be restored once again, this December 8, 2018. mounted aluminum cooling straight—and yes, it probably is time by Ferrari Classiche to its ducts) as eyes and the egg-crate in much better condition than Sebring ’57 specification. didn’t have the opportunity grille as a smirk, as if this when it first left the factory, or (Happily, the engine installed I to spend much quality time Ferrari knows it’s fast. The certainly before the start of any 36 FORZA MAY 2019 290 MM GENERAL Vehicle type: Front-engine 2-door spyder Structure: Steel chassis with aluminum bodywork Dry weight: 1,976 pounds ENGINE Type: 60° V12 Displacement: 3,491cc Bore x stroke: 73 x 69.5mm Compression ratio: 9.0:1 Horsepower: 320 @ 7,300 rpm Torque: na Induction: Three Weber carburetors Valvetrain: SOHC, 2 valves/cylinder CHASSIS Transmission: 4-speed transaxle Suspension: Dual wishbones, coil springs, hydraulic shock absorbers front; De Dion axle, transverse semi-elliptic spring, hydraulic shock absorbers rear Brakes: Drum Tires: 6.50-16 front; 7.00-16 rear STATS Years of Production: 1956-57 Number Produced: 4 (including s/n 0628) OPPOSITE Dry-sump of its historic races.