While gathering for our family Thanksgiving this year, I showed a photo of an average American muscle car to my older daughter. “That’s nice Dad, but what is THAT?” she proclaimed pointing to the headlight and front fender of a Ferrari 275 GTB/4 peeking out in the distance. “That’s a Ferrari 275 GTB” She smiled, nodded, and offered “That’s the most beautiful car I’ve ever seen”. And while her proclamation might have been dismissed by a lack of familiarity with vintage cars, she’s been to enough concours events to have seen a significant number of important cars. “It’s perfect. It’s not trying hard to be seen. It’s elegantly satisfied and perfectly balanced – like those movie starsfilmed in black and white.” I had to agree.

Ferrari collectors and sports car enthusiasts alike would find little argument with the statement that the 275 GTB/4 remains today one of the best looking sportscars ever produced.

The post A Ferrari to be Thankful For – The 275 GTB/4 appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

Highlights

• Ten Tenths Circuit, a multi-purpose lighted road course featuring three challenging configurations.
• Ten Tenths Clubhouse, a 20,000-square-foot hospitality and special events facility with capacity for 1,500 people.
• Ten Tenths member’s garages featuring climate-controlled storage, lounge and mechanical service support; and expansive off-road trails for driving experiences.

Near Completion

With the Ten Tenths Circuit near completion and construction underway for the Ten Tenths Clubhouse and members’ garage and lounge, the complex will host its grand opening with the Smith Heritage Invitational automotive experience on April 4-5, 2025.

Speedway Motors comments

“Our vision for Ten Tenths is to create an experiential destination that can be enjoyed by everyone from professional race car drivers to high-performance driving enthusiasts and car collectors,” said Marcus Smith, president and CEO of Speedway Motorsports. “It’s the most expansive property development at Charlotte Motor Speedway since we built zMAX Dragway in 2008, and further enhances our desire to innovate for the future.

“As the name Ten Tenths implies, we are going all out to create a place to celebrate the automobile unlike any other place in the world,” Smith added. “Our new project will become a centerpiece of the community amongst individual automotive enthusiasts, commercial partners and manufacturers.”

Rick Hendrick

“In addition to a premier track design and driving experience, Ten Tenths will have unparalleled resources and infrastructure to support every customer and organization we touch,” said Rick Hendrick, chairman and CEO of Hendrick Automotive Group and owner of NASCAR’s Hendrick Motorsports. “Just 20 minutes from Charlotte’s center city, it’s accessible by major thoroughfares and two nearby airports while being situated amongst a variety of lodging, shopping and entertainment options. Through our local network of service and collision centers, the facility will offer concierge vehicle maintenance and repair for nearly every exotic or high-performance car on the market. It’s a combination of amenities that cannot be matched in North America.

“The opportunity to partner with Marcus and his brothers on a passion project like this is incredibly rewarding,” added Hendrick, who is an avid car collector and preservationist. “I’ve had a special relationship with the Smith family for more than four decades. Not only do we share a love for automobiles and racing, we are aligned in our core values, our commitment to the local community and our overall vision for Ten Tenths. The collaboration thus far has been tremendous, and I can’t wait to see what our teams accomplish together as this exciting idea becomes reality.”

“For decades, my brothers and I have been blessed to build not only a business relationship with Rick Hendrick, but also a true friendship,” said Smith. “It’s an honor for Speedway Motorsports to partner with him on this joint venture and to create something worthy of the high standards exhibited by our organizations.”

Ten Tenths Circuit

Designed by F1 veteran and two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Alexander Wurz, Ten Tenths Circuit includes three configurations: a seven-turn 0.567-mile inner loop; a 13-turn 1.1-mile short course; and a 19-turn, 1.7-mile full circuit, featuring 112 feet of elevation change between Turns 6 and 14. At an average of 42 feet wide and with generous runoff areas, the course promises to challenge drivers of all skill levels. The 1.7-mile circuit can be driven in both directions and split into two courses: the 0.567-mile inner loop and the 1.1-mile short course. The inner loop will be water-irrigated for optimized testing, drifting and driver training. The circuit will also feature lighting to maximize driving opportunities with three potential sessions a day: morning, afternoon and night.

F1 driver and track designer Alex Wurz

“The track itself in its beautiful landscape, has a lot of ups and downs and enjoys a natural flow,” said former F1 driver and track designer Alex Wurz. “Every corner of the circuit has a different character. Altogether, it plays a symphony of drivers’ music. It wants to be driven very fast. You can rotate the car into the corners. All of our expertise and passion has gone into this project,” added Wurz. “I’m terribly proud to be the designer along with Charlotte Motor Speedway of the new Ten Tenths Circuit.”

Ten T enths Clubhouse

Modeled after the exquisite Turn 11 at Sonoma Raceway, Ten Tenths Clubhouse will be a 20,000-square-foot destination for corporate retreats, business summits, special events and entertainment. The building will feature the flexibility of three large individual hospitality rooms, which can be combined into one expansive hospitality space for showcase events. Hospitality rooms will also open to outdoor patios to expand capacity for up to 1,500 people. Ten Tenths Clubhouse will include conference rooms with video presentation capabilities and a catering kitchen.

Ten Tenths Members’ Garage

In addition to the circuit and clubhouse, Ten Tenths Motor Club will include a members’ garage designed to build camaraderie and community amongst the most passionate automotive aficionados. With an atmosphere created to celebrate a high-performance automotive lifestyle, the members’ garage will include secure gated access, climate-controlled storage, luxury lounge areas for meetings or relaxation, a cigar lounge, bourbon bar, and a putting course. Members will have convenient access from garage to circuit, as well as designated event days throughout the calendar year to drive the courses.

Concierge Vehicle Service

With a dedicated concierge located on site, Ten Tenths Motor Club will offer an unparalleled maintenance and reconditioning experience provided by Charlotte-based Hendrick Automotive Group, the largest privately held operator of car dealerships in the United States.

Premium vehicle support, including white-glove pickup and delivery, will be available locally from 21 dealerships and five collision centers. Hendrick Collision Centers have the expertise to repair 30 different nameplates, including enthusiast brands such as Acura, Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Lexus, Mazda, Mercedes, MINI, Porsche and Toyota.

For information or business inquiries about the Ten Tenths Motor Club, visit www.TenTenthsMotorClub.com

Above content © 2024 Ten Tenths  reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee

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Before the ad offering it for sale was published in February 1982, ALP 598 was mine. “One of the prettiest of all the famous Le Mans cars,” it was called, “in superb re­stored condition. Finished in Prussian Blue with grey hide up­holstery and black weather equipment.” That’s the way Coys of Kensington described this Aston Martin before I fell in love with it.

It was a case of love at first sight. One Saturday morning in December, I’d dropped a friend off in London’s Chelsea and, on the spur of the moment, decided to drive back through the warrens of ancient mews south of Kensington Gardens and west of Queens Gate because I knew purveyors of vintage motor vehicles infested these regions. My idea was to see what they were offering—out of curiosity. How innocently we embark on these journeys!

The post The Car That Made Aston Martin: 1933 Aston Martin Le Mans appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

The glamorous life

By 1966, the careers and the relationship of the recently married film director Roger Vadim Plemiannikov and Hollywood starlet Jane Fonda were on the rise. The pair had met while filming La Ronde in 1963, officially becoming a couple later that year. Married in Las Vegas in August of 1965, the pair lived a glamorous trans-Atlantic lifestyle between Vadim’s native France and Southern California. Attractive, wealthy, talented, and eager for more success, the pair seemingly lived an idyllic lifestyle that anyone would have been envious of, including what they drove.

Ferrari 275 GTB chassis  08641

After having sold his Ferrari 250 California SWB Spider, chassis number 2175 GT, Vadim purchased the 275 GTB on offer here, chassis number 08641, on 15 June 1966. Finished in Azzuro (106-A-32) over a full leather Nero (VM 8500) interior, the car was built to left-hand drive specifications for use in France. Chassis number 08641 falls late in the production run of the 275 GTB, and was fitted with long-nose steel bodywork, torque tube, and three Weber carburetors. It was sold to him through Franco-Britannic Autos of Paris, Ferrari’s official distributor and the car was subsequently registered in Vadim’s name (as Roger Plemiannikov) under registration number 64 SW 75. Later that summer, the registration documents were transferred to Fonda, keeping the same number.

The pair kept their 275 GTB for about two and a half years and during this time, they were photographed with the car frequently, as one would expect for a pair of A-list celebrities. In August of 1966, the pair were photographed emerging from the car in Saint-Tropez, Vadim sporting swimming trunks and attracting a crowd of onlookers, clearly star stuck by their celebrity sighting, and perhaps the 275 GTB as well. Another color photo exists in the history file of Fonda in the passenger seat in October of 1968, departing the hospital for the first time with their newborn daughter Vanessa, a much more personal moment.

In November of 1968, the 275 GTB returned to Franco-Britannic Autos and was reregistered 1404 W 75 (trade plate) and then subsequently purchased by a Mr. Tamalet in Lyon. In short order, the car was repainted red and registered under the name of his company as 1191 DG 69 according to Ferrari historian Marcel Massini. By April of 1972, chassis number 08641 had passed to Christian and Anne Baverey in Lyon. In their ownership, the car saw a bit of action on the track. It appeared at Pierre Bardinon’s famous Mas du Clos circuit, which was driven by Jean-Claude Killy, a former World Cup ski racer and triple Olympic Champion at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble. Anne Baverey would take to the wheel next at the Limonest-Mont Verdun hillclimb near Lyon and later the Coup des Dames at Mas du Clos, in September and October of 1974, respectively.

Chassis Highlights

• Originally owned by Roger Vadim Plemiannikov and then-wife Jane Fonda
• Used by the couple in France through 1968
• Late-production long-nose, torque tube, 275 GTB with triple carburettors
• Recently restored to its original colour scheme
• Ferrari Classiche certified, retains its original chassis, engine and gearbox

On 16 April 1980, chassis 08641 passed to Michel Ferry, director of the Société des Bains de Mer in Monaco. The car was still painted red at this time, although the chromed front grille guard had been removed and it sported yellow headlights for use in France. Briefly reregistered in Monaco, the 275 GTB was subsequently sold to a collector in Toulouse who drove the car in a series of local events and rallies, reregistering the car as 275 TM 31. Sold to French dealer and collector Jean Guikas, in 1988, it passed through him to another French owner before finding its way to the consignor roughly twenty years ago.

In the last five years, chassis 08641 was subject to a full restoration seeking to bring the car back to its original colour scheme of Azzurro over Nero, just as when Fonda and Vadim owned it. Afterward, the car received Ferrari Classiche certification, confirming that it retains its original chassis, engine, and gearbox.

In period, the 275 GTB was a favorite of many of the Hollywood jet set and in addition to Fonda and Vadim, 275 GTBs found their way into the garages of other celebrities in period, including Steve McQueen, and Miles Davis who had a 275 GTB/4. Vadim was clearly a fan of the Ferrari for some time, having previously owned a 250 California Spider (chassis number 2175 GT). Interestingly Fonda also had previous experiences with a California Spider alongside the car owned by fellow actor Alain Delon (chassis number 2935 GT). Both no stranger to Ferrari as a marque, it is easy to understand why the pair were drawn to the 275 GTB and it is clear that the car played an important role in their lives early on in their marriage and a time when it looked like the sky was the limit for the couple.

Presented today exactly as it was when it was delivered to Fonda and Vadim, chassis number 08641 sits amongst the upper echelon of 275 GTBs, with its celebrity ownership only adding to its known history, and Classiche certification. It would be at home on a concours lawn anywhere in the world, but would perhaps be most at home cruising the roads of the south of France in unrivaled style as it did with its first owners.

Private Sale Information

Go HERE

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If you had to choose the worst decade of automobile design, it would be hard to surpass the period spanning 1972 – 1982. Rapidly changing regulations, government interventions resulting in enormous bumper protrusions, proportional oddities resulting from shrinking formerly large cars to oddly proportioned small cars in a mad rush to build more fuel-efficient cars, all contributed to panic in the design studios. Some companies did better than others, but one British stalwart had unexpectedly prepared a totally new car that would launch at just the right time – The Triumph TR7. As their advertising mantra proclaimed, it was “The shape of things to come”.

Launched to meet the growing US market desire for a sporty low-cost car, Triumph sales in North America had been brisk enough to warrant and all new entry. Though only offered as a coupe due to the challenges of convertible construction to meet US safety standards, the TR7 would go on to become the top selling series Triumph during its eight-year production run, selling well over 100,000 units, a remarkable number considering the era. Though not intended to be, the TR7 would mark the end of the line for the TR series offering.

The post The Triumph TR7 – The Shape of Things to Come appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

Founded in 1906, Lancia is one of the foremost Italian automobile manufacturers and a world leader in engineering. Over the past 100+ years, they have continually delivered innovation and superlative engineering. Always ahead of the competition with advanced suspensions, clever engine designs, and distinctive body designs, Lancia pioneered numerous concepts, many of which continue to be featured in modern cars today.

The post The Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato – Visionary When New, Still Modern Today appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

Less than a month until the event, Villa La Massa, the five-star hotel near Florence that is part of Villa d’Este Hotels, is gearing up for the second edition of Villa La Massa Excellence. The three-day event launched in 2023 in partnership with Canossa, a leader in organizing high-level events and experiences, provides the finest hospitality and iconic supercars manufactured between the 1990s to the present day, which are unique or have been made distinctive by customizations that accentuate their prestige.

Following the success of last year’s event, which saw the Ferrari F40 Prototipo win the Coppa d’Oro Villa la Massa cup, inspired by the Coppa d’Oro awarded at the Concorso di Eleganza organized at sister hotel Villa d’Este on Lake Como, the second edition will be equally exciting because of the models that will be taking part. Limited edition cars from manufacturers such as Ferrari, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Bugatti and smaller producers of special cars will be displayed in the Villa La Massa gardens from 11 to 13 October. A blend of elegance, power, culinary excellence, and the finest hospitality, Villa La Massa Excellence is the preferred meeting place for supercar collectors worldwide.

“The event strives to bring together a passion for cars, which have always been a leitmotif for Villa d’Este, the beauty of Florence and Tuscany, and the area’s culinary traditions,” remarks Davide Bertilaccio, CEO of Villa d’Este Spa. “With Canossa, we have developed an exciting program for participants and collectors. Added to this is a moment for the Florentine public, who are welcome to join us at Villa La Massa on Saturday to admire the cars as well as become an integral part of the show by voting for their favorite wheels.”

Public Access

Saturday 12 October will be open to the public with a special day pass, which includes the car show, brunch and car parade). Connoisseurs will be beguiled by the beautiful cars, their sporting pedigree, and the modern design by the river at Villa La Massa, and visitors will be called upon to vote for their favorite, which will be awarded in the afternoon with the People’s Choice prize. There will also be a children’s panel of judges who will enthusiastically pick their favorite car and award a special trophy.

Evening Gala

At the gala evening on Saturday 12 October in the refined surroundings of Michelin-starred chef Vito Mollica’s Atto restaurant at Palazzo Portinari Salviati in central Florence, the Supercars Firenze prizes will be handed out, with two categories and three prizes for each one: one is for the models that helped the evolution of the car and the other is for the models that represented innovation. Special prizes will also be awarded to the car with the most miles on the clock and the one that drove the further to be shown at Villa La Massa. Last but not least, there’s the coveted Best of Show, Coppa d’Oro Villa La Massa, which pays tribute to the famous Coppa d’Oro at Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.

Panel Discussion

A very special international panel will preside over the occasion, representing a range of skills and experiences: Emanuela Frattini, the award-winning architect and designer; Katarina Kyvalova, collector and rally driver; Emmanuel Bacquet, expert and curator of museums and private collections; Fabio Filippini, car designer; Stefano Guindani, fashion photographer and charity expert; Duccio Lopresto, collector and manager of RM Sotheby’s; Marco Makaus, car veteran and events organizer. Massimo Delbò, the renowned car historian and journalist, will chair the panel.

Luigi Orlandini, Chairman and CEO di Canossa, states, “I’m very happy to continue this partnership with the Villa d’Este Group after the success of the first edition of Villa la Massa Excellence. The first supercar, ‘Concorso d’eleganza’, will be even better this year, and we are convinced that it will grow over time. Villa La Massa, a jewel box close to Florence, is the perfect place to admire the most sought-after supercars, to appreciate their beauty and enjoy the company of many other car collectors. It’s a memorable experience for everyone taking as competitors and for the public as an active part of the contest.”

Villa La Massa is one of the Villa d’Este Group, which includes Villa d’Este, the iconic five-star hotel on Lake Como, where the renowned Concorso d’Eleganza is held every year. Villa d’Este and the car world share a lasting and unbreakable bond, which is emphasized by the organization of Villa La Massa Excellence: an extraordinary event designed to “savor life to the max” and experience a depth of emotions.

Villa La Massa Excellence 2024: the full program

Friday, Oct 11

• 19:00 – Welcome drinks on the terrace of the Il Verrocchio Restaurant at Villa La Massa
• 20:00 – Welcome dinner at the Il Verrocchio Restaurant

Saturday, Oct 12

• 10:00 – Car Show, gates open to the public
• 13:00 – Brunch at poolside Bistrot L’Oliveto
• 15:00 – Car parade in the Villa La Massa gardens
• 20:00 – For the collectors, Michelin-starred dinner at Atto Restaurant by Vito Mollica at Palazzo Portinari Salviati, in central Florence. Awards ceremony to end the evening, awarding “Supercars Firenze”
• 23:30 – Party at Villa La Massa

Sunday, Oct 13

• 9:30 – Setting off for a drive around the Mugello. (Guests who choose the overnight accommodation package can part in the experience driving a 500 Abarth.)
• 12:30 – Farewell Lunch at the charming Fattoria il Palagio in Scarperia e San Piero

Information and Reservations

Go HERE for more information

events@villalamassa.it

The post Villa La Massa Excellence 2024 appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

Global Time Attack

Eight cars will hit the track in a Global Time Attack class throughout the weekend as these high-horsepower machines compete to set new track and class records. In addition to entries in the Unlimited, Limited, Street and Enthusiast classes, Northern California native Scott Speed will join the competition with Subaru Motorsports USA’s “WRX: Project Midnight,” while Formula Drift driver Ryan Tuerck will compete in his Judd 4GV V10-powered Mobil 1 Toyota Supra. Race Service’s James Kirkham will also hit the track in the Mercedes AMG GTS ‘Raw Spec.’ All three cars will be featured alongside a collection of Time Attack cars on track and in a main paddock display.

Group B and Rally Car Ride Alongs

Velocity Invitational attendees have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to ride along with professional drivers in raucous rally cars during the motorsports festival. New for 2024, the lineup of DirtFish Rally experiences will include rides in Group B and modern-day rally cars. The lineup of Group B rally cars will include a 1985 Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2, a 1985 Lancia Delta S4 Corsa and the no. C206 1986 Peugeot 205 Turbo 16. Gravel Rally Car experiences, which include a ride with a professional rally driver in a rally-tuned DirtFish Subaru BRZ on a complete gravel rally stage built on the grounds at Sonoma Raceway, are also available for purchase.

Sonoma Raceway Hill Climb

Nearly a dozen cars, including Subaru’s “Project Midnight,” will tackle a brand-new Velocity Invitational Hill Climb at 11:40 a.m. on Saturday. This challenging circuit, which travels counter-course from Sonoma Raceway’s start/finish line up to Turn 4, will host an all-out battle for supremacy as competitors tackle more than 10 stories of elevation change.

Featured Race Groups

In addition to eight popular historic race groups, Velocity Invitational will host two featured race groups: historic NASCAR stock cars and a celebration of 70 years of the Jaguar D-Type. The NASCAR group will include 18 stock cars ranging from 1980 through 2013, including Dale Earnhardt’s iconic No. 3 Goodwrench Chevrolet and Clint Bowyer’s Sonoma-winning No. 15 Toyota Camry. The Jaguar class will host eight cars celebrating the creation and racing success of the factory D-Types with a focus on the West Coast. Formula 1 champion Jenson Button will join the class with his 1952 Jaguar C-Type.

Hot Shoes

In addition, drivers from Arrow McLaren’s INDYCAR Series drivers Tony Kanaan, Christian Lundgaard (who will join the team for 2025) and Nolan Siegel will hit the track in historic McLaren race cars, including the 1974 M16C/D “Black Label” driven by David Hobbs, the Gatorade-sponsored 1975 M16E originally driven by Johnny Rutherford and the “Red Roof” 1978 M24. Formula 1 and INDYCAR driver Romain Grosjean will also compete throughout the weekend.

Drift Demonstrations

Professional drift drivers, including Travis Pastrana and Tuerck, will get smoky and sideways on the road course throughout the weekend. Pastrana will delight attendees with demonstration drift laps in the 1983 Subaru GL Family Huckster on Sunday, while Tuerck will drift his 650-horsepower 1966 Toyota Stout twice each day on Saturday and Sunday.

Tyler Florence Appearances

Celebrated chef and Food Network TV star Tyler Florence will join the event for food demonstrations and book signings on Saturday (2:30 p.m.) and Sunday (11:45 a.m.). Florence, who lives in nearby Marin County, will meet with guests and sign his cookbook “American Grill.”

Women in Motorsports Events, Presented by Mobil 1

Velocity and DirtFish will host a series of Women in Motorsport events presented by Mobil 1 on Saturday and Sunday. Trailblazing women in motorsports, including INDYCAR Series and sports car driver Pippa Mann, Trans-Am driver Michele Abbate, professional driver and mechanical engineer Sabré Cook, Porsche Sprint Challenge North America racer Ashley Freiberg and Josie Rimmer, head of strategy and women in motorsport coordinator at DirtFish, will take part in panel discussions, autograph sessions, on-camera interviews and special meet and greets at the Mobil 1 booth

Autograph Sessions

Meet your favorite professional drivers at autograph sessions in the Event Plaza throughout the weekend. Sessions will feature Arrow McLaren INDYCAR drivers Kanaan, Lundgaard and Siegel, as well as Kirkham, Grosjean and Button, Subaru stars Speed and Pastrana and Rally legend Markko Märtin.

Sip & Savor Pavilion

The Sip & Savor Pavilion features tasting booths from local wine, spirits and food vendors, plus live entertainment, all in an incredible trackside location. Pair charcuterie and delicious snacks from Taylor Farms with wine tastings from 16 local wineries. Access to the Sip & Savor Pavilion is included in the Wine Experience and Driver’s Experience packages and is limited to guests 21 and older. The pavilion will be open on Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and on Sunday from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

Williams F1 Simulators Sponsored by Catalyst

Experience the iconic feel of racing a Williams F1 car from the cockpit of the Williams F1 e-sports simulator sleds. Located in the Catalyst booth in the Event Plaza all weekend, guests can virtually get behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car.

General admission tickets and premium packages for the 5th annual Velocity Invitational are on sale now. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit velocityinvitational.com. Stay up to date on event news on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Above content © 2024 Velocity Invitational, reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee

Previous Highlights

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If I were to ask you to name an innovative, Italian sports car manufacturer, chances are good you would instinctively reply, Ferrari. If I were to then ask you to name one of the oldest Italian automobile manufacturers in continuous production, you very well might answer either Fiat or Alfa Romeo. And while all these answers would be technically correct, the vast majority of enthusiast would overlook the one Italian manufacturer that ticks all these boxes—Lancia.

The founding father of this most venerable Turninese manufacturer was Vicenzo Lancia, born on August 24, 1881, the son of a Piedmont region soup canner. Raised in Fobello, just 100 kilometers northeast of Turin, the young Lancia showed an early facility with both numbers and things mechanical.

The post Lancia: Cars That Defined An Era appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

The 1950s was one of the most prolific periods of automobile design. Aircraft technology developed during the war, aerodynamics, and new engine technology were influencing automobile designs all over the world. In addition to the growing technology, communication between countries also expanded as new ventures and fledgling start-up companies combined American performance pioneers with Italian coachbuilders and British manufacturers. A decade before Shelby American built their first Cobra, Franco Scaglione, Bertone, Bristol, and an unlikely American industrialist built one of the most beautiful roadsters ever conceived.

One of the earliest Anglo-American mergers of international motoring, Arnolt-Bristol was the brainchild of Stanley “Wacky” Arnolt, an innovative American enthusiast, industrialist and businessman who leveraged his US-based MG distributorship with Italian coachbuilder Bertone to build 200 special bodies for the MG TD chassis, creating the MG Arnolt. With sales slowing on the MG concept and plans for an Arnolt-Aston thwarted by Aston Martin, the team shifted their interests with Bertone to develop a shortened 404 Bristol chassis, powered by a 2.0 liter Bristol inline-6. A key element to the success of this new venture was the gorgeous hand-formed roadster body penned by aerodynamicist/designer Franco Scaglione, who also penned the Bertone B.A.T. cars among numerous important cars from this prolific period. Scaglione, a native of Italy and well-versed in fashion design brought his use of fabric and drapery to the fluid forms and sensual undulations of his organic forms. Highly influenced by aquatic themes and skilled in aerodynamics, Scaglione excelled as a master of sculptural drama with body designs that seemed to always be in motion.

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There were several high points in Studebaker design in the 1930s and the 1950s. Some say the Avanti was the prettiest Studebaker ever built, and it was unique and stunning, but, in my humble opinion, no other Studebaker, in fact no other American car nor most European cars, can hold a candle to the 1955 President Speedster.

“Wheelbarrow Johnny” and the Beginning of a Company

The Studebaker family came from Germany and settled in Philadelphia in 1736. They were builders and blacksmiths and earned a reputation for building quality wagons. In 1835, John Studebaker moved his family west to Ashland, Ohio, for a new start on the frontier. He built a Conestoga-type wagon drawn by four horses for the move. Fifteen years later, the family moved again to South Bend, Indiana, where they would stay – or at least most of them would.

Two of John Studebaker’s five sons, Henry and Clement, created H & C Studebaker in 1852 with a total investment of $68.00. The business specialized in blacksmithing, woodworking and custom wagons. Their first wagon, built for a local farmer, took seven days to complete and cost the new owner $175. The wagon was painted red and green with “Studebaker” on the side in yellow letters. The next year, younger brother, John Mahler, decided to follow so many others to California to make his fortune mining for gold.

When John Mahler arrived in California, after the long trek from Indiana, a fellow named Joe Hinds called out to the new arrivals and asked if anyone knew how to build wagons. John Mahler answered that he did, and Hinds immediately offered him a job building wheelbarrows. Initially, John Mahler refused, believing he had a better opportunity in the search for gold. Another in the crowd, though, convinced John Mahler that he could search for gold any time, but having a job with regular pay was a real benefit in what eventually became known as Placerville. Studebaker caught up with Hinds and accepted.

H & C Studebaker was doing very well building wagons, and, in 1856, received an order to build 100 wagons for the Army. Clem wanted to expand the business, but he needed cash. John Mahler learned of their interest in expanding in the letters frequently exchanged with his family in Indiana and decided to return home. “Wheelbarrow Johnny,” as he had become known, had saved $8,000 and wanted to invest it in the business. He returned to Indiana, in June 1858, but Henry was reluctant to expand, so Wheelbarrow Johnny bought his share in the business.

By 1860, H & C Studebaker was building a wide range of wagons of all types, from simple farm wagons, to fancy buggies, to children’s wagons to be pulled by a dog or goat. Another brother, Peter, had a general store in Goshen, Indiana, and he became the first dealer in Studebaker wagons. Then came the Civil War. The Studebakers built thousands of wagons for the Union Army during the war, and many soldiers became very familiar with the company name and the quality wagons they built. That set the company for their next rush of orders.

After the Civil War, many former soldiers and as many regular citizens were looking for opportunities in the west and needed wagons for the move. The result was the creation of more sales outlets and the use of the railroads to ship finished wagons all over the country. By 1867, 6000 Studebaker wagons were being built every year, and it was time to take the next step. Sadly, the Barouche that Abraham Lincoln drove himself and his wife, Mary, to Ford’s Theater was a Studebaker making it the most infamous vehicle in the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend.

Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company was incorporated on March 26, 1868. Peter became the head of sales and marketing, which resulted in one of the shortest and clearest agreements ever signed in corporate America:

“I, Peter Studebaker, agree to sell all the wagons my brother Clem can make.”
Peter Studebaker

“I agree to make all he can sell.”
Clem Studebaker

It was an agreement that could actually be read and understood.

There were setbacks. Fires in 1872 and 1874 damaged facilities. Brother Jacob joined the company but died young, in 1885, and Peter died in 1897. Frederick Fish, John Mahler’s son-in-law and a lawyer, became president after Peter Studebaker’s death. Unlike the brothers, Fish was interested in new technology and created a budget to look into horseless carriages. Around that same time, the company had been building bodies for the Electric Vehicle Company for their electric taxicabs. Neither Clem nor “Wheelbarrow Johnny” were convinced that horseless carriages were a good business idea, but they did not oppose Fish’s efforts. When Clem died in 1901, John Mahler was the last of the brothers involved in the company.

Fish determined that automobile manufacture was a good idea for the company, and in 1902, Studebaker introduced a line of modest electric cars. The Studebaker electrics were hardly innovative, other companies were building more advanced cars, including Oldsmobile, Rambler, and Ford. But the Studebakers had a reputation for being well built and reliable, so sales were good. Top speed was 13 mph and a charge was good for about 40 miles.

It was soon obvious that automobiles with internal combustion engines could go farther and faster than the electrics of the time. John Mahler preferred electrics because they were quieter and easier to start. But he did not object when Fish acted on what he believed was a need for change. Fish joined with Garford Company in Cleveland, Ohio, to build the Studebaker-Garford automobile. Garford would build the chassis and engine, and Studebaker would produce the bodies. The Studebaker-Garford was expensive, especially when compared to the cost of a Model T.

Fish saw the need for Studebaker to produce a lower-priced car, so they joined with E.M.F., a company that needed access to a dealer network like Studebaker’s. Unfortunately, E.M.F. quality was poor, so Fish made a decision to merge with them to form a new company through which Studebaker had more control over production and quality. The new company was the Studebaker Corporation. “Wheelbarrow Johnny” was the Chairman, and Fish was the President.

Changes came quick for the new company. Electric cars and the Studebaker-Garford were gone by 1913, and Studebaker ranked fourth in sales with 24,255 cars sold. Compared to Ford, which sold about 189,000 cars, Studebaker was still a small company. Wagons were still selling well, but the automobile business needed a boost. The company restructured and decided to produce two models.

A new President, Albert Russell Erskine, joined the company in 1915. Two years later, John Mahler Studebaker died; there were no longer any members of the Studebaker family in the company. As the war in Europe dragged on, there was a drop in sales, but the buildup for the war easily offset that slump. Wagons and trucks were needed, especially after the U.S. entered the war.

Studebaker Without a Studebaker

After WWI, Studebaker had to get back to civilian production. As a result of mergers, most Studebaker production was in Detroit with wagon production in South Bend. Before his death, John Mahler had gotten an agreement that any new plant for auto manufacturing would be in South Bend. He anticipated that wagon production would end, and he wanted the workers in South Bend to be able to continue to work for the company. In May 1920, Wheelbarrow Johnny was proven right; the wagon business was sold. It would be automobiles only for Studebaker, and they would be built primarily in South Bend.

Business was very good for Studebaker in the early 1920s, but it could have been much better. Erskine had a policy of giving large dividends to investors no matter how good or bad sales were. He believed it would encourage investors even in times of poor sales. This policy was continued throughout the company’s history, and it was damaging. Had lower dividends been given, more money would have been available for expansion and emergencies. With more production capacity, Studebaker could have sold more cars.

The latter part of the 1920s was a mix. Some of the new models were among the best looking cars in the country. Plants in Detroit were closed and the South Bend facilities were expanded. There was a new small car called the “Erskine,” but it was a flop. The new President Straight Eight, though, was a success – it was a beautiful automobile. Together with changes to the Dictator and Commander models, 1928 was a very good year.

Then came 1929. Early that year, the company invested in the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company. It looked like a good business decision, and Pierce Arrow was reorganized. With the beginning of the Depression, sales tanked. Studebaker increased truck production and added a new model, the Rockne Six, named after famous Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne. It was a good car – what the Erskine should have been. Studebaker and Pierce Arrow were building good cars, but the market was terrible.

In 1931, Studebaker lost $8 million, but Erskine still gave a dividend of $500,000. That left the company with no capital. A merger with White Motor Company could save Studebaker. White would get access to Studebaker’s excellent dealer network, and Studebaker would get cash from White. A sale, though, was blocked by White investors, who believed it was a raid on White’s finances. That put Studebaker into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

March 1933 saw Erskine and Fish out of Studebaker, with Erskine ultimately committing suicide. The bankruptcy court appointed receivers for the company – Paul G. Hoffman and Harold S. Vance, both from Studebaker, would be President and Chairman, respectively. Ashton Bean, from White, was the third receiver. Pierce Arrow was sold at a loss to eliminate the drain on funds and provide a little cash, and the White stock was sold – White was back on its own again. The court approved the reorganization, and there was a new Studebaker Corporation established in January 1935.

As the economy slowly improved, the company made a profit in 1936. It produced new models on only two wheelbases instead of three and priced them competitively. Studebaker actually did better than the rest of the industry. A couple things happened in 1938. First, Raymond Loewy’s design firm drew the ’38 car, and it was beautiful. And Studebaker dropped one of its odder model names – the “Dictator.” The meaning of that word took on an uncomfortable reminder of what was going on in Germany and Italy at the time. Instead, there were to be three series: Commander, State Commander, and State President. They had great styling but names that did not stand the test of time.

Studebaker needed to increase its sales volume, so Hoffman and Vance decided to get into the low-price market, then controlled by Ford, Chevy, and Plymouth. The Studebaker Champion was their entry – it was much lighter than other sedans, giving better fuel economy and tire life. The Champion was a success and helped produce a nice profit for the company in 1939.

The potential for another incredible year in 1940 was interrupted by a need to provide war materials to the Allies fighting a very difficult war in Europe and Asia. There were materials shortages for civilian vehicles, but losses in sales of automobiles were offset by the military contracts Studebaker won. New civilian models were planned for 1942, but then Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. On January 1, 1942, automobile production was suspended.

During WWII, Studebaker produced more than 63,000 engines for the Flying Fortress bomber, 197,678 trucks, and a number of the amphibious truck called the “Weasel” that had been developed secretly. Studebaker management refused, though, to capitalize on war production, seeing it as their duty to support the American war effort. Sales during the war were up dramatically, but profits were modest.

All automobile companies faced the challenge of converting back from war production to civilian products. Like most, Studebaker simply updated its 1942 design and offered the Skyway Champion in 1946. It’s possible that Studebaker could have sold many more cars (demand was intense for new cars) had they produced new Commander and President models, but they chose to focus on tooling up for a dramatically new model for 1947.

Developing the design for the new cars is a story of intrigue within the company. Vice President of Engineering, Roy Cole, did not care for the company’s design consultant, Raymond Loewy, so he secretly got Virgil Exner, a Loewy employee, to work on a separate design. Misleading information about what Studebaker wanted in their 1947 model took Loewy’s designers in a wrong direction, while Exner worked with better information. Exner’s design was selected, and Loewy, understanding the game belatedly, fired Exner. Exner, though, landed softly in a position with Studebaker.

The 1947 Studebaker line was shown to the public in mid-1946, well before any of the company’s competitors had anything new to offer. And the ’47s were stunning. They were wide and had envelope bodies, their roofline was flatter and sleeker, and they had a low, integrated grille. There was also a very pretty convertible and a five-passenger coupe that had a multi-pane rear window that wrapped around giving better rear vision than ever before. It was a very different approach than that of the other auto makers, who wanted to continue to produce modified pre-war models as long as possible. Ford, for example, didn’t have a new model until 1949.

Studebaker’s approach worked and sales were strong. There was also a huge demand for trucks of all sizes, and Studebaker was in a good position to take advantage of that. The company gained 90% of the truck market.

Hoffman was appointed head of the Economic Cooperation Administration by President Harry Truman in 1948, leaving Vance as Chairman and President. Vance agreed to moderate restyling for 1949 in anticipation of another dramatic, and controversial, change for 1950. Bob Bourke, a stylist for Loewy’s company, was told by Loewy to make the new car look like an airplane. The result was the Bullet Nose Studebaker. It was a surprise design, and it turned out to be quite popular. But there were problems on the horizon for the company, unfortunately.

Studebaker had a history of believing that its workers were people who would do their best for the company, so the company seldom engaged in hard discussion with the union. But the company had established some policies, like payment for piecework, that were proving to be harmful to the company’s productivity.

The result was that the company suffered a lower rate of growth, with labor issues, higher taxes and a decision to lower prices all contributing. Profits fell by $5 million, but the company approved increasing dividends by $2 million! There were also plant improvements and new tooling to add a V8 to the lineup. It was a 232.6-cu.in. engine producing 120 hp. Ford and Oldsmobile had V8 engines, but most other companies did not. Then came Korea.

Once again materials shortages affected civilian production, although military contracts partially offset the lost sales. Studebaker continued to have labor problems, and the company decided to accept the demands of the strikers, resulting in increased labor costs that impacted profits. On Studebaker’s 100^th anniversary in 1952, facelifts to the current models gave an indication as to the shape of the next models. The Studebakers of 1952 were sleek with a bit of a European look, but they were still American-sized cars.

For the year, sales were up, so profits were up, although less than previous years, meaning the profit margin was lower than it had been. Still, the company approved dividends that were 50% of earnings. The problems Studebaker was suffering were certainly imposed by the government control of automobile production because of the war, but they were also self-inflicted – labor costs were high, productivity was low, and dividends were unreasonably high.

The next few years included highs and lows for Studebaker. A high was Bourke’s design for a new coupe. It was low and very European looking. With the post-war demand for automobiles over, Studebaker needed something special, and this coupe was it. It was based on the 120-inch wheelbase of the Land Cruiser, and it was to be produced alongside the existing line of sedans. Then management made a decision that caused the company considerable problems. They wanted the sedans restyled like the coupe with little time available for a serious styling effort.

The sedan was on a shorter wheelbase, and the front and rear styling of the coupe did not work on the two and four-door sedans. Where the coupe was low and sleek, the sedans were tall and stubby. Panels and trim were not interchangeable, so tooling was a major cost increase. There were two different body styles with different wheelbases and a total of five body types. Then, in early production, front sheet metal would not mate with the body. Whether because of poor planning or the shortcuts taken, production had to be stopped and the dies remade. Production didn’t resume until January 1953.

When the cars reached the dealers, another problem became apparent – sales predictions were way off. The Starlight and Starliner coupes were selling much better than expected — as much as twice anticipated — so too few were produced. Sedans were selling poorly, 50% less than anticipated, so too many were produced. Poor build quality was also showing up, affecting the company’s reputation.

That was when Ford decided it wanted to take over Chevrolet’s place as the top seller in the U.S. and began the “Ford Blitz.” Ford overproduced, forcing dealers to slash prices on the cars they sold. Chevrolet, having been challenged, joined the sales war.

The independent manufacturers all suffered. In 1953, Studebaker’s profits fell 80%, assets were 25% down, more than $3 million was lost in working capital, and the company’s net worth dropped $4.3 million from 1952. Dividends were higher than in 1952. It appears that Vance and Hoffman, who had returned to the company, were making the same mistake Erskine had – paying outrageous dividends to keep investors happy when the company was not well.

Studebaker finally produced a station wagon, appropriately named the “Conestoga.” Station wagons were selling well, but Studebaker’s entry was late and it was a two-door wagon when four-door wagons were more popular. Even with decent sales of the Conestoga, the fiscal situation was still poor. Hoffman entered into negotiations with the union, and the union compromised, but not enough to fully address the issue of expensive labor costs.

Studebaker’s management had to start a serious search for a merger partner, but the company had to overcome some of its own history when it came to merger proposals. During the 1940s, George Mason approached Studebaker about a merger of Studebaker, Nash, Hudson, and Packard. Vance said no. In 1953, Studebaker was again approached by Packard, and Vance again said no. It was a different story in 1954.

Both Studebaker and Packard were in trouble in 1954. Studebaker was broke but still had an excellent dealer network; Packard was losing money, but it still had some cash. The two companies were not competitors, so the merger was completed on October 1, 1954, with Hoffman as the Chairman and James Nance, of Packard, the President of the new Studebaker-Packard Corporation. In order to complete the merger quickly, both companies agreed to forgo any in-depth review of the other’s books.

Nance eventually became concerned about Studebaker’s financial situation and sent his Vice President of Finance to review the company’s accounts. That revealed that Packard should have looked more closely at their potential partner before the merger. Worse, Studebaker had claimed that the break-even point was production of 165,000 cars; in fact, it would likely take a production of 282,000 cars for Studebaker to just break even, primarily because of poor productivity in Studebaker’s facilities. Yet, there was more bad news to come.

Under George Mason, there had been a reciprocity agreement between the new American Motors Corporation and Studebaker-Packard. When Mason died suddenly, George Romney took over as Chairman of AMC and learned that Studebaker-Packard was not upholding their part of the agreement.

He approached Nance, and Nance denied there was any agreement of reciprocity, so Romney decided to stop buying engines from Studebaker-Packard and have AMC build their own. Ultimately, the blame for the mess Studebaker-Packard found itself in could be laid on the managers of both Studebaker and Packard. Their lack of due diligence as they considered the merger put the new company in a precarious position.

There was a mild facelift of Studebakers in 1955 and the Conestoga was doing well. Sedans, though, were not selling well and sales of the coupe were down. The company did produce an up-market President line with two sedans, a coupe, and a hardtop. This line was attractive, based on a longer wheelbase, and had an attractive interior. Dealers were having trouble selling the 1955 models and started pushing for something that would attract people to their showrooms. What they got was the President Speedster.

1955 Studebaker President Speedster

The company heard their dealers, but they were reluctant to move a new car into production. The decision was to produce only 14 cars and put them on the car show circuit. They would respond with production if there was enough interest – there was. The Speedster, a name the company had not used in 30 years, was based on the President hardtop coupe, already an attractive automobile, but maybe just a bit plain, especially when compared to the Speedster.

When production began, the model would be offered in six, two-tone and two, three-tone color schemes, with a late addition in black. The paint schemes were produced in series. The first models were Sun Valley yellow and Hialeah green and were produced for three or four months, then that scheme was replaced by pink and gray, then pearl and gray, black and white, and gray and white. The three tone cars were pink, gray, and white and green, black, and white.

Exterior enhancements included a lot more bright work than the standard President. The Speedster had new bumpers with fog lights built in, a stainless roof band, specific trim that included a hood-length hood ornament (gold on the green/yellow cars), Speedster nameplates and checkered emblems, and chrome-plated ashtrays, rear-view mirror, tinted windows, and tailpipe extensions on the dual exhausts.

The Speedster would have considerable more chrome than the standard President models and almost as much as other competitors’ 1955 models. Inside the car, the changes were even more luxurious. The seats were diamond-quilted, genuine top-grain leather, there was carpeting front and rear, a map pocket on the passenger side kickpanel (there was no glovebox), an eight-tube pushbutton AM radio with an interior remote controlled antenna, a Stewart-Warner 160 mph speedometer and 8,000 rpm tachometer in a striking engine-turned facing, turn signals, electric clock and a cigarette lighter.

The special climate control system was called a “climatizer.” Power was by Studebakers 259.2-cu.in. Passmaster V8 producing 185 horsepower at 4500 rpm. Compression ratio was 7.5:1, with an option for 8:1 available. There was a choice of a standard three-speed, a three-speed overdrive, or two-speed automatic transmission. Standard equipment also included an oil filter and oil bath air cleaner, power steering and brakes, four barrel carburetor, dual backup lamps, triple horns, two-speed electric wipers, tubeless whitewall tires and wire wheel covers.

The car cost $3253, or about $800 more than the standard President hardtop coupe. It was the only Studebaker to top $3000 in 1955. Only 2,215 Speedsters were produced, making them a very desirable collector car. It was a one-year model, so many of the special trim pieces are as rare as the Speedsters themselves. A search of the Studebaker register shows that only around 310 Speedsters survive in all conditions, and few of them are show quality.

Studebaker Speedster Engine No. P-6223, Model 6H K7

One surviving Studebaker President Speedster in show condition is a numbers matching car that belong to Ray Petros. Petros is a long time Studebaker enthusiast (see “Driven: 1963 Studebaker Avanti R1,” https://sportscardigest.com//1963-studebaker-avanti-r1/ ). That he developed a passion for Studebakers is no surprise. His grandfather immigrated from an island off Croatia and initially went into the grocery business.

In 1922, he decided to get into the automobile business with a partner and created Black and Petros to sell Willis, Whippets, and other brands in Pueblo, Colorado. After he bought out his partner, he took on Stearns Knights in the late ’20s then Graham in the ’30s. The family became a Studebaker-Packard dealer in 1954 and kept the dealership until Studebaker ended domestic production in 1964, almost 42 years.

Petros mused about seeing his first Speedster: “One just like this one was the first car I remember seeing as a four-year-old in my Dad’s showroom. We drove by, and it was right in the front windows, and I just thought it was the most gorgeous car possible.” His father sold it to a local doctor who lived a couple blocks from the Petros home. Petros would see it when he walked to and from school. “Every time I’d go by it, I’d say ‘I’m going to have one, one of these days.’”

Petros lost track of the car, so he started looking for one like it. He found his locally. It had been bought by a Studebaker club chapter member in the late ’80s. He was an automotive painter, and he did a very nice job in restoring the car. Nearly everything was correct on the car. The previous owner had even bought a special sewing machine so he could restore the leather interior correctly.

Petros bought the car in 1998. There were some authenticity issues that he corrected – he installed the proper carpet, rear speaker, exhaust extensions, and a few other items that weren’t correct. One problem that took some investigation to fix was the tachometer; it did not operate correctly. He finally visited Clive Cussler’s museum, where there was a similar Speedster. He was allowed to crawl around in the car, and he saw that Cussler’s car had a ground wire to the tach. Petros added a wire, and the tach worked fine. One other addition Petros made was an electric fuel pump. He uses it to help start the car on hot days. The rest of the time, the car runs on its mechanical fuel pump.

Petros obviously loves his Studebakers, but he seems to have a special love for the Speedster. His memories from a child are a big part of that, but the Speedster is also a very special car to drive.

Driving Impressions

Just being seen in this car is enough to make you smile – everyone turns to watch you drive by. But driving it is also a pleasure; it is a very nice car to drive. There were several pleasant surprises. The first was how comfortable the seats are, and visibility from the driver’s seat is great. Then the dash – it is certainly not something you would see in most other American cars of 1955—speedo, 8000 rpm tach, oil pressure, water temperature, fuel, and ammeter. All the information you need – well, oil temperature would be nice, but I’m spoiled. It is important to remember, though, that this is a 1955 American car.

Starting the car, even on a hot spring day at an elevation somewhere near 8,000 feet, was a breeze. The electric fuel pump did what it was supposed to do, and the car started immediately with a turn of the key. The two-speed Borg Warner automatic consists of low and high gear. Smooth start with the shifter in high, then onto the mountain roads around Petros’ place. On the level, the car is smooth. It has a low center of gravity, especially compared to Chevies or Fords of the time, so it actually corners better than expected for a 3,300-pound car.

I remember smiling and saying “sweet” when taking the car through some sweeping curves on a nearby U.S. highway. With power steering and a large diameter steering wheel, steering effort is very reasonable. The steering was a little loose, so it took a bit of concentration to keep the car where I wanted it. Brakes are important in the mountains, and the assisted drum brakes on the Speedster do a more than acceptable job.

For an early stop, I pressed a bit too hard on the brakes and was quite surprised at how quickly we stopped. Acceleration produced smiles – the car is quick from a stop, and when the transmission drops into low, it really takes off. Low is important when going up the Colorado hills. All it takes is to keep pressure on the gas pedal to keep the car in low gear.

The Speedster is a very nice driving car. Plus it is beautiful. I enjoy every car I get to profile and drive, but the Speedster is one of the ones I’d love to own.

Specifications 

• Construction                                    Steel, body on frame
• Chassis                                                Two-piece frame, an inverted U-channel with a spot-welded plate
• Engine                                                 Passmaster overhead valve V8
• Displacement                                   259.2 cid (4248 cc)
• Bore/Stroke                                      3.6 in (90 mm)/ 3.3 in (83 mm)
• Power                                                  185 BHP (136.16 KW) @ 4500 RPM
• Torque                                                250 Ft-Lbs (339 NM) @ 3000 RPM
• Compression Ratio                       7.5:1
• Induction                                           Single four-barrel Carter WCFB carburetor
• Wheelbase                                         120.5 in | 3061 mm
• Length                                                 206.2 in | 5238 mm
• Width                                                  71.3 in | 1811 mm
• Front Track                                      56.7 in | 1440 mm
• Rear Track                                        55.7 in | 1415 mm
• Weight                                                 3300 lbs/1496.9 kg
• Front Suspension                          Independent suspension, unequal-length A-arms & coil springs
• Rear Suspension                            Live axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs
• Brakes                                                 Four-wheel drum
• Wheels                                                15-inch steel
• Tires                                                     7.10×15 Tubeless

The Rest of the (Studebaker) Story

There were ups and down for the company through the latter 1950s and into the ’60s, but there were more downs than ups. One “up” was the Hawk in 1956; another was the Lark in 1958, but they were more than offset by the “downs.” One hit Studebaker experienced was the loss of much of its military money. The Department of Defense decided to consolidate its contracts with fewer companies, and Studebaker-Packard lost most of their contracts.

As for the consolidation of the two components of Studebaker-Packard, there was none, so there were still two of everything required to run the corporation. Styling was mostly face-lifts because of the lack of funds to put into new cars. Sales were down, and it appeared that both car buyers and investors seemed to sense that Studebaker-Packard was a dying company.

Roy Hurley of Curtis-Wright was interested in getting what remained of Studebaker-Packard’s defense business, so he orchestrated a “merger” in which he could control Studebaker-Packard without any financial investment. Nance left and was replaced by Harold Churchill, a man who nearly saved the company.

To get some cash, plants were sold or shutdown, and the value of the company’s stock was devalued. That provided some funds for 1957, but the old models were simply continued. There were some good developments, including the strength of the Hawk line. Packards were now being produced on Studebaker chassis, and Studebaker became the distributor for Mercedes-Benz in the U.S.

Hurley, before dumping Studebaker-Packard, pressured Churchill to produce a distinctive Packard, a move that eventually killed Packard. Churchill, though, proposed that the company produce the small car that became the Lark. It was a compact car with a spacious interior, and, in 1958, it predated the small cars from the Big Three. In 1959, all the bigger models, except for the Hawk, were eliminated. The Lark was a hit, and, together with trucks and money made from Mercedes-Benz, Studebaker-Packard looked financially fit again. Dealers were even added to sell the Lark.

That’s when the Board of Directors decided that diversification was the solution for the company. They bought a variety of non-automotive companies at a time when the Big Three discovered compact cars. Many of the new dealers jumped ship to sell Chevies and Fords and Plymouths. Churchill continued to support the auto business while the Board was putting more money into acquisitions.

By 1960, the Board of Directors wanted out of the automobile business. Churchill resisted, and the company was reorganized with Churchill replaced by Sherwood H. Egbert. Egbert’s plan for Studebaker-Packard was for more acquisitions, a stronger auto business, more military contracts, and a new focus on foreign sales. There were more acquisitions and some previous companies were sold at a profit. Thanks to the efforts of Brook Stevens on the Lark and Raymond Loewy on the Avanti, the cars continued to look good with little money expended on the designs.

1962 saw “Packard” removed from the company’s name. It also saw a major strike—the plants were down for 38 days. In 1963, sales were horrible. The Studebaker Corporation was losing money primarily because of the automotive division. The decline continued, the South Bend plant was closed, and all production moved to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Without the capability of producing engines itself, Studebaker had to buy its engine from Chevrolet.

Egbert, who was fighting cancer, was put on indefinite leave and was replaced by Byers Burlingame. Styling improvements continued to be made on the Lark, but when funds were requested for styling the 1967 models, the Board of Directors refused. On March 4, 1966, the corporation announced that automobile production would end the next day. After the end of auto production, there were more acquisitions, mergers, and sales of assets until the company was hardly recognizable for what it had been.

The Studebaker name was dropped in 1978. Studebaker had once been one of the largest American automobile manufacturers. It had been innovative and had produced quality cars and trucks. Sadly, poor management and bad decisions killed the once proud company. Even though the company is gone, many of its fine automobiles and trucks remain for us to enjoy and think about what might have been.

For additional reading about the history of Studebaker, the following are recommended:

• Treasury of Early American Automobiles 1877-1925, by Floyd Clymer
• “Studebaker’s Final Days” by Patrick Foster, Automobile Quarterly, Volume 48 #1, First Quarter 2008
• Studebaker – The Complete History, by Patrick Foster

The post Just Gorgeous!—1955 Studebaker President Speedster appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

An artist will look at an object and see the art in its design that some may not, whether it be a building, a piece of furniture or in this case, an automobile. This Citroën DS19 has fascinated one artist for over 40 years, appreciating it like a work of art and coveting it like the Goddess it is.

The French have a reputation for creating unusual and sometimes avant-garde designs, producing interesting and unusual automotive shapes. The coachwork of Saoutchik, Figoni et Falaschi, Franay and of course, Chapron come to mind, just to name a few. These coachbuilt bodies were expensive and flamboyant, created for the chosen few on the chassis of high-end luxury cars like Delahaye, Delage, Bentley and Tabo Lago. They were designed to attract attention and create a sensation when seen for the first time.

Citroën was not a luxury car brand, but what they debuted at the 1955 Paris Salon, in October of 1955, certainly created a sensation with both the public and the automotive press. Enough so that Citroën had 749 firm orders for the new car by 9:45 am, and 12,000 orders by the end of the day. The new car was called the DS19, or Desiree Speciale 19. The word for goddess in French is Déesse, and sounds like DS when spoken in that language. A goddess had been shown to the automotive world, and there were many ready and willing to worship it then, and they still do today.

The artist that owns this 1964 DS19 is Arthur Stern. Stern specializes in architectural glass art, as well as sculpture and paintings, and his award winning work can be seen in public buildings and residential projects all across the country. His first encounter with a Citroën was while he was studying Architecture at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, in 1972. A fellow student had inherited a 1969 Citroën DS21 from his father, but he was leaving to study in Europe for a year, so he offered the car for sale.

Being three hours away from the closest Citroën dealer, an ad for the strange looking French car in the local newspaper yielded no calls except from Stern. “I had seen a few Citroëns on the road while visiting California and thought that they were cool.” Stern recalls, “I bought the car for a great price and drove it across the country.

I was headed to the San Francisco Bay Area to continue my studies at CCAC in Environmental design. It was a wonderful car and I got it for a price I just couldn’t pass up. I soon realized what a fabulous car it really was, very comfortable, the suspension was like floating on air. The steering and brakes were exceptional. While it was a bit eccentric looking, it suited my sense of design.”

The design of the DS19 is largely due to the efforts of Citroën’s chief stylist, Italian born Flaminio Bertoni, (not to be confused with Giovanni Bertone of Carrozzeria Bertone, to whom he was not related), and Citroën engineer André Lefébvre. Both men also worked on designing the legendary front-wheel drive Traction Avant, the first volume-produced monocoque (unitized) body car, introduced in 1934. The Traction Avant was discontinued in 1957. Although the DS19 was a completely new design, it carried over the now perfected and proven reliable front-wheel drive and 1.9-liter engine from its predecessor. The 19 in DS19 refers to the 1.9-liter engine displacement.

Compared to many of the chrome laden cars of the era, the design of the DS19 was sleek and clean, devoid of any unnecessary and non-functional styling embellishments. With its shark-nose front, sans grill, long swept-back plunging hood and smooth sides tapering back to the rear, it not only looks futuristically sleek, but it is significantly more aerodynamically efficient than most cars produced for 20 years after its debut.

The front to back inward taper of the body is accentuated by the rear track being almost eight inches narrower than the front. The rear wheels are located very far back on the chassis, giving it long a 123-inch wheelbase and allowing for a generous amount of interior space. Only available as a four door sedan initially, a station wagon was added to the D Series lineup in 1958. A convertible would come later.

Stern had driven across the country in his 1969 DS12 when he first laid eyes on a DS convertible. While getting the oil changed in his DS station wagon for the first time at Executive Motors, the premier Citroën dealership in San Francisco, he walked into the waiting room. “There was Jack Casady, bass player for the Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, reading a Zap magazine, waiting for his car,” explains Stern. “ When his car came down the ramp it was a Citroën DS convertible, the first one I had ever seen….I didn’t even know they made convertibles.” It was love at first sight. He knew he had to have one.

The world first laid eyes on Citroën DS19 convertible or decapotable, in 1958, when Henri Chapron, an independent coachbuilder located in Paris, debuted his La Croisette Cabrioet at the Paris Auto Show. The modified convertible was not authorized by Citroën, instead Chapron purchased a new DS19 and made the modifications at his shop. Chapron continued to build DS19 convertibles for his well-heeled clientele, and public demand was great.

Chapron’s success with these custom-made convertibles did not go unnoticed by Citroën, and in 1960 a deal was struck between Chapon and Citroën to produce a factory, or Usine, convertible. Knowing that cutting the roof off a sedan would compromise the structural integrity of the body, a station wagon was used to start with, as it was already structurally beefier than a sedan and additionally reinforced by Chapron. From the cowl back, the entire body was unique to the convertible.

The rear seat was narrowed to allow for the convertible top to be lowered down into the body, flush with the beltline. There was no quarter glass, making the top wrap around to the door glass instead. The car looks quite elegant with the top up, but visibility is compromised considerably.

Chapron sold a few handmade convertibles before a production model was ready to be shown to the public in October of 1960. Citroën began selling the production convertible modified by Chapron the following year. Sales of the convertibles were limited by the time it took Chapron’s shop to create one. The process was very labor intensive and costly.

The price of a new Chapron convertible was double the cost of a comparable DS sedan, priced around the same as a new Cadillac convertible in America, at about $5600. The cost and production time kept sales low, but the company gained prestige when open air versions of DS Citroëns started showing up in movies and at night clubs, sometimes with celebrities behind the wheel.

The Goddess Appears

For Arthur Stern, the search was on for a DS convertible. There were only a handful of convertibles in the Bay Area, and Stern approached the owners whenever he saw one in for service at the dealership or elsewhere. The Chapron convertible is rare, especially in the U.S., but Stern kept looking. After two years of searching, a 1964 DS19 convertible was traded in at Executive Motors by its original owner on a Citroën-Maserati SM and offered for sale.

This was at last Stern’s chance to acquire his dream car. He had traded his DS21 sedan for the 1972 DS station wagon and now he traded in his clean, low mileage wagon in on the convertible. “I traded my nice low mileage wagon and all the money I had, to buy the Chapron-bodied DS cabriolet with over 150,000 miles on it. I just had to have it,” tells Stern. “I was in graduate school at the time and working part-time for architects and interior designers as a draftsman.

I had just enough money left to buy a bottle of French champagne as a gift to the owner of Executive Motors as a token of my appreciation, as I had finally bought the car I had dreamed about. The Citroën DS Decapotableas the French call it, is in my opinion one of the most beautiful four-seat convertibles ever made. An eccentric and beautiful car, perfect for an artist!”

Stern was just about to open Arthur Stern Studios when his dream car became his. He used it everyday for transportation for several years before the Goddess became tired and started showing her age. No longer useable as an everyday car, Stern parked it in his studio. The car sat for several years until he could afford to undertake a restoration. “Starting out as an artist means there were going to be many financial ups and downs”, says Stern.

“A commission would come in, and I would have some money, then it would slow down again, and I thought I would go broke. I must admit I was tempted to sell the car during a few of the slow times. People always wanted to buy it from me. In fact, they still do today. But then a nice commission would come in and I would decide to keep it.”

After sitting for seven years, Stern brought the car to Jacque Abot‘s shop in Santa Cruz, CA. Abot and his mechanic Lon Price have a reputation for restoring convertibles and took it on as their back room project. Stern paid them whatever he could afford on a monthly basis for several years until the mechanical restoration was complete. Now with the car back in fine running order, it was time to tackle the cosmetics.

Over the next few years, Stern spent money on the restoration when he could afford it. A new top one year, a new interior the next, and so on. When it was time for paint, Stern brought the car to Henry Hanzel. He was considered a marque expert, and ran a third generation body shop in Oakland, CA. Hanzel’s father was one of the first Citroën dealers in the Bay Area.

The restoration was completed there and Hanzel became Stern’s Citroën mechanic for decades, sometimes joining Stern on Citroën club tours with his own DS. Before Hanzel retired, the Goddess was treated to one last beauty treatment that included a fresh paint job to remove the chips and scratches acquired over a few decades of driving for pleasure. The car is currently maintained by Lon Prince once again.

Driving a Citroën DS is truly a pleasure indeed. So much so that comedian, noted car collector and Citroën DS owner Jay Leno recently stated: “When you get behind the wheel of a DS you literally fall into a big easy chair that wraps itself around you.” Leno gives this advice: “If someone offers you a ride in a DS, take it. It’s the most comfortable motoring experience you can have.” This journalist decided to heed the advice of Mr. Leno and take up Mr. Stern’s offer to ride in his beautiful 1964 DS19 convertible.

Sitting in the DS19 is indeed very comfortable. The position of the seat is much like a chair, meaning your seating posture is more upright, with your legs hanging down with feet flat on the ground, as opposed to stretched straight out like most modern cars. The flat floor also provides plenty of legroom and the interior feels spacious overall. The steering wheel is most interesting, having just one spoke affording an unobstructed view of the gauges, and looks futuristically cool.

The column mounted, gear shift lever for the 4-speed manual, front-wheel drive transmission is very smooth. Shifts are made effortlessly but compulsorily leisurely with no jerking or lurching, enough so that a passenger blindfolded could be fooled into thinking the car has a fully automatic transmission. Braking is excellent, with inboard discs in the front and drums in the rear. Steering is a rack and pinion design, and is smooth and effortless as well.

The clutch, brakes and steering are all aided by the DS19’s amazing central high-pressure hydraulic system. (A semi-automatic, hydraulically assisted “Citro-Matic” transmission was also offered on the DS19 as an option). The 4-cylinder, 83 horsepower, 1.9-liter engine feels adequate, but brisk acceleration is not this car’s forte. Once the car achieves freeway speed, its aerodynamic shape helps the car cruise effortlessly. The most noticeable feature while riding or driving in the DS19 is the ride itself.

The four-wheel, fully-independent suspension is supported by hydropneumatic spheres filled with pressurized nitrogen gas above a supply of mineral oil and divided by a flexible diaphragm. There is a belt driven pump that feeds the spheres, regulated by various valves and sensors. All this creates an incredibly smooth, yet not mushy, ride. The DS19 glides over potholes and railroad tracks smoother than any modern car that comes to mind. In April of 1958, Motorsport magazine tested a DS19 sedan and had this to report: “In spite of the softness of the suspension, the Citroën rolls only slightly in normal fast cornering, although rally-type tests cause it to heel over rather a lot.

Not only on account of its all-independent suspension but because, as a glance at the car reveals, Citroën have adhered to their policy of ‘a wheel at each corner,’ the DS19 is a commendably stable, safe car, which can be cornered exceedingly fast once the driver is accustomed to the light, high-geared steering action. On wet or icy roads the car shows up to advantage, nor is the driver conscious of the front-wheel-drive affecting control, either on drive or over-run. “

The testers were impressed, further stating, “Naturally most people, when invited to ride in the DS19, pay close attention to the suspension. Although it is not perfect, quick negotiation of hump-back bridges having the same effect as on a vehicle with ordinary springing, except that the car lands squarely and without subsequent pitching, and bad road irregularities causing shock to be transmitted, the sheer merit of the hydro-pneumatic system is revealed by driving at, say, 80 m.p.h. over roads which shake up the occupants of normal cars, even those considered to be well sprung, at anything over 35 m.p.h.

Moreover, in spite of this ability to absorb bad surfaces the Citroën does not suffer from undue sponginess, dipping its bonnet but slightly under emergency braking, wallowing very little when driven rapidly over inhuman pot-holes, and refusing completely to pitch.” Parking the DS19 is easy as well, despite its long wheelbase, it can be turned around in less than 37 feet, with just under three turns, lock to lock.

After parking a DS19, the suspension will slowly drop all the way down, making it look even more exotic when parked. When restarted, it will automatically return to driving height. The suspension may also be raised or lowered manually via a lever on the dash. To change a tire, just raise the car all the way up, place the factory provided jack stands on one side and lower down, leaving both wheels on the one side in the air.

Now with close to a quarter of a million miles on the car, it still feels solid and rattle-free, a testament to the car’s engineering and design, plus the loving care bestowed upon it by its owner for over 40 years. In recent years, Stern’s Goddess is showcased with his art at his studio in Benicia, California. In the last decade, Stern has enjoyed displaying the car at Citroën club events and Bay Area Concours shows, winning many awards as a result.

Most recently, it was awarded the Michael Furman Artist’s Choice Award at the 2017 Carmel by the Sea Concours on the Avenue. “Mr. Furman and I agree that it is a car that exudes design and aesthetic excellence that satisfy an artist’s eye.” Says Stern, “I’ve had the Chapron-bodied Citroën for 41 years now, it proudly sits in my studio like a sculpture waiting to be driven on special occasions.”

SPECIFICATIONS

1964 Citroën DS19

• Engine: 4-cylinder inline
• Valvetrain: Overhead valve
• Displacement: 1.9 liter
• Bore/Stroke: 78×100 mm (3.07 x 3.94)
• Horsepower: 83 bhp @4500 rpm
• Torque: 105 lb-ft @3500 rpm
• Carburetion: 1 Weber carb
• Transmission: 4-speed manual
• Drive: Front engine, front-wheel drive
• Wheelbase: 123 inches
• Length: 189 inches
• Width: 70.5 inches
• Height: 57.8 inches
• Curb weight: 2,822 lbs
• Brakes: Four-wheel disc / power assisted via central hydraulic system
• Top Speed: 103 mph
• 0-60 mph: 17.7 seconds (sedan)
• Factory Production: 184 in 1964, 1365 total 1960-1971

Club affiliation: http://citroencarclub.us/

The post The Artist and The Goddess—1964 Citroën DS19 Chapron appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

For Example…

This year’s Quail showcased cutting-edge automotive technology and design, featuring 21 vehicle debuts and demonstrations from top manufacturers and designers. Among the global unveilings were the Lamborghini Temerario, Maserati GT2 Stradale, Rimac Nevera R, Cadillac Opulent Velocity Concept, Acura Performance EV Concept, Integra Type S HRC Prototype, and the Hennessey F5 Stealth Series. Other highlights included the Rolls-Royce Phantom Scintilla, Automobili Pininfarina B95 Gotham and Battista Targamerica, Pagani Utopia Roadster, Porsche Sonderwunsch 993 Speedster, RUF Rodeo, GuntherWerks GWR, Touring Superleggera Veloce12, Karma Automotive Ivara, Meyers Manx 3-Cylinder Radial Engine, and the KALMAR Automotive 9×9. The Bugatti Tourbillion and Gordon Murray T.50s Niki Lauda and T.33 Spider also made their North American debuts at the show.

Celebrating Automotive Icons

The event also featured four special classes that added to the celebration. The 30th Anniversary of Koenigsegg highlighted the brand’s commitment to building some of the fastest and most advanced hypercars in the world. The 50th Anniversary of the Porsche 911 Turbo (930) honored the German sports car that changed the industry. The 100th Anniversary of MG celebrated the British brand that helped shape modern sports cars. The Tribute to World Rally Cars brought attention to the legendary rally machines from one of the most challenging racing series in motorsport. The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, also included seven traditional classes that displayed vehicles from the past and present, as well as futuristic concept cars.

And, of course, Best of Show

A 1937 Delahaye Type 135 earned “Best of Show” at the 2024 The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering. Owned by Sam and Emily Mann, the winning vehicle was inducted into the prestigious Rolex Circle of Champions on the pristine greens of The Quail Golf Club. At the 21st annual event were automotive enthusiasts, significant industry figures, and other motorsport greats. The 1937 Delahaye Type 135 was joined by dozens of individual class winners who highlighted diverse vehicles from various brands and eras.

The 1937 Delahaye Type 135 was originally constructed as an open-wheel race car to challenge contenders from Mercedes and other European marques. The vehicle’s revolutionary 12-cylinder engine was capable of 240 horsepower, and is believed by Delahaye Club historian Andre Vaucourt to be the car driven by Renee Dreyfus in the Prix du Million, 1938 Pau Grand Prix and Cork Grand Prix. It was later sold to Marius Franay to have new sports car coachwork built on the racer chassis, completely enclosing its original racing mechanicals. After its completion, the vehicle later won the “Prix du Honneur” at the 1947 Paris Salon.

Sports Car Digest Gallery

Award Recipients

Rolex Circle of Champions Best of Show

• Car: 1937 Delahaye Type 135
• Owner: Sam & Emily Mann

Spirit of The Quail

• Car: 1949 MG TC/PBS & Sons
• Owner: Aaron Shelby

Hagerty Drivers Foundation Award

• 1963 Jaguar E-Type FHC
• Buzz & Julia Lynn

30th Anniversary of Koenigsegg Automobile

• Car: 2005 Koenigsegg CCR
• Owner: Glenn Yuen

50th Anniversary of the Porsche 911 Turbo Type 930

• Car: 1975 Porsche 911 Turbo Type 930
• Owner: Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG

100 Years of MG

• Car: 1925 Morris MG 14/28 Bullnose Supersports
• Owner: Michael Dacre

Tribute to World Rally Cars

• Car: 1985 Audi S1 E2
• Owner: Stephen Rimmer

The Evolution of the Supercar

• Car: 2002 Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR FASTRRR
• Owner: Damon Sueter

The Great Ferraris

• Car: 1952 340 Mexico
• Owner: Brian Ross

Pre-War Sports and Racing

• Car: Bugatti Type 57
• Owner: Bernard Kress

Post-War Racing

• Car: 2001 Chrysler Viper GTS-R
• Owner: Florent Moulin

Post-War Sports 1961-1975

• Car: 1967 Lamborghini Muira
• Owner: Tom Price

Post-War Sports 1945-1960

• Car: 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SC
• Owner: Vin DiBona

Custom Coachwork

• Car: 1934 Ford Model 40 5 Window
• Owner: Coby Gewertz

Sports and Racing Motorcycles

• Motorcycle: 1930 Indian Four Cylinder
• Owner: Mike Lynch

ArtCenter College of Design Award

• 1964 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Speciale
• Owner: Scott Leibow

The Art of Bespoke Award presented by Magneto Magazine

• 1975 Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2 Croisette Shooting Brake by Felber
• Owner: Andreas Wuest

Kai Lermen, Director, comments

“The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering is the epicenter of automotive excellence and luxury, and the diversity of our featured and traditional classes showcases our commitment to honoring all aspects of the industry. I’m proud to say that this was the best one yet,” said Kai Lermen, managing director of The Quail Golf Club. “We thank our sponsors, entrants, vendors, and beloved guests who travel from all over the world for their support in making The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering the most anticipated event of Monterey Car Week.”

Culinary Globe Trotting & more

Guests also enjoyed various culinary delights from five gourmet pavilions, award-winning wine and champagne vendors, and live music and entertainment. The popular Fireside Chat, moderated by Philip Kadoorie, featured renowned car collector and enthusiast Magnus Walker. Attendees were also invited to attend the 27th Annual Bonhams “The Quail Auction,” the longest-standing auction held during Monterey Car Week.

Bonus Gallery

Looking Ahead

The 2025 edition of The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, is scheduled for Friday, August 15, 2025. Please visit the event website for more information and follow The Quail Events on Facebook and Instagram to stay current on the event activities and announcements.

KSBW Coverage

The post The Quail – Putting the “Panache” on the lawns in 2024 appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

That car was a red Lotus Elan +2. I had never heard of, or seen, a +2, and I wondered if it was too late to exchange our Europa for one of those sleek beauties – it was. For nearly 50 years, the thought of that car remained lurking in my brain. As I aged, I wondered if I could get in and out of one. In April 2017, I found out, thanks to the excellent forums on the Lotus Ltd. Club website. I posted that I wanted to do an article on a +2 and found two nice ones in Colorado – one original and the other upgraded to a Zetec engine and Spyder chassis.

The Type 50, or Lotus +2 as it was called in factory brochures, had a run from 1967 to late 1974. Nearly 5,200 were produced during that time. It was the first pure Lotus to have more than two seats, and it was the first Lotus without a kit version being offered. It was predated by the Lotus Cortina, but that was a Ford saloon modified by Lotus. The +2 was to be a “family” car, with seats for two children in the back, or in our case, one 5’6” woman sitting cross-wise. The +2 had a chassis that was 1-foot longer, track 7-inches wider, and overall length 23-inches more than the Elan.

It had the same engine, comparable suspension and a similar, albeit longer, steel backbone chassis as the Elan. It was also 315 pounds heavier, but the effect on performance wasn’t nearly as bad as it might have been because the car was much more aerodynamic (Cd=0.30) than its smaller sister. Carburetion was initially by twin Webers and then by twin Dellortos at the end of production, although the U.S. federalized versions used Strombergs.

As their “family” car gained in sales, the factory began emphasizing comfort and luxury over performance when the +2S came out in 1969. Still, they didn’t forget performance, because later that year they began putting the Lotus Big Valve engine in the cars. By 1971, all the +2S 130 models had the big valve engines with a 25% increase in power over the original engine. These cars are usually recognized by their metallic silver roofs, although a solid color car could be special ordered. A late addition was a 5-speed, overdrive transmission introduced in October 1972.

1969 Lotus Elan +2

I had plans to profile several cars in New Mexico and Colorado, so I added the +2s to my trip. First stop was to meet Jeff Krueger in Sedalia, Colorado, and experience his original Elan +2. It seems that most Lotus owners, have owned a series of cars of the marque. Krueger had an Esprit and Seven clones until he found the +2. He has two kids—seven and eight-years old—so the +2 was a perfect Lotus for his family. His car is a stock 1969 with all original Lotus components. It is a very nice car, but Krueger is in the process of building an improved version of the +2, much like the car I was able to experience a day later.

Thanks to Krueger, I was able to determine that I can enter and exit a +2 with relative ease….and what a joy to drive. The car started easily and we were off. It has excellent gauges, and the seats are very comfortable. Steering wheel and shifter fall right to hand. Big feet can be a problem in any Lotus, so even with a larger car one must be careful not to cover the gas and brake pedals at the same time.

Krueger lives in a valley, with mountains only a couple miles away, so the test drive included an excellent mountain road with curves of all sorts and steep climbs and descents – a great road to try out a Lotus. A friend, David Allin, who has driven my “camera car” for me on a number of occasions, was with me for the ride. We chatted as I drove the car up grades and through corners. At one point, while talking about the car’s incredibly flat cornering, I tried to sum up its handling with, “What can I say? It’s a Lotus!”

It was that good! The only downside was that there are a lot of revs lost when shifting between 2^ndand 3^rd. This combined with a lack of torque from the engine at lower revs meant a lot of stirring of the shifter on some of the uphill stretches. I’ve long had “Lotus Lust” deep in my heart, and this drive brought it to the surface.

1972 Lotus Elan +2 Zetec

Next stop was Colorado Springs, where Ross Robbins has what may be a very unique +2 for the U.S. Robbins has had 13 Lotus cars of various types. He was bitten by Lotus Lust when he sold several cars, including his Sprite racecar and his big Healey to buy an Elan racecar. Robbins drives his cars. He has bought a number of Lotus cars online, flown to get them and driven them home. He drove his first +2 from New York, a Europa from Wisconsin, and an M100 from Washington, for example. He’s even written a book about his road trips, available as a trade paperback on Amazon. His desire to drive his Lotus everywhere led him to call a fellow he met at a Lotus Owners Gathering in Orlando.

The car was a modified +2 with a chassis built by Spyder in England, a fuel-injected Zetec engine and a 5-speed transmission. The owner had decided to sell the +2 only two days before Robbins called. The deal they reached was more than Robbins had expected—he got the +2, but he also had to take a rolling chassis, a stripped chassis, a Spyder chassis, and boxes and boxes of parts. The car he wanted without all the extras would cost $5000 more than if he took it all. Getting all that back to Colorado is an adventure story best heard in person.

When asked why the Zetec car, Robbins replies that “Ann (his wife) and I love to travel, almost all summer, so we wanted a car with air conditioning. This car has the a/c ducts nicely integrated into the dash, has an XM radio, and five-speed transmission that allows us to cruise at 75 at 3100 rpm – and you can hear the radio! It’s nice to be able to cruise when crossing the country.” He added that it, “drives like a Lotus, but it’s a version for a mature driver.”

The Zetec gives 160 hp and has a lot more torque, which comes in early, where the stock Lotus doesn’t get on its torque curve until about 3500 rpm. All Robbins’ comments became real when I got the chance to drive the car. We took it on the highway and on wonderfully curving roads. The extra power was great on the hills and for merging with traffic on the highway. The gears were very comfortably spaced, and few revs were lost when shifting, while going uphill. Together with the torque of the Zetec, this car is a much better driver than the original. It does everything an original +2 does, only better. It truly is an improved car.

So, after driving both these cars, which do I prefer? I have to say that I loved them both, and they have really gotten my Lotus Lust beating hard in my breast. The Zetec +2 is the better car, but if Krueger decides to sell his original when he gets his Zetec done, I am very interested. Oh my, yes I am.

Many thanks to Krueger and Robbins for allowing me to drive their cars. They are two fine guys who have a couple of wonderful cars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKapn0s7UDg

Original Specifications

The post Lotus Lust—A Tale of Two Plus 2s appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

A fabulous 1957 Ferrari 335 S has won the coveted Best of Show award at this year’s Salon Privé Concours presented by Aviva Private Clients. Entered by American enthusiast Brian Ross, the Maranello sports-racer thrilled onlookers when it took part in the Tour Privé on Tuesday 27 August, and it proved to be just as popular with the expert judging panel when it appeared on the concours field the following day.

Event Highlights

• Ex-works Ferrari 335 S wins prestigious Best of Show prize
• Second place awarded to Lord Bamford’s 1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II
• 1927 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8AS Fleetwood Roadster secures third overall
• Class winners range from 1923 Rolls-Royce to 2004 Porsche 996
• 72-strong international entry gathered at the magnificent Blenheim Palace

Italian Royalty

Chassis number 0674 was raced by Scuderia Ferrari during the 1957 season, and by a stellar driver line-up. In March that year, dashing young Englishman Peter Collins took the Ferrari to sixth place in the Sebring 12 Hours, sharing with French veteran Maurice Trintignant. Two months later, Wolfgang von Trips finished second in the grueling Mille Miglia – the very race that has recently been immortalized in the Michael Mann blockbuster Ferrari.

Having been upgraded to 4.1-litre specification at the factory, the Ferrari was back in action in June 1957 at the Le Mans 24 Hours. Mike Hawthorn and Luigi Musso shared driving duties at La Sarthe, and although they failed to finish, ‘0674’ set the fastest lap of the race.

Its final outing as a works car was at the 1957 Caracas 1000km, when Hawthorn and Musso finished second. The car then passed to Luigi Chinetti – a hugely significant figure in Ferrari history, and founder of the North American Racing Team. Chinetti entered it for the Cuban Grand Prix in February 1958, when it was driven to victory in the shortened race by none other than English ace Stirling Moss.

Post Stardom

After competition, the Ferrari spent several years in the collection of renowned marque enthusiast Pierre Bardinon.

Second place overall in the Salon Privé Concours was presented to Lord Bamford’s magnificent Rolls-Royce Phantom II Sport Saloon by Freestone & Webb. Ordered new to the bespoke specification of cotton magnate Sir John Leigh in August 1933, it was built for fast touring in the UK and on the continent.

Sir John later sold the Phantom II after apparently ordering four brand-new Phantom IIIs in a single day! Having remained in the UK until the late 1950s, the Rolls-Royce subsequently spent 35 years in the ownership of an American enthusiast who lived in Toledo, Ohio. The Phantom II was bought by Lord Bamford in 2013 and returned to its original two-tone paint scheme. A regular concours prize-winner, it was awarded the Churchill Cup for Most Exceptional Design at Salon Privé in 2022.

Third place overall in the 2024 Concours was presented to the 1927 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8AS Fleetwood Roadster of Nic and Shelley Schorsch. This hugely significant car was ordered new by movie heart-throb Rudolph Valentino, with unique roadster coachwork designed by LeBaron of New York and built by the Fleetwood Metal Body Company.

With its long, flared open fenders and low-slung lines, it was a showstopper deserving of a Hollywood icon, but sadly Valentino died before his Isotta Fraschini was completed. It was nonetheless exhibited at the New York Auto Salon, then put on display in the front window of Isotta Motors, to be admired by throngs of Valentino’s adoring fans.

“We are truly delighted with this year’s Best of Show Ferrari 335 S by Scaglietti,” said Andrew Bagley, Chairman of the Salon Privé Concours. “You only have to look at the great names who raced it to realize how significant sports car it was and appreciate what a cherished place it holds in Ferrari history. This beautiful Ferrari competed in a golden period for sports-car racing, and we all now look forward to its entry into the Peninsula Classics Best of the Best Award.”

Diverse Entries

This year’s Salon Privé Concours presented by Aviva Private Clients was the largest and most prestigious to date, with 72 cars being entered across 14 different classes. They ranged from the ever-popular Pre-war categories to celebrations of Bugatti, Rolls-Royce and Ferrari. Fan favorites included Legendary Liveries – which showcased iconic color schemes such as a Silk Cut Jaguar XJR 8/9, an Alitalia Lancia Stratos HF, and a 555 Subaru Impreza WRC97 – while a new class for 2024 honored the 60th anniversary of the Ferrari 275.

All entries gathered on the beautiful South Lawn at Blenheim Palace, having come from as far afield as the USA, Thailand and even New Zealand. They were judged by an unrivaled panel of international experts, with all entries being adjudicated by the International Chief Judge Advisory Group (ICJAG). Salon Privé is one of four ICJAG Plus-designated events in the world, and the only one to be held in the UK.

Full List of Winners

2024 Salon Privé Concours presented by Aviva Private Clients

Best of Show

1957 Ferrari 335 S by Scaglietti entered by Brian Ross

Best of Show Runner-up

1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Sport Saloon by Freestone & Webb entered by Lord Bamford

Best of Show Third Place

1927 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8AS Fleetwood Roadster entered by Nic & Shelley Schorsch

Chairman’s Award

1923 Rolls-Royce Springfield Silver Ghost Pall Mall entered by Jack Boyd Smith Jnr

Duke of Marlborough Award

1993 Lamborghini Diablo entered by Lars Nielsen

Most Iconic – The George Barry Gregory Trophy

1965 Rolls-Royce Phantom V by Mulliner Park Ward entered by Jody Klein

Class A: Pre-War Open

Winner: 1927 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8AS Fleetwood Roadster entered by Nic and Shelley Schorsch

Honorable Mention: 1937 Cord 812 SC Convertible Phaeton entered by Yohan Poonawalla

Class B: Bugatti – Grand Prix to Grand Touring

Winner: 1939 Bugatti Type 57 Cabriolet by Saoutchik entered by Anne Brockinton-Lee

Honorable Mention: 1927 Bugatti Type 38 Philadelphia by Figoni entered by Luc Slijpen

Class C: Pre-War Closed/Elegance

Winner: 1938 Bentley 4¼ L Brougham de Ville by James Young entered by Axel Schroeter

Honorable Mention: 1930 Bentley 4½ L Sports Saloon by Freestone & Webb entered by Peter Little

Class D1: Inspiring Greatness – 120 Years of Rolls Royce (Pre-War)

Winner: 1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Sport Saloon by Freestone & Webb entered by Lord Bamford

Honorable Mention: 1911 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost ‘London-Edinburgh’ by Holmes entered by John Snook

Class D2: Inspiring Greatness – 120 Years of Rolls-Royce (Post-War)

Winner: 1954 Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn DHC by Park Ward entered by Volker Schumann

Honorable Mention: 1988 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit 2-door by Hooper & Co. entered by Tony Robinson

Class E: Post-War Open

Winner: 1951 Mercedes-Benz 300S Cabriolet A entered by Albert Streminski

Honorable Mention: 1960 Maserati 3500 GT Spyder by Vignale entered by Claudio Mosconi

Class F1: Post-War Closed (International)

Winner: 1960 Maserati 3500 GT by Touring entered by Greg Newman

Honorable Mention: 1968 Lamborghini Islero GT by Marazzi entered by John Day

Class F2: Post-War Closed (British)

Winner: 1952 Jaguar XK 120 Supersonic by Ghia entered by Bill Heinecke

Honorable Mention: 1986 Aston Martin V8 Vantage X Pack entered by Lee Malpass

Class G: Sports-Racers

Winner: 1957 Ferrari 335 S by Scaglietti entered by Brian Ross

Honorable Mention: 1954 Jaguar D-type entered by Vijay Mallya

Class H: Ferraris of the 1950s & ’60s

Winner: 1953 Ferrari 166 MM Spider by Vignale entered by Lord Bamford

Honorable Mention: 1963 Ferrari 400 Superamerica Coupé Aerodinamico by Pininfarina entered by Michael Korecky

Class I: 60th Anniversary of the Ferrari 275

Winner: 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB/C by Scaglietti entered by Private collector

Honorable Mention: 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB 6C by Pininfarina entered by James Cottingham

Class J: Legendary Liveries

Winner: 1996 Subaru Impreza WRC97 by Prodrive entered by Richard Coar

Honorable Mention: 1974 Lancia Stratos HF by Bertone – Alitalia, entered by Christian Gläsel

Class K: Supercar Icons – Prancing Horse

Winner: 1996 Ferrari F50 by Pininfarina entered by Karim Said

Honorable Mention: 1985 Ferrari 288 GTO by Pininfarina entered by Martin Allmand-Smith

Class L: Supercar Icons to 2005

Winner: 2004 Porsche 996.2 GT2 entered by Rob Howarth

Honorable Mention: 1993 Lamborghini Diablo by Gandini entered by Lars Nielsen

Honorary Awards

Spirit Award – The Margaret Bagley Trophy

1960 Maserati 3500 GT Spider by Vignale entered by Claudio Mosconi

Most Exceptional Coachwork

1966 Ferrari 500 Superfast by Pininfarina entered by Andrew Bagnell

Most Opulent

1969 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Park Ward entered by Murad Salikhov

Coup de Coeur – The Matt Pearce Trophy

1958 AC Ace entered by Mike Dacre

Best Interior

1939 Rolls-Royce Wraith by Mann Egerton entered by Edward Iliffe

Most Elegant

1932 Bugatti Type 55 by Gangloff entered by Shane Houlihan

Best Works Car

1956 Lister-Maserati entered by Christian Jenny

Best Liveried Race Car

1967 MGC GTS Lightweight entered by Martin Block

Best Open Car

1965 Ferrari 275 GTS by Pininfarina entered by Joe Macari

People’s Choice

1996 Ferrari F50 by Pininfarina entered by Paul Hogarth

Event Information HERE

Above content © 2024 Salon Prive reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee

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Testing in North America

The 355 by Evoluto® attended exclusive events and wowed the public in Carmel, Monterey, and 17 Mile Drive. Starting in Los Angeles the week before for private customer previews, the trip was part of an important milestone and the beginning of dynamic road testing ahead of final validation in the coming months, ahead of the first customer builds starting in Q1 2025.

While in Monterey the 355 by Evoluto® and team from DRVN Automotive Group attended three exciting events, opening the week at Motorlux, then enjoying the tranquil setting of The Preserve Concours and Cocktails at Santa Lucia, ending the week celebrating car culture with tens of thousands of fans at Exotics on Broadway. While attending these events the team met with new fans of the brand and valued customers.

Dynamic road testing took place on the famous Pacific Coast Highway, in the canyons of Carmel Valley and downtown in Monterey and Carmel. Amjad Ali, Technical Director of Evoluto Automobili explains “Testing on the roads of California is an important step forward in the development of our car. Los Angeles and California give the opportunity to test on very different road types in a very short distance and time frame. This car is all about Peak Analogue® and the driving experience. Ensuring it can carve a canyon road and maintain a pure driving experience at any speed and on any surface ensures we deliver our promise. California and Monterey Car Week has given the team the chance to feed back a lot of different experiences. The next part of our development program sees us finish the fine-tuning of the car’s dynamic package and set up”.

Hampton Court

This week, attention turns back to the UK, where Evoluto Automobilli and other DRVN Automotive Group brands will attend the prestigious Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace. As part of the event, the Members Enclosure will be presented by Boreham Motorworks. Boreham Motorworks specialises in the design, manufacture and distribution of Ford Motor Company’s Road, Race and Rally Icons. As the official license partner of Ford Motor Company, Boreham Motorworks is dedicated to delivering a Peak Analogue driving experience throughout all their vehicles, ensuring every model delivers stunning performance, authenticity, and driving pleasure.

Iain Muir Chief Executive Officer, DRVN Automotive Group, notes: “DRVN Automotive Group are excited to present a wide line up of DRVN brands at the Concours of Elegance, Including Boreham Motorworks, Evoluto Automobili, Alan Mann Racing and Koenigsegg London. After returning home from Monterey Car Week, we are excited to continue with the forward momentum as we introduce as many people as possible to our products. During Monterey Car Week we spoke with hundreds of interested petrol heads from all over the world. We expect the Concours of Elegance to offer a unique experience where members of the public and press will get exclusive access to our now world-famous brands.”

Above content © 2024 Evoluto Automobile S.p.A. reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee

Need Cars video review

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Throughout history, French manufacturers have created some of the most unusual automotive designs ever made. Most will agree that many of them had brilliant engineering, however the French approach to styling, especially in the mid-century era, is interesting to say the least. Weird, beautiful, ugly, strange, fantastic, modern, and eclectic are words than could be used to describe the Matra M530, depending on who you ask. One thing is for certain, this car is unique and to many, obscure.

Early History of Matra

In 1945, Matra (Mécanique Aviation Traction) was founded. The new French company’s first project was participating in the development of an advanced twin-engine aircraft, constructed to be the fastest prop-driven plane in the world. In 1951, a plane using a Matra-built engine succeeded in breaking the sound barrier in Europe for the first time.

Later on, Matra was selected to be the first prime contractor for satellites in France and became involved in the early European space program in 1961. French businessman Jean-Luc Lagardere became the CEO of Matra in 1961.  At the time of Lagardere’s appointment, Matra had about 1,450 employees.

In 1964, Matra acquired car manufacturer Automobiles René Bonnet, who produced light-weight, front-wheel drive and mid-engine sports cars with very aerodynamic fiberglass bodies mainly powered by upgraded Renault engines.

Back in 1962, René Bonnet debuted its Djet (pronounced jet) model, (generally considered by today’s collectors as a Matra). 198 Bonnet Djets were sold between 1962 and 1964 the majority of which were the 65-hp base-model “Djet I”. The company maintained a racing team, entering in the Le Mans 24 Hours race in 1962, 1963, and 1964. Focusing on the racing team was expensive and may have contributed to the company’s cash flow problems, resulting in poor retail sales during this period, as their cash was running out.

Matra Gets in the Car Business

Rene Bonnet worked increasingly close with its principal investor Matra.  Although Matra was busy with defense contracts, they were also very interested in the future of fiberglass technology, in which Bonnet was a pioneer. A former fighter pilot and national politician named André Moynet had an important role in bringing Bonnet’s business and Matra together. Matra’s swiftly developed partnership with René Bonnet’s automobile manufacturing firm was the beginning of what would become the Matra Automobile Division in October 1964. For a time, Matra was largely centered around its vehicle division, Matra Automobiles.

The first road car marketed as Matra was the Renault-powered Matra Djet, which was a revised version of the Bonnet Jet.  An additional 1,491 cars would be sold as “Matra Djets” between 1965 and 1968. The earlier Rene Bonnet-based cars (Missile and Le Mans) were discontinued after Matra assumed ownership.

In 1965, Matra began development on a successor to the Matra Djet. A fresh and modern road car design was needed that could be marketed to the non-racing public – or voiture des copains (car for chums). This would be the first sports car engineered and designed by Matra and not by Djet designer René Bonnet.  Designed by former Simca designer Philippe Guédon, the new sports car was named after Matra’s R.530 missile and officially called the Matra M530.

The M530 was constructed on a steel frame with polyester body and a mid-engine layout similar its Djet predecessor. In order to accommodate 2+2 seating, a mid-mounted engine and a reasonable amount of trunk space, several different engine options were considered by Matra engineers. The drivetrain that was eventually chosen was sourced from Ford in Germany, which was the “high compression” 1699-cc Ford Taunus V4 engine, as well as a gearbox from the Taunus 15M TS. This combination would make the production car capable of a top speed of 109 mph. This combination was also close-packaged enough to fit between the rear seats and the trunk.

The first 530 (badged Matra Sports M530A) was debuted to the public on March 7, 1967 at the Geneva Motor Show. Production commenced a month later, incorporating modifications which included the addition of a chrome bumper bar to provide much-needed protection from parking hazards for the front grill, a modification of the dashboard to give the passenger slightly more knee room, and the repositioning of the ignition key for more accessibility.

For the first two production years, the chassis was constructed by Carrier in Alençon, with the assembly work being done by French coachbuilder Brissonneau et Lotz at Creil. An interesting quirk of the early 530 model was that accessing the engine bay could only be done by removing the acrylic glass rear window.

Other unique features of the M530 are the mechanically pedal operated pop-up headlights and the two-piece removeable targa top. The styling was unusual to say the least and considered avant-garde for the time.

French artist Sonia Delaunay painted a 530A at the special request of Matra’s CEO Jean-Luc Lagardère in 1968. That same year, Carrozzeria Alfredo Vignale presented a custom-bodied 530 coupé at the Geneva show (the car would appear again in Turin with some modifications and a different paint scheme).

Matra Motorsports

Matra’s CEO Jean-Luc Lagardére, recognizing the promotion value of the motorsport sector for garnering sales, decided that the company ought to be involved, leading to the creation of Equipe Matra Sports, which entered the French Formula 3 during 1965. Throughout the mid-1960s, Matra enjoyed considerable success in Formula 3 and Formula 2 racing with its MS5 monocoque-based car, winning both the French and European championships. Matra competed as a constructor in Formula One from 1967 to 1972 and as an engine supplier between 1975 to 1982, winning the drivers’ and constructors’ championships in 1969.

Those familiar with Formula 1 history may know that Lotus adopted aviation engineering principles to build racecars. Not to take away from Colin Chapman’s winning ingenuity… but Matra was about to do in a few short years, what took everyone else decades to accomplish. As soon as Matra began building formula cars they immediately started to dominate in the lower F2 and F3 series with their fantastic monocoque chassis designs.

In 1968, they took the big step up to Formula 1 and secured Jackie Stewart behind the wheel. After nearly winning the Formula 1 championship in their rookie year, they dominated and took victory the following year—rather remarkable after just two years in F1. It was the first time a French-built car had ever won a modern Grand Prix much less the championship, and gave Jackie Stewart his first drivers’ championship.

The next year, 1970 saw the introduction of the glorious Matra V12 engine. While that beast of an engine didn’t suit the Grand Prix sprint-style racing, it happened to pack very nicely into Matra’s sports prototype race cars. Having been victorious all over the world in sports car racing, it was time to make a serious effort at Le Mans: enter the mighty Matra MS670.

With its aggressive open top design, that fabulously engineered V12 in the back, and Matra’s now world famous monocoque designs, the MS670 was unstoppable, ending Porsche’s winning streak and defeating Ferrari, not once, not twice, but three years in row (1972-1974). Matra also took the World Championship for Makes in 1973 and 1974.

France and Matra in just 6 short years had beaten everyone at their own game, won the Formula 1 championship, dominated Le Mans, and racked up countless victories along the way. French national pride had been restored. Interestingly, at the end of the 1974 season, Matra announced that it had decided to withdraw from all participation in motorsports.

This Car

This 1969 Matra M530 was part of well-known Southern California collector Bruce Milner’s collection, who acquired the car about 25 years ago from a broker in Texas. It sat in disrepair as part of his collection for over a decade before it was restored about 10 years ago. It’s current owner, Rodney Grabinski, purchased it in the summer of 2018.

“It needed a lot of sorting to get it running well,” Grabinski recalls.  “Electrical faults, carburetion and ignition issues, exhaust header repairs, clutch hydraulics replaced, it needed tires (that sounds easy… it is not!) water pump, etc..  Mostly all the sorting from a freshly assembled car that was never done because he never really drove it other than around the block occasionally.”

“I had been looking for a vintage car for some time and nearly bought a range of cars, Elan, Elite, Montreal, Junior Z.  – nothing really came together. When I came across the Matra that Bruce listed on BaT, I just connected with it. I knew about Matra, the M530 vaguely, and while doing more research learned more and more about Matra and the M530. I become more and more entranced with the history, innovation and their racing successes.

I just had to have it and I was high bidder but at RNM.  Bruce and I stayed in touch for about year until we finally struck a deal and trailered the car home to San Diego and went about getting it ready to take up to Monterey. I was supposed to be there in 2018 but there was just too much to get the car suitable for the 500-mile drive and there was no way I was going to trailer queen it up and back, I wanted to drive it the whole way.

So, 2019 is when the car and I made it. That drive up and down the coast – Big Sur, Carmel on the Avenue – is the big trip. I take it to our local “cars and coffee” in Rancho Santa Fe and we have various weekend drives to the canyon and mountains and will take it to local wineries. I’m not all that much into the car show scene – I like to drive and enjoy it.”

To own a car like a Matra, it helps to have a sense of humor, which Grabinski does. When asked what sort of reaction he’d get when people saw it for the first time, he said “People see the car and say ‘What IS that?… that is just… umm wow, ok… it’s so ugly!… amazing!… honey hide the children!’. After the spectrum of wild comments work their way out of bystanders pointed fingers, gapping mouths, and bugged out eyeballs the inevitable question is always “Why?”. Why did you buy that …thing?”

When asked to explain why he wanted to own such a car, his explanation was passionate and enthusiastic.  “‘Why Buy a Matra?’ the better question is why doesn’t every sports car and racing enthusiast want a Matra? So, when a car built by one of the world’s greatest racing marques appeared on the auction website Bring a Trailer, I had to have it.  This was my chance to scratch that vintage car itch and have a part of history too. This particular car was also a 1969, the same year and factory that built Jackie Stewart’s championship car.

I like to imagine Jackie Stewart, walking past the parts of my very car on some disorganized French assembly line on his way to see the updates for his next racecar in the race factory. I own and race vintage formula cars, spent years working in engineering, I love old cars, and come from a family of artists. This Matra M530 is everything I could want. Style? Excessive. Brand History? Epic. Engineering? Cutting edge. Affordable? Check and take my money please.”

“I enjoy displaying the car, talking with everyone about it and being a sort of self-proclaimed Matra spokesperson. I’ve noticed that if someone hangs around long enough, even those with initial negative opinions about the car, they start to develop more of an acquired taste about it. They notice the clever door handles, curious about how you get to the engine, or even where the darn engine is? What’s under the hood then? What are those holes for? That oval steering wheel, what does that 4^th pedal do?

It is like a mystery novel and each chapter is another twist and turn of the story towards the surprise ending of ‘very cool car’. The car is an event, not a dramatic rock concert type event, more like a stroll through a museum with a quartet playing event. Satisfyingly challenging and memorable. I wanted the car because Matra fulfilled history with the greatest racing championships in the world. What I didn’t realize is that they knew more about life than just racing, and built a car to fulfill that too.”

Driving Impressions

Gabinski is an accomplished Formula Ford and Formula B racer. In 2013, he placed overall 2^nd place Club Ford with “Formula Ford the Series”, and won the Bill Breach Memorial trophy in 2014, the Vintage Auto Racing Association Champion Modern Formula Ford and the Formula Ford Drivers Club Champion Modern Formula Ford in 2019. He recently acquired an historic Brabham BT29 to race in as well.

“If anyone survives the visual onslaught of my car, and the subsequent history lessons, the conversation turns from what is wrong with you dear sir? To what is it like to drive? The answer should surprise no one – it is Matra – the handling is sublime. The seating position and large windows gives a commanding view of the road all around, and the race winning pedigree is evident.

Fast sweeper? Don’t lift, just delicately turn the (weird, of course) oval steering wheel in and the chassis gently loads up the wheels that need the grip the corner apex, settling back down on exit. When you need to clamp on the brakes, the car rewards a finessed aggression. Brake late, the car transfers weight onto the front wheels to turn in with more speed than you first judge.

“The Matra engineers, 50 years later are still trying to teach you how to drive smoother and faster. Jump on the throttle and you hear everything from that funky Ford V4 engine that is literally in the cabin with you, covered up by what is essentially half a briefcase. Everyman’s sports cars of this era were never meant to be powerful – they were meant to be pleasurable, capable, affordable, usable.

Nothing could be better than the M530 with its lift back rear ‘glass’ (its polycarbonate, again because Matra!), giving access to the engine and back seats. Perfect for a weekend getaway in the countryside, The Matra M530 has a strange magical way of making you like your destination more because of the experience getting there.”

 Matra Epilog

The Bagheera was released as a 1974 model-year car, with production continuing until 1980. The Matra Murena was another mid-engined, rear wheel drive sports car that was produced from 1980 through 1983. During the early 1970s, Matra sold its car division to Chrysler Europe.  Matra Automobiles was subsequently sold by Chrysler Europe to Peugeot.  In 1983, Lagardere arranged to buy the division back. Shortly thereafter, a partnership was formed between Matra and Renault, resulting in the development of the Espace minivan.

During 2001, production of the Renault Avantime, which was co-designed and built by Matra Automobiles begain, however it was not a sales success and was widely regarded as a failure. By the early 2000s, Matra was reportedly preparing to end its involvement with the automotive industry. Following the discontinuation of the Avantime, on 27 February 2003, Matra Automobiles announced it was closing its Romorantin car factory just one month later.

The dismantling of the division was necessitated by Matra Automobiles having been declared bankrupt.During September 2003, Pininfarina SpA acquired Matra Automobile’s engineering, testing and prototype businesses and the company was renamed Matra Automobile Engineering. In January of 2009, Pininfarina sold its share in Matra Automobile Engineering to Segula Technologies.

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In the Beginning

Many parents are sure that they know what is best for their children, but their plans don’t always work out the way they hoped. Giuseppe Lancia had a very successful business canning soups near his family home in Fobello, in the Italian mountains. In his son, Vincenzo, he detected a talent for numbers, so he planned for his son to go to school in Turin to become the accountant for the family business.

The Lancia family had a second home in Turin, so Vincenzo had a place to live while in school. Two rooms in the courtyard were rented in order to insure the house remained safe and to provide some income for house expenses. The renter was Giovanni Ceirano, who operated his business, Fabbrica di Velocipedi e Vetture Automobili Giovanni Ceirano, in those rooms.

Ceirano’s business seduced the young Lancia. He was good at numbers, but he was also very interested in things mechanical. Ceirano had many things mechanical in those rooms. Ceirano was a bicycle importer and repaired bicycles. In his two rooms were a lathe, welding equipment, a forge, and lots of tools. Lancia was fascinated, especially when Ceirano began building bicycles and then light cars he called Welleyes.

Designed by Ceirano’s engineer, Aristide Faccioli, the Welleyes became quite popular, and the business grew. Lancia dropped out of school and join Ceirano’s Fabbrica as the company’s bookkeeper. Keeping the books, though, was less interesting than being involved with the construction of bicycles and light cars, so Faccioli took Lancia under his wing and trained him about design and the reading of plans. Lancia soon displayed an ability to analyze problems and find innovative ways to repair faults.

The success of Ceirano’s Fabbrica did not go unnoticed. Fiat noticed it, and, looking for new talent and equipment, bought the company and took on its people. Lancia must have built up a pretty good reputation during his two years in Turin, because Fiat made him the chief inspector at their new plant. He was responsible for planning, design, manufacturing, testing, and developing ways to fix design faults that became apparent during testing. Lancia was in his element.

On July 1, 1900, Lancia decided to try racing and entered a 6 HP Fiat in a race in Padua. He won and was hooked. The publicity about that race helped convince Gianni Agnelli to get Fiat officially involved. Lancia was tapped to drive in many of the races the company entered, and he had some very good results, including a second-place finish in the 1906 Vanderbilt Cub race.

He had nine overall or class victories during the ten years that he raced, but he was also a hard driver and failed to finish a number of races. By 1910, Lancia appears to have lost interest in racing and quit to concentrate on his engineering. Lancia met Claudio Fogolin when he joined Fiat as a test driver in Lancia’s department in 1902. They became friends and, more importantly, began to discuss establishing their own company. Fabbrica Automobili Lancia and Cia. was formed in 1906 with funds from Lancia, Fogolin, and several friends, including Count Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia, one of the original founders of Fiat.

Lancia would be responsible for the design and development of the new cars, and Fogolin handled sales and the commercial side. They had enough funds to buy a facility no longer in use by Itala, hire 20 employees, and begin the development of a fairly conventional automobile simply called the 12 HP. Two months later, a fire swept through the factory, destroying plans and damaging tools, machinery, and parts. Lancia was not deterred, his next product was a further development of the 12 HP but with a few innovations.

The 18/24 HP Lancia had a four-cylinder engine producing 24 bhp at the amazing engine speed of 1450 rpm. It was light and low and used a shaft drive instead of chain drive. When the prototype was completed, a detail that had been overlooked was discovered – the car was too wide to get through the door of the factory. Lancia had his workers cut away the stone doorposts with picks so the car would fit.

Two more prototypes were built, the third having an engine that produced 28 bhp at 1800 rpm. Lancia continued the development of his cars, and, in 1908, took three to the Turin automobile show. There were two models – one with a four-cylinder engine of 2544-cc and a using a four-speed transmission, and a six-cylinder on a longer wheelbase. The four-cylinder was called a Lancia Alfa, using the phonetic spelling of the Greek letter “alpha” and no relation to A.L.F.A., which was formed two years later.

The larger car was named a DiAlfa. Like their predecessors, the cars were light, high revving, and very good performers. Reviews were mixed, with some saying the cars were unsafe, but enthusiasts were excited by the cars and 108 Alfas were sold in the next year and a half. Distributors for Lancia opened in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Because of their performance, Lancias were often seen successfully competing in races. At the International Light Car Race in Savannah, Georgia, William Hilliard won with an average speed of 52.29 mph for 196 miles. The slogan used by the U.S. distributor became “Built by the Man Who Knows.”

As their successes mounted, the demand for Lancia automobiles also grew and the company expanded into more of the old Itala factory. New models came quickly. In 1909, the first Beta was produced with a 3120-cc, four-cylinder engine. 1910 saw the first Gamma. It was the last car that Vincenzo Lancia would race – his focus was now needed on design and production rather than testing. More sales successes resulted in a need for more room, and in 1911, Lancia moved his works to a larger facility. There the company produced the Delta (4080-cc) and the racing version, the DiDelta, but these cars were still based on the earlier Alfa.

Engine capacity continued to be increased, and the Eta (Tipo 20/30) of 1913 had a displacement of 5030-cc. With its shorter, lighter body, it had a top speed of 75 mph! That same year, the first truly new Lancia, the Theta (Tipo 25/35) was a limousine. Lancia had been building a 1Z truck for the Italian military, and it provided the chassis for the limo. The Theta was the first Lancia with a standardized wiring harness.

Even then, Lancia was thinking of how a V-shaped engine could save space in the engine compartment, but his plans had to be delayed. A series of convoluted pacts between countries tumbled down when a Bosnian Serb named Gavrilo Princip assassinated Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, and the world found itself in the “War to End All Wars.” During the war, which was much longer for the Europeans than the Americans, Lancia concentrated on making trucks for the Italian military.

On the positive side, production during the war resulted in additional expansion of the company’s facilities and capabilities. After the war, the next car developed was the Kappa with an open touring body and a top speed in excess of 75 mph. It also had a single dry-plate clutch, electric start, floor-mounted gearshift, and a variable rake steering column.

Lancia, though, wanted light bodies, and he gave the following advice to his coachbuilders: “Our experience has proved beyond doubt that it is possible to considerably reduce the weight of bodies hitherto built without affecting their strength and durability. We, therefore, urge body builders to carefully consider every part to be fitted to the chassis so as to produce the finished car as light as possible, which is advantageous for the reputation of the body builder and for us in the satisfaction derived by the owner.”

In the background during the war, Vincenzo continued to expand the concept of the V-engines. By 1919, he had patents on a 45° V8 and a 30° V12. For the Paris show in 1919, he designed a 20° single-overhead cam V12 of 7837-cc and 150 hp at 2200 rpm. It had a new chassis and suspension, but it was not economical to build. A design change to a 20° V8 installed in a Kappa chassis resulted in the TriKappa, [Photo 9] a car with a 4595-cc engine with 98 hp at 2500 rpm. It was to be the last of the traditional Lancias.

Two things happened to cause Lancia to change his design focus. First, he experienced a near accident when a spring broke on a rough mountain road. Second, he had observed how strong a ship hull was in rough seas. His emphasis changed from lightness and speed to strength and safety. The Lambda would be a very different car than the Lancias that preceded it. By September 1921, the prototype was complete, and a test drive convinced Lancia that the car would be very successful. The Lambda had a very compact, 2121-cc, 13° V4 single-overhead cam engine producing 49 hp. The engine used an aluminum cylinder block and was a very clean design – easy to service.

The chassis used an independent front suspension – the first large car to have IFS – with sliding pillars, coil springs, and hydraulic shock absorbers. IFS results in more stress on the chassis, so Lancia strengthened the chassis to manage the additional loads. The Lambda was possibly the first monocoque-bodied car. It was a car well ahead of its time, but it proved to be reliable and practical. It was shown at the Paris and London shows in the fall of 1922. Autocar praised the Lambda, and the buyers lined up to order their car.

The Lambda was hardly a sports car, although a 4-seat version came close to winning the Mille Miglia. It was big, but nimble; light, but not speedy; and it had good roadholding and performance. During its ten-year production run, 13,000 were built. As with other Lancia models, a DiLambda was produced with a V8 and 100 hp at 3800 rpm, but it was a much heavier car.

The decade of the 1930s saw a number of changes. The first and most noticeable was a change from Greek letters to Latin place names for model names. Some new cars were also needed, and the first was the Artena, which used a smaller Lambda engine of 1925-cc and producing 55 hp at 4000 rpm. The emphasis for the Artena was comfort, but it had excellent handling and steering and could reach 75 mph.

Next was the Astura, which used the same body/chassis combination as the Artena and a 19° version of the DiLambda V8. Later, the engine would be modified to be a 17 1/2° V8. The car was a popular racer, even beating the Scuderia Ferrari Alfas at the Coppo d’Oro in 1934.

Another change Lancia foresaw, before many of his competitors, was a small, light, efficient car that would survive the Depression. The result was the Augusta. It was a quick, reliable car using a 18 1/4° V4 of 1196-cc, producing 35 hp and a top speed of 65 mph. It was built in only one body style – a four-door, four-seat sedan. To allow ease of access, it had suicide rear doors and no B-pillar.

In 1936, Augustas took the first four places in the Targa Florio. It was a very popular car. According to David Owen, in his article, “Lancia Part I – The Vincenzo Years” in Automobile Quarterly Volume 12 #4, Rene Dreyfus related that the Alfa Romeo team drivers used Augustas as their daily drivers instead of the Alfas offered to them at a special price.

Lancia’s next design was one he started on in 1934. The Aprilia would have a light, thin steel body, stiff chassis, and independent rear suspension with inboard rear brakes. The engine was an 18° V4 of 1352-cc and 47.8 hp at 4300 rpm. Sadly, Vincenzo would never see a production Aprilia. He died of a heart attack in February 1937, at 56 years of age, before the production began.

Gianni Lancia took over the company after his father’s death. He was aided by a technical staff that his father had carefully chosen. The team, and the Aprilia, set the direction for the future of Lancia. Then came the Second World War, the interruption of civilian production, German occupation, and Allied bombing and invasion.

During the war, the technical staff evacuated to Padua. They returned, in 1945, to put the pieces of the factory back together and resume production. The pre-war models were still competitive in the market, so that gave them time to develop a new model.

Vittorio Jano had by now been released from Alfa Romeo, deemed too old to be productive, and together with Technical Director Giuseppe Vaccarino, they decided to focus on a V6 project started by Vincenzo. Model development sped up after WWII, so a manufacturer had to up response time to market changes.

The Aurelia proved to be a timely model for the new market. With a 1754-cc 60° V6 producing 56 hp at 4000 rpm, the car had good performance and handling. It took the 2-liter trophy at the 1950 Mille Miglia. Gianni saw the possibilities in competition and took the company back with a vengeance.

In 1951, four works cars were entered in the Mille Miglia and took second overall from four works Ferrari V12s. An Aurelia won its class at that year’s Le Mans 24 Hours. Development of an Aurelia coupé resulted in more good results both in racing and rallying. The D20 came next with a 217 hp dual overhead cam V6 displacing 2962-cc.

The D20 was followed by the D23 and D24 and culminated with the development of the D50 Grand Prix cars. Lancia’s greatest success in competition, though would be in 1956, when the Formula 1 team was turned over to Ferrari, and Juan Manuel Fangio won the championship.

The Formula 1 effort, together with a very expensive development of the new small car, the Appia, put the company in financial distress. The company was rescued by Carlo Pesenti, a cement company millionaire who took control of Lancia in 1955, resulting in Gianni’s resignation in 1956. The new management maintained the company’s philosophy of building reliable, quality cars.

The first new model was the Flaminia, a V6, which continued the approach that had been successful for the previous models. A major change in design approach came with the new Technical Director, Professor Antonio Fessia, designer of the Fiat Topolino. After updating the Appia, Fessia designed a new, very different mid-range Lancia, the Flavia, named after the Via Flavia, a Roman road from Trieste to Dalmatia.

Lancia Flavia

The Flavia was an expansion of a design that Fessia had done before. It was a front-wheel-drive, with an aluminum, flat-four of 1500-cc, a four-speed transmission, and disc brakes on all four wheels. Front suspension used unequal length wishbones. Production started in June 1961, after the prototype was introduced at the Turin Motor Show in 1960. First came a boxy sedan. A Pinin Farina coupé quickly followed, and Zagato made a typically crazy version.

Engine size was increased over time to 1800-cc in 1963, then to 1991-cc in 1970, the last year of the model name, although the model continued as the Lancia 2000 after Fiat bought the company. A total of 108,175 Flavias were produced, including 19,293 coupes by Pinin Farina, and a few coupes and convertibles by Carozzeria Zagato and Vignale.

Lancia Flavia Sport Zagato

Someone once commented that their car was a sensuous design, unlike those that Zagato designed with a chainsaw. Well, the cars designed with that chainsaw have become very desirable, in part because of their rarity, but also because Zagato’s designers had the courage to be different. Lancia introduced the Flavia Sport with twin carburetors to provide additional power to what the company hoped would attract people to the coupe. A relatively small number of the coupes were bodied by Zagato, and their look was exotic compared to those built by Pinin Farina.

Hardly a panel wasn’t modified. Zagato took an attractive, familiar-looking Italian coupe and turned it into an odd beast, with a two-plane grille that looks as though it could bite, a truly unusual concave rear window, and rear side windows that curve up into the roof in Zagato’s signature panaromica style. With its lightweight aluminum body and low center of gravity, the Sport Zagato was a popular car for rallying and racing. There is little doubt that few other coupes of the period looked anything like the Sport Zagato.

The first Sport Zagatos were produced in 1962, the year after the Flavia was introduced. Production of Lancias by outside coachbuilders ended in 1969 when a new model was introduced. Even though the Sport used the relatively inexpensive Flavia chassis, the original cost of the Sport Zagato was more than a Jaguar E-Type, influencing sales of the cars. Of the 626 outlandishly-styled Zagato coupes eventually built, 98 had the 1500-cc engine, and the rest used the 1800.

SN 815532001413

A young Joseph Kenneth Ballengee lived in southern Italy while his father was stationed there from 1967 to 1969. He saw all kinds of Italian cars and became familiar with Lancias. Ballengee was and still is a collector of 1/43-scale die cast model cars. When he saw a model of a Lancia Flavia Sport Zagato, he bought it for his collection because it was “an interesting, weird, ugly car.” After he joined the Air Force in 1975, his interest was rekindled in Lancias when he bought a Lancia Beta HPE. He was familiar with the marque, and the Beta was a fun car to drive.

In 2009, he retired to Albuquerque, where, “Every once in a while, I’d go on eBay and type in Lancia just to see what came up. And then this Zagato Sport showed up.” He knew it was rare, but he didn’t know how rare. Doing his research, he found an article about this car when it was in England. He fell for it! The owner had a number of cars and was “thinning the herd.” Ballengee did a “Buy it Now” without even having anyone look at it – he really wanted this car.

It was number 413 of the 626 Sport Zagatos built. He had bought a Sport Zagato, so he rented a car dolly and drove to California. When he got it home, his new house was still being built, so the Lancia went into storage. The car needed brake work, so Ballengee did the brakes in the storage unit. The house was completed in 2010, and the Lancia has been there ever since.

Ballengee has done a lot of the work the car needed himself, sometimes because what needed to be repaired was so unusual, there was no one else to do it. Repairs such as flushing and cleaning the radiator; repairing the gas tank, fuel pump, and lines; rewiring the rear lights; and rebuilding the carburetors were pretty standard. Restoring the gauges was a challenge. The ribbon speedometer “runs by strings and pulleys – like reel-to-reel tape recorder.” He had to do that himself.

Head gaskets were a problem for the Flavias, since Lancia used copper gaskets on the aluminum engine resulting in corrosion. There were some things he dare not do. While he was able to do most of the work on the car’s brakes, he recognized that stopping would be particularly important while living on the side of a mountain. To insure that the calipers were in the best condition possible, he sent them to White Post Restorations in White Post, Virginia, a firm well known for rebuilding all kinds of calipers.

When you own a rare automobile, according to Ballengee, you get invited to upscale car shows, although the car might be put in an odd class with other weird vehicles. “The Lancia was the only non-truck in one show!” One of the upscale shows was the Santa Fe Concorso a year when Janet Guthrie and Stirling Moss were honored. “We did the entire weekend – it was the most fantastic weekend of my life.”

On Saturday, he did the mountain tour from Santa Fe to Los Cerrillos – 80 miles. “It was the longest trip with the car to date.”“While passing through the Santa Fe arts district, as I turned a corner, a woman shouted ‘What on Earth?’ Yes! That’s exactly what I’m going for! Then, Guthrie, driving the photo car, a white BMW convertible, speeds past, and pulls in ahead of the Lancia. We got lots of photos of the car.” He smiled remembering, and said, “The car ran great, stopped great, 70+ mph.”

His class in the concours was Import Closed 1964-1967, and it included an Aston Martin DB4, a perfect E-Type, an Austin Healey 3000 rally car, a Ferrari, and a Porsche 911. Ballengee and the Lancia received the Director’s Award, an award given by the Directors of the concours for cars that are particularly interesting. He commented that, “real car people find this car interesting.”

Driving Impressions

When I asked Ballengee what it was like to drive the Sport Zagato, his immediate reply was, “It’s a real hoot.” And so it is! With the aluminum body, and a flat-four engine sitting low in the chassis, the center of gravity is somewhere around your ankles when you’re driving the car. It just handles amazingly well. But that’s getting ahead of the story. First you have to get into the car and be comfortable with your surroundings.

This is not a car for exceptionally tall people. Entering the cockpit requires some contortions – not terrible, but there is some bending required. Once inside, headroom is tight, but the seats are quite comfortable. If you are familiar with Italian cars of the era, the interior will look very familiar – black leather seats with red piping – and red carpets. Nice. And there’s a back seat for a couple kids, although vigorous driving might cause them to slide around a bit back there.

The steering wheel is nicely placed for arms out driving, and the hanging pedals are reasonably placed, although the gas pedal is hinged at the bottom. The gauge cluster does take a little getting used to. The ribbon speedometer is unusual for a performance car, and this certainly is a performance car. It’s something more often seen in sedans – right, the first Flavias were sedans. There is a normal array of gauges below the speedometer, although they are in rectangular bezels instead of the more usual round bezels.

From the left side, there is Benzina (fuel), Aqua (water temperature), Olio (oil pressure), and Ampere (battery charge). On the right of the speedometer is a large round tachometer. The one control that was a bit difficult to adjust to was the shifter. When you look at its position, it looks normal, but the gates for first and second gear are far to the left and quite low, a positioning that caused me some grief once I got going.

It has a four-speed box with reverse to the right and down. To start the car, give it a couple pumps on the gas pedal, turn the key, push it in to engage the starter, then give it a bit of gas. Once I found first, I discovered that the clutch engages quite high; those are the things you try to remember when you’re driving someone else’s rare automobile for the first time.

The location of the photo shoot was perfect for driving the Lancia. We were on the side of a mountain with smooth, curvy, two-lane roads running down toward the valley. As I pulled out and headed down the mountain, I had to smile at the amount of power the 1800-cc flat four had and the great noise it produced when accelerating. The first curve was a long right-hander, and the car was magnificent. It cornered flat, and I was able to apply throttle through the entire curve.

Steering was a little loose, but the car is more than 50-years old, and it was plenty good enough not to be an issue. And the suspension is stiff – you feel the bumps, but you are never out of control. The power to weight ratio of this car is nice, and with the center of gravity so low, it’s a dream to drive through sweeping curves. My only problem came when I came to a stop sign and thought I had it in first. I was initially baffled until I realized that I was trying to start the car in third and fourth.

When I got the shifter far enough toward my knee, I found second and got going again. A couple minutes later, I had my second embarrassment. I noticed that Ballengee, driving his Citroén SM (Vintage Roadcar, November 2017) was flicking his turn signals back and forth to remind me that the Lancia’s turn signals do not automatically cancel. I was so focused on the shifter, I completely forgot the turn signal.

The Lancia Flavia Sport Zagato, despite its few eccentricities, is a fun car to drive. The all synchro gearbox is a pleasure once you figure out where the gates are. The car handles curves as you would expect from a streetable racecar, and its power surprises you, thanks to its dual carbs and light weight. Steering is good, the sound of the engine makes you smile, and the brakes work very well. Even though the car has no side mirrors, visibility is good because of all the glass area. After I profile a car, I sometimes ask myself if this is one I’d like to own. The answer for the Sport Zagato is… Oh yes!

Specifications

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Following the October 1960 Los Angeles Times Grand Prix at Riverside, California, successful Texan racer Jim Hall had a fruitful discussion with Dick Troutman and Tom Barnes, constructors instrumental in the creation of Lance Reventlow’s Scarabs. Having just struck out on their own with a shop in Culver City, California, Troutman and Barnes were eager to create and develop a successor to the Scarab. Hall agreed to fund the project, which would be named “Chaparral,” after the fleet West Texas roadrunner.

Troutman and Barnes constructed two cars for Hall, the prototype Chaparral, chassis 001, and this example, chassis 003. Hall’s maiden outing with 001 was at Laguna Seca on June 10, 1961, where he finished 2nd Overall and 1st in Class. A 3rd Place finish at that October’s Riverside Grand Prix and 2nd Place in the Governor’s Trophy preliminary race at Nassau in December 1961 confirmed the new Chaparral’s promise. Troutman and Barnes built three additional Chaparral Mk I cars for other customers – chassis 002 for Harry Heuer’s Meister Bräuser team, chassis 004 for Chuck Jones’ Team Meridian, and chassis 005 for British hill climber Phil Scragg.

Overview

• The Charismatic and Highly Successful Original Chaparral Design
• Built by Dick Troutman and Tom Barnes for the 1962–1963 Racing Seasons
• The Third of Five Chaparral Mk I Examples Constructed; Raced by Jim Hall
• Racing History Includes Outings at Sebring and Road America
• Accompanied by FIA Historic Technical Passport

Chassis Highlights

• 339 CID Chevrolet V-8 Engine
• Six Stromberg “97” 2-Barrel Carburetors
• 442 BHP
• 4-Speed T10 Manual Gearbox
• 4-Wheel Girling Hydraulic Brakes
• 4-Wheel Independent Coil-Spring Suspension

1962 and beyond

For the 1962 season, Hall continued development of his Chaparrals in conjunction with fellow Texan racing driver Hap Sharp. Hall entered both 001 and 003 at the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 24, 1962. Initially, Hall and Chuck Daigh co-drove 003, but they retired after eight hours due to steering issues and joined Sharp and Ronnie Hissom in 001 to secure a class victory and 6th Overall finish. The next documented outing for 003 came at the September 1962 Road America 500, where Hall and Sharp co-drove it to victory. Development continued on the Chaparral, with emphasis on bodywork and aerodynamics. When 003 was campaigned at the 12 Hours of Sebring in March 1963, it featured a pointed nose and tall tail fins to the rear. After 15 laps, however, 003 retired with engine issues. With the advent of the new mid-engine Chaparral 2, both 001 and 003 were sold; interestingly, they are the only 1961–1970 Chaparrals ever sold by Hall.

Chassis 003 was purchased by Gary Wilson of Kansas, who campaigned the Chaparral in SCCA and USRRC events for 1964, with the best result an 8th Place finish at the July 1964 USRRC race in Greenwood, Iowa. Following its sale to Joe Starkey, 003 returned to its winning ways, scoring a class win at the April 1965 SCCA National Lake Charles meet, followed by a win at the 1965 SCCA Nationals in Kingsville, Maryland, and a 2nd Place finish in the main event at the October 1965 Fort Sumner, New Mexico SCCA Regionals with Eugene Nearburg driving. Chassis 003’s front-line racing career ended in Mexico with a DNF resulting from an accident during the first Grand Prix Juarez and “Camino Real” Road Race in November 1965.

Dormant and in disrepair, 003 was eventually purchased by Dr. Gary Lund, who would retain the car for the next 30 years. In 1987, Lund offered a 50% stake in the car to Steve Schultz in exchange for restoration services. A restoration was completed over the next decade, including extensive research and particular attention to the replication of the car’s original bodywork. Following completion in 1997, chassis 003 was displayed at concours and vintage racing events for several years, prior to its sale to Skip Barber, the racer and driving school founder from Sharon, Connecticut. In 2002, 003 was displayed at Road America with Jim Hall in attendance.

The current owner purchased 003 in 2004 and subsequently entered the car into numerous vintage racing events, including the Monterey Historics in 2005 and 2017 as well as the Goodwood Revival in 2006 and 2007. Accompanied by an impressive history file containing historical documents, photographs, restoration and maintenance records, articles, and correspondence, this Chaparral Mk 1 stands ready for continued racing under a new custodian, and presents a compelling concours entry as the first of the many successful Chaparral sports racers built and raced through 1970.

Ownership

• Chaparral Racing Team, Dallas, Texas (acquired new)
• Gary Wilson, Kansas Racing Team (acquired from the above in 1963)
• Gene Nearburg (acquired from the above 1964)
• Joe Starkey Dale Deem (acquired from the above 1966)
• Mitch Nalda (acquired from the above 1967)
• Keith Hardy (acquired from the above 1968)
• Gene Nearburg (acquired from the above 1969)
• Dr. Gary Lund (acquired circa 1973)
• Steve Schultz / Dr. Gary Lund (partnership in 1987)
• Skip Barber, Sharon, Connecticut (acquired from the above in 2001)
• Current Owner (acquired from the above in 2004)

Now Available

Go HERE for more information from Gooding  & Co.

Jim Hall Video

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By the late 1950s, sports racing cars were becoming increasingly sophisticated, transitioning from traditional front-engine production-based cars to a new generation of highly specialized purpose-built mid-engine machines. Faced with the challenging task of designing an all-new sports car on a shoestring budget, Alfieri courageously created the last of the great front-engine sports racers – and what is today regarded as a masterpiece of industrial design.

The genius of Alfieri’s design lay in its intricate space-frame chassis – an engineering marvel constructed from approximately 200 small-diameter chromoly steel tubes, welded in triangular formations and reinforced in highstress areas. Weighing less than 70 pounds, this chassis earned the new Maserati its “Birdcage” nickname and provided an extremely lightweight platform with exceptional torsional rigidity.

While its chassis represented a radical new direction, the rest of the Birdcage design made use of tried-and-true Maserati components. The car’s independent front suspension and De Dion rear axle were derived from the highly successful 250F Formula 1 car, as was its rear-mounted, five-speed transaxle. Advances in sports car design allowed Alfieri to utilize four-wheel disc brakes, rack and pinion steering, and Koni telescopic dampers at each corner, giving the featherweight Birdcage unmatched cornering and stopping power. This remarkable mechanical package was clothed in equally daring Allegretti coachwork, characterized by its low body line, protruding wheel arches, aerodynamically effective Kamm tail, and steeply raked windscreen, which not only complied with strict FIA regulations, but also offered a glimpse into the Birdcage’s complex inner workings.

As the Tipo 60 was intended for customer use, Alfieri decided to use the proven two-liter, four-cylinder engine from the earlier 200S. To lower the car’s center of gravity, the engine was mounted well behind the front axle, converted to dry sump lubrication, and canted over 45º to the right. After early tests showed that the chassis was capable of handling significantly more power, Alfieri decided to produce a 2.9-liter version of the Birdcage – with 50 additional horsepower – called the Tipo 61. The larger capacity Tipo 61 was extremely popular in North America and gave Maserati a real contender in the FIA World Sportscar Championship, where the Birdcage’s clever design provided an instant advantage on tight, technical circuits.

As Maserati had shuttered its factory racing program after the 1957 season, the fate of the Birdcage was left in the hands of well-heeled privateers like Briggs Cunningham and Lloyd “Lucky” Casner’s Camoradi Racing Team.

Despite the lack of factory backing, the Birdcage proved itself at the highest levels of sports car racing, dominating the Italian hill climb championship, winning the Nürburgring 1000 Km in 1960 and 1961, and capturing the 1960 SCCA D-Modified National Championship. Not only was the Birdcage successful in competition, but its outstanding dynamic qualities made it a favorite among amateur and professional racers alike.

Highlights

• Among the Most Iconic and Sought-After of All Maserati Racing Cars
• Ultimate-Specification Tipo 61 Birdcage – One of Only 17 Examples Built
• Campaigned by American Racers Loyal Katskee and Don Skogmo Through 1963
• Raced in Period at the Cuban Grand Prix, Bahamas Speed Week, and Pikes Peak Hill Climb
• Formerly Owned by Noted European Collectors Giulio Dubbini and Carlo Vögele
• Maserati Classiche Certified; Accompanied by Period Tipo 61 Engine (Disassembled) and Spare Reproduction Engine

Technical Specs

• 2,890 CC DOHC Twin-Plug Inline 4-cylinder Engine
• Twin Weber 45 DCO3 Carburetors
• Estimated 250 BHP at 6,800 RPM
• 5-Speed Manual Transaxle
• 4-Wheel Hydraulic Disc Brakes
• Front Independent Suspension with Coil Springs
• Rear De Dion Axle with Transverse Leaf Spring

Chassis 2454

According to Maserati records, this Tipo 61, chassis 2454, was completed on November 9, 1959, making it the third of just 17 examples built. Originally finished in black with red upholstery, the Birdcage was sold new to Loyal Katskee, an Omaha, Nebraska-based British car dealer, who had been campaigning a Ferrari 750 Monza since 1956.

On November 13, 1959, #2454 was flown from Italy to Miami, Florida, arriving in time for Katskee to debut the spectacular new Maserati at the annual Bahamas Speed Week in Nassau. Despite the new car suffering from a failing De Dion bridge, Katskee managed to place 11th Overall in the Governor’s Trophy and 16th Overall in the Nassau Trophy.

After Nassau, Katskee repainted the Birdcage white with fluorescent orange racing numbers. In February 1960, he entered it in the first La Libertad Grand Prix in Havana, Cuba. Facing a competitive field that included several Porsche 718 Spiders, a Ferrari TR59 driven by Pedro Rodriguez, and another Tipo 61 Maserati driven by Stirling Moss, Katskee had 2454 running in 4th Place when an engine failure forced his retirement after just 16 laps.

Throughout the remainder of the 1960 season, Katskee campaigned his Birdcage in USAC races across North America, beginning with Continental Divide in June and finishing the season that October following the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix at Riverside and the USAC Pacific Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. His best result with 2454 occurred at Road America, where he placed 3rd Overall behind two long-tail Birdcages.

Following the 1960 season, Katskee sold 2454 to Donald Skogmo of Minneapolis, an heir to the Gamble-Skogmo merchandising chain. Skogmo, who already owned another Birdcage and would go on to acquire at least two others, campaigned his fleet of Maseratis under the “Dirty Bird Racing Team” banner throughout the early 1960s.

For 1961, Skogmo installed a new engine in 2454 and entered it in a variety of events, from local SCCA races to the famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, finishing the racing season at Nassau. After two additional Birdcages joined Skogmo’s team for the 1962 season, 2454 was primarily kept as a backup car, taking part in a few additional SCCA races throughout the Midwest and one final edition of the Bahamas Speed Week before retiring after the 1963 season.

Racing History

• Nassau Governor’s Trophy, 1959, Katskee, No. 12 (11th Overall)
• Cuban Grand Prix, February 1960, Katskee, No. 17 (DNF)
• USAC Continental Divide, Colorado, June 1960, Katskee, No. 12 (DNF)
• USAC Road America, Wisconsin, July 1960, Katskee, No. 12 (3rd Overall)
• USAC Los Angeles Times Grand Prix, October 1960, Katskee, No. 12 (DNF)
• USAC Pacific Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, Heat 1, October 1960, Katskee, No. 12 (14th Overall)
• USAC Pacific Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, Heat 2, October 1960, Katskee, No. 12 (DNF)
• SCCA Wilmot Hills, Wisconsin, May 1961, Skogmo (2nd Overall)
• USAC Hoosier Grand Prix, Heat 1, June 1961, Skogmo, No. 31 (11th Overall)
• USAC Hoosier Grand Prix, Heat 2, June 1961, Skogmo, No. 31 (8th Overall)
• USAC Continental Divide, Heat 1, Colorado, July 1961, Skogmo, No. 31 (7th Overall)
• USAC Continental Divide, Heat 2, Colorado, July 1961, Skogmo, No. 31 (DNF)
• USAC Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, July 1961, Skogmo, No. 31 (8th in Class)
• SCCA Metropolitan Stadium, Minnesota, July 1961, Skogmo, No. 3 (1st Overall)
• Nassau Governor’s Trophy Prelim, December 1961, Skogmo, No. 61 (13th Overall)
• Nassau Governor’s Trophy, December 1961, Skogmo, No. 61 (8th Overall)
• Nassau International Trophy, December 1961, Skogmo, No. 61 (16th Overall)
• SCCA Road America June Sprints, Wisconsin, June 1962, Skogmo, No. 31 (15th Overall)
• SCCA Road America 500, Wisconsin, September 1962, Skogmo/Beckett, No. 31 (DNF)
• SCCA Rosemount, Minnesota, June 1963, Skogmo (1st Overall)
• SCCA Road America June Sprints, Wisconsin, June 1963, Skogmo, No. 34 (DNF)
• SCCA Lynndale Farms, Wisconsin, September 1963, Skogmo, No. 32 (6th Overall)
• Nassau Governor’s Trophy, December 1963, Skogmo, No. 31 (DNF)

Second Life

In 1965, Don Skogmo advertised 2454 for sale, asking $2,300 for the Maserati, which, by this point, had neither an engine nor transaxle fitted. The aging Tipo 61 was sold to a new owner in Florida, then passed through a subsequent owner in New York, before being purchased by an Englishman around 1970. Under his ownership, 2454 received a sympathetic restoration and was fitted with a two-liter engine and four-speed transaxle from a Maserati 300S. In the mid-1970s, the Birdcage was sold back to the US; renowned Italian collector Giulio Dubbini acquired it from there in 1978.

Based in Padova, Italy, Dubbini was well known for his impressive stable of sports and racing cars, which included important Alfa Romeos, Maseratis, and many of the finest Ferraris, including a 250 Testa Rossa, 250 MM Berlinetta, 500 TRC, and 250 GT SWB Berlinetta. In addition to his extraordinary automotive holdings, Dubbini was an avid enthusiast who helped organize many historic events including the Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti Storica. Chassis 2454 remained in his impressive collection for the next decade, during which time it was fitted with a correct-type Tipo 61 engine and five-speed transaxle.

In 1989, after Mr. Dubbini’s passing, 2454 was sold to Swiss collector Karl Blöchle. An avid car collector and fine artist specializing in automotive models, Mr. Blöchle campaigned the Tipo 61 in European historic events through 1997, when it was sold to German collector Hein Gericke.

In 2000, respected Swiss collector and historic racer Carlo Vögele acquired 2454. Under his ownership, the Maserati was entrusted to Capricorn Group, the German engineering company well known for producing high-quality restorations and reproduction racing engines. The restoration of the Tipo 61 was performed with the goal of competing at the highest levels of historic racing and Mr. Vögele did just that, entering it in several rounds of the Shell Ferrari Historic Challenge.

During his ownership, Mr. Vögele also had 2454 inspected and certified by Maserati Classiche. According to the accompanying Maserati Classiche Certificazione di Autenticità, this Birdcage retains its original chassis and bodywork, and has a correct-type engine and transaxle. It is believed that this Tipo 61 is one of as few as two examples certified by Maserati Classiche before the company ended the program.

Mr. Vögele owned 2454 until 2011, when it was sold to German collector Klaus Werner, who continued to race it in historic events at Spa, Nürburgring, and Goodwood.

Since 2012, the Birdcage has been a fixture in a prominent North American collection, benefiting from meticulous maintenance and sparing use. Soon after acquiring the Maserati, the consignor sent it to the renowned Canepa Motorsport of Scotts Valley, California, for a thorough inspection and race preparation. Detailed photos and invoices on file confirm that 2454 was carefully disassembled, inspected, and repaired as needed to prepare it for its debut at the 2014 Monterey Historic Automobile Races at Laguna Seca. For vintage racing purposes, the Birdcage is currently fitted with a reproduction engine built by UK-based Maserati specialist Steve Hart. Another reproduction race engine and the disassembled period Tipo 61 engine, no. 2477, accompany the car at auction.

Gooding & Co

Go HERE for more information.

Above content © 2024 Gooding & Co reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee

The post 1959 Maserati Tipo 61 Birdcage appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

Car Highlights

• Features Sublimely Beautiful Scaglietti Coachwork with Distinctive Tail Fin
• The Last of Just Four 857 Sports Built
• Multiple Podium Finishes in 1956 with Carroll Shelby and Jack McAfee
• Additionally, Driven by Olivier Gendebien, Richie Ginther, Masten Gregory, and Other Racing Luminaries
• Exactingly Restored in 2011 by the Renowned DK Engineering
• An Extremely Significant Competition Ferrari with Matching-Numbers Engine

Overview

Never resting on its laurels, Ferrari sought to improve upon the four-cylinder race cars that had won them the 1954 World Sportscar Championship. The 500 Mondial and 750 Monza would soon face new competition, including the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR. In response, Ferrari developed new, larger engines, including the Lampredi-designed 3.5 liter in the 857 Sport.

The 857 Sport debuted at the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy in Ireland, and Scuderia Ferrari entered three new works 857s to compete with Mercedes-Benz. Included in the lineup was this example, chassis 0588 M, the last of the four 857 Sports built. On September 14, 1955, Ferrari’s new team driver, Olivier Gendebien, entered the circuit in 0588 M for Thursday morning practice and, unfortunately, crashed and rolled the Ferrari before the end of practice. Days later, chassis 0588 M was returned to Carrozzeria Scaglietti in Modena for repairs, during which Scaglietti fitted a tail fin to the headrest, giving the car its distinctive appearance. As with many ex-Scuderia Ferrari cars, 0588 M was sold to the US to partake in the country’s flourishing sports car racing scene.

Noted sports car team owner John Edgar of Hollywood, California, had amassed a group of significant Ferraris, including a 275 Sport Barchetta, 340 America, and the former Le Mans-winning 375 MM Plus. After seeing Phil Hill’s win for Ferrari in the 3.5-liter 857 S in Nassau, Edgar decided he needed a large-displacement four-cylinder for the upcoming season.

In 1956, Edgar placed an order with Luigi Chinetti in New York, and soon, he received 0588 M, as well as an invoice for $17,500. Once prepped, the team headed to Palm Springs, California, with the 857. On the starting grid, Edgar’s driver, Jack McAfee, sat poised in his new mount across from Carroll Shelby in Scuderia Parravano’s 410 S. Quickly after the start the two Ferraris pulled past a D-Type to take the lead, but McAfee could not keep up with Shelby on the Palm Springs circuit. Regardless, the 857 Sport’s first competitive outing brought the car a commendable 2nd Overall.

Several weeks later, at the Stockton Road Races, McAfee piloted the 3.5-liter Ferrari to a 1st Overall victory over another D-Type and John von Neumann in his Monza. With the finned Ferrari gaining popularity throughout California, fans were delighted to see the car lined up that April for the 7th Annual SCCA Pebble Beach Road Races. The grid included a full mix of four- and six-cylinder Ferraris in the hands of Hill, Shelby, and Ernie McAfee. Unfortunately for Ernie McAfee, it would be his last race and, as a result of his death, the last year of road races in the forest at Pebble Beach. Despite the dark air that day, Jack McAfee took the 857 Sport to a 3rd Overall.

From there, Jack McAfee took the car to a 6th Place finish at the SCCA National at Eagle Mountain Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas, but at Road America, on June 24, 1956, McAfee failed to finish. In July, McAfee managed a 5th Overall at the race at Beverly prior to the car’s return to the West Coast. For the SCCA National Seafair Road Races outside of Seattle, Edgar entrusted Masten Gregory to pilot the 857, although gearbox trouble ended his race.

The 857 Sport was quickly flown to New York in order to fix the gearbox prior to the race at Montgomery on August 19. McAfee had enjoyed continued success in the Porsche 550, and by now Carroll Shelby had come to join the team. For the New York race, Shelby would pilot the 857 for the first time, with fantastic results. In race four, he won outright and repeated the result in race nine ahead of a Maserati 300S and three Cunningham D-Types.

At Thompson Raceway the following month, Shelby ended up in the dirt after the Ferrari’s brakes failed. Back in the hands of McAfee that November, the car came in 5th Overall at the 1st Annual Palm Springs National Championship Races. In December, four starts at Nassau, piloted by Richie Ginther, yielded no podiums, and likewise for Shelby at Pomona to round out the year. However, the 857 S had served the team well in the 1956 season, and Edgar subsequently sold it to Stan Sugarman of Scottsdale, Arizona.

In April 1957, Jack McAfee drove it in the 2nd Annual Palm Springs National Championship Races where he took 5th Place. In November, McAfee took 4th, and then 5th in the main event. Later that month, Richie Ginther finished 5th in the main event at the inaugural race at Laguna Seca.

A few more outings over the next year brought an 8th Overall at Riverside and a 3rd Overall in Palm Springs, but by 1958 Mr. Sugarman knew he had an old race car. That year he replaced the four-cylinder Ferrari engine with that of a Chevrolet Corvette V-8. During the late 1950s, the car found its way to Texas, and by 1962, Jim Hall facilitated the purchase of 0588 M to the admired enthusiast Oscar Koveleski of Scranton, Pennsylvania. Koveleski fitted yet another Corvette V-8 engine and over the next three years went racing and brought home a few podium finishes from small events in the Northeast.

In 1966, the 857 Sport was sold to pop artist Andy Warhol. An unusual owner for an old racing Ferrari, Mr. Warhol wanted to make a parody of the film The Yellow Rolls-Royce. Chassis 0588 M was subsequently painted yellow with black wheels and a black grille. The film was never produced and the Ferrari was said to have been driven by Mr. Warhol’s agent around the streets of New York.

The car eventually passed to Tiny Gould, still finished in yellow and black, prior to its return to Italy. In the early 1970s, Christopher Renwick sold the car to Luigi P. Rezzonico Castelbarco of Imbersago, Italy, more commonly known as “Count Bobily”. During his ownership, the 857 S appeared at the 1973 Le Mans Historics driven by Corrado Cupellini, who later owned the car, eventually selling it to the respected collector Jean-Claude Bajol.

Meanwhile, by 1982, a Los Angeles attorney was offering the engine and gearbox of a so-called “Super Monza” out of Australia. During an inspection of the components, the engine was found to be 0588 M – the original 3.5-liter four-cylinder unit from this 857 S. After some negotiation, the engine and gearbox were sold to David Cottingham of DK Engineering in the UK.

After 13 years in his ownership, M. Bajol sold the Ferrari to Mr. Cottingham who had persistently tried to buy the car, intending to restore and reunite it with its original engine.

In 2011, the 857 S was disassembled and inspected prior to an extensive restoration by DK Engineering. The body was found to be exceptionally original and was expertly refinished. The original engine and transaxle were rebuilt and reunited with the chassis after more than 50 years apart. By September 2011, the 857 S was returned to its John Edgar livery and debuted at the Goodwood Revival.

In 2012, chassis 0588 M joined the collection of its current owner, where it has taken its place among a score of world-class competition Ferraris and has been maintained by his expert staff of caretakers. Today, in superb mechanical and cosmetic order, the 857 Sport represents a supremely finished example of a very significant and pure four-cylinder Ferrari. Having started life as a Scuderia Ferrari works car, the subsequent race record in the ownership of John Edgar marks a successful spell in the hands of both Jack McAfee and Carroll Shelby. Additionally owned by Oscar Koveleski, Andy Warhol, and Jean-Claude Bajol, 0588 M is certainly a unique example.

Furthermore, 0588 M boasts gorgeous and unique Scaglietti coachwork, a matching-numbers engine, and an exceptional history, having been raced by some of the greatest drivers of the era. This is quite possibly the best 857 in existence and one of the most important four-cylinder Ferraris ever produced. Beautifully restored and likely the finest of its kind, this is a chance to own one of the most compelling Ferrari sports racing cars of the 1950s.

Technical Specs

• 3,421 CC DOHC Tipo 129 4-Cylinder Engine
• Twin Weber 58 DCOA3 Carburetors
• 276 BHP at 6,000 RPM
• 4-Speed Manual Gearbox
• 4-Wheel Drum Brakes
• Front Independent Double-Wishbone Suspension with Coil Springs
• Rear De Dion Axle with Transverse Leaf Spring

Ownership

• Scuderia Ferrari (retained for racing)
• John Edgar, Sherman Oaks, California (acquired from the above via Luigi Chinetti in 1956)
• Stan Sugarman, Phoenix, Arizona (acquired from the above in 1957)
• Jim Hall, Dallas, Texas (acquired from the above in 1961)
• Oscar Koveleski, Scranton, Pennsylvania (acquired from the above in 1962)
• Andy Warhol, Long Island, New York (acquired from the above in 1966)
• Tiny Gould, New York, New York (acquired in late 1960s)
• Anthony Bamford, UK (acquired in 1970s)
• Luigi P. Rezzonico Castelbarco, Count Bobily Imbersago, Italy (acquired via Christopher Renwick in early 1970s)
• Giulio Dubbini, Padova, Italy (acquired circa early 1970s)
• Corrado Cupellini, Italy (acquired circa 1973)
• Jean-Claude Bajol, Toulouse, France (acquired in 1997)
• David Cottingham, Chorleywood, UK (acquired from the above via Jean Guikas in 2011)
• Current Owner (acquired from the above in 2012)

Race Highlights

• RAC Tourist Trophy, Ireland, 1955, Gendebien/Gregory, No. 9 (DNS)
• Palm Springs National Championship, Race 2, February 1956, McAfee, No. 98 (2nd Overall, 2nd in Class)
• Stockton Road Races, March 1956, McAfee, No. 98 (1st Overall)
• SCCA Pebble Beach Road Races, April 1956, McAfee, No. 98 (3rd Overall, 2nd in Class)
• SCCA National, Cumberland Hillclimb, May 1956, McAfee, No. 98 (DNS)
• SCCA National, Eagle Mountain, June 1956, McAfee, No. 79 (6th Place)
• SCCA National, Road America, June 1956, McAfee, No. 198 (DNF)
• SCCA National, Beverly, July 1956, McAfee, No. 93 (5th Overall)
• SCCA National Seafair Road Races, August 1956, Gregory, No. 23 (DNF)
• SCCA Regional, Montgomery, Race 4, August 1956, Shelby, No. 141 (1st Place)
• SCCA Regional, Montgomery, Race 9, August 1956, Shelby, No. 141 (1st Place)
• SCCA National, Thompson, September 1956, Shelby, No. 141 (DNF)
• SCCA National, 1 Hour Thompson, September 1956, Shelby, No. 141 (DNF)
• SCCA National, Palm Springs, November 1956, McAfee, No. 99 (5th Overall)
• Governor’s Trophy, Nassau, December 1956, Ginther, No. 88 (6th Place)
• Preliminary, Nassau, Sports over 2-Liter, December 1956, Ginther, No. 88 (DNF)
• Nassau, Ferrari Class, December 1956, Ginther, No. 88 (9th Place)
• Nassau Trophy, December 1956, Ginther, No. 88 (39th Place)
• Preliminary Pomona, January 1956, Shelby, No. 88 (DNF)
• Pomona, Sports, January 1956, Shelby, No. 88 (DNQ)
• Palm Springs National Championship, April 1957, McAfee, No. 58 (4th Overall)
• SCCA National, Palm Springs, November 1957, McAfee, No. 8 (5th Place)
• SCCA National, Laguna Seca, November 1957, Ginther, No. 190 (5th Place)

Above content © 2024 Gooding and Co reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee

Gooding & Co Pebble Beach Auction

Please go HERE for more information on the auction of this vehicle.

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Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion

The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, celebrating its golden milestone, will welcome more than 400 meticulously restored cars for four days of racing and displays. Established in 1974 as the Monterey Historic Automobile Races, the inaugural edition featured 66 entries. Today, the hundreds of selected entrants are presented with a coveted letter of acceptance, affirming their vehicle’s prestigious heritage. The event reunites motor racing heroes with the machines that drove them to success throughout their career. Over the decades, all five Rolex motor sport Testimonees – Sir Jackie Stewart, Tom Kristensen, Mark Webber, Jenson Button and Jamie Chadwick – have driven an array of cars at the track.

Button, the 2009 FIA Formula 1® Drivers’ World Champion, returns this year to drive his 1952 Jaguar C-Type, once owned by Juan Manuel Fangio. Eagerly anticipating the event, Button says: “Laguna Seca is a fantastic circuit to drive. It’s a fast-flowing and particularly challenging track given the elevation changes and the legendary corkscrew corner. Even when you’re in a car from the 1950s, circuits like Laguna Seca feel incredibly fast and I’m looking forward to racing my C-Type there next week. The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion is a spectacular event that offers some of the best racing you’ll ever see in historic cars.”

Rolex Testimonee Jenson Button behind the wheel of his 1952 Jaguar C-Type. Photo Credit: ©Rolex/Adam Warner

Pebble Beach Tour D’Elegance® Presented by Rolex

Held on the morning of Thursday 15 August, the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance® presented by Rolex captivates motoring and watch aficionados alike. Often referred to as a rolling museum, the convoy traverses sections of the iconic 17-Mile Drive, showcasing the meticulous restoration and refinement of the historic vehicles.

A prelude to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance®, the Tour provides the first glimpse of competing vehicles ahead of Sunday’s judging. Since 2007, Rolex has proudly supported this exhibition of timeless automotive excellence as the event’s Official Timepiece and Presenting Partner.

The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering

The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering exemplifies automotive sophistication and beauty. Here, esteemed manufacturers and coachbuilders unveil their visionary models and prototypes amid a display of vintage automobiles.Taking place on Friday 16 August, this year’s gathering commemorates significant milestones for several marques: the centennial of British icon MG, the 30-year anniversary of Swedish innovator Koenigsegg Automotive, and the enduring legacy of the Porsche 911 Turbo (930), which marks its 50th year. As the event draws to a close, class winners and the overall Rolex Best of Show are welcomed into the Rolex Circle of Champions. In 2005, the Swiss watchmaker became Official Timepiece of the event, which honours the motoring heritage that shapes the future of modern engineering.

Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance®

Enthusiasts will gather at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance® for the grand finale on Sunday 18 August to witness an array of pristine historic automobiles spanning across the centuries, from 1898 to 2023. The 73rd edition of this renowned showcase celebrates the Italian heritage of Maserati and Pietro Frua, the 125th birthday of the famed Packard marque, the GT racing greats of the 1990s, along with the contemporary Wedge-shaped concept cars. Set amid the greens and fairways of Pebble Beach Golf Links® – a course steeped in the legacy of Rolex icons such as Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods – the vehicles on display embody timeless beauty and prestige. In recognition of the commitment to excellence and the meticulous preservation of automotive heritage, Rolex will present a specially engraved timepiece to the Best of Show recipient.

Sir Jackie Stewart, a Rolex Testimonee for more than 55 years and three-time FIA Formula 1® Drivers’ World Champion, shares his enthusiasm for the celebrations in California: “The atmosphere and genuine appreciation for cars is unparalleled and Rolex’s involvement throughout the week adds to the unique charm and culture of excellence. The brand only partners the best events at the best venues, and the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and Monterey Car Week as a whole, are no exception. The 50th anniversary of historic racing at Laguna Seca is a truly wonderful milestone. I have a lot of special memories at the track from throughout my career. It isn’t only a showcase of the most remarkable vehicles in motor sport but also the drivers.”

Rolex and Motorsport

Rolex’s close ties with motor sport date back to Sir Malcolm Campbell’s World Land Speed Record successes in the 1930s, when he became the first driver to break the 300 mph barrier (483 km/h) at the wheel of his car, Bluebird. Since then, Rolex’s presence in motor racing has grown steadily, its support extending to revered endurance events such as the Rolex 24 At DAYTONA, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship. In 2013, Rolex became associated with Formula 1®, the pinnacle of motor sport, having supported Rolex Testimonee Sir Jackie Stewart since 1968. The three-time FIA Formula 1® Drivers’ World Champion has been joined by fellow high achievers from the world of motor sport: Tom Kristensen, the record nine-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, Mark Webber, the multiple Formula 1® race winner and 2015 FIA World Endurance Champion, and Jenson Button, the 2009 FIA Formula 1® Drivers’ World Champion. Most recently, Jamie Chadwick, Indy NXT driver, three-time W Series Champion and the sport’s most exciting young female talent, became part of the Rolex family. The brand also has a global appreciation for classic automotive events steeped in elegance, beauty and tradition, including the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance®, The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion and the Goodwood Revival.

2023 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion Highlights

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We let it warm and it settles into a rhythmic slow ticking-over characteristic of the long stroke, low compression motors of the era.  He clutches and pulls the tall floor-shift lever into first gear and we are off. Chris uses low just to get the car rolling, and then double-clutches into second.

Chris Kidd, owner of Tired Iron— one of a handful of top quality restoration shops in California, located in Monrovia near old highway 66— is taking us for a spin in the first car he ever restored, some 30 years ago. It is a 1925 Brunn-bodied Lincoln phaeton, and it claimed Best Lincoln at Pebble Beach in 2007.

In Chris’ shop you are likely to see priceless classic American iron, as well as vintage Alfa Romeos and Maseratis on any given day. And he is truly a nice, regular guy type who seems almost unaware of his legendary reputation in the restoration field.

The front seat area is narrow and the cowl tapers toward the front end of the car, which is typical design thinking for the time. Chris and I are large guys, and are pushed shoulder to shoulder, even though this is a big car. By contrast, the back seat will easily accommodate three, has acres of legroom, and has a handsome dash of its own.

Chauffeurs usually piloted the luxury cars of the day, so the driver’s compartment is as compact as the rear is commodious, and the back seat— with its own windshield and cowl— protects the passengers from the wind, as well as having to associate socially with the chauffeur. That’s because if you had money it the roaring ’20s, you flaunted it.

The big Lincoln accelerates nicely thanks to its unique 60-degree V8 motor. Its configuration is interesting in that it has fork-and-blade connecting rods paired on each crank journal, thus allowing its pistons to be positioned directly opposite each other. That means one connecting rod has two journals, with a space between allowing for the big end from the adjacent piston and connecting rod, which has only one narrower journal in the center of the other rod. And even though the crankshaft is not counter-balanced, the engine is smooth and has abundant torque at lower rpms.

In comparison, Packard’s contemporary top-of-the-line, inline flathead-eight was an almost identical 357.66 cubic inches of displacement, but its crankshaft was counter balanced, and because of its inline configuration it had nine main bearings in order to keep the long heavy crank from whipping around and fracturing. This configuration resulted in a tall, heavy, long, but velvety smooth running engine.

In the mid-’20s Pierce stayed with their huge 414.7-cubic-inch T-head six for their top of the line model 33 that had four valves per cylinder and twin spark plugs at each cylinder for ignition. This unique engine was long-lived and sturdy, and produced immense torque in order to pull around the big Pierce limos that weighed in excess of 5,000 pounds.

Pierce’s big six (they did not offer an eight until much later) was low compression (4.5:1) with a 4” bore and 5.5” stroke. It was also monumentally sturdy and very dependable but only made 74 horsepower to Packard’s 85 and Lincoln’s 90 ponies. Even so, Pierce’s quality could not be faulted. The company’s later V-12 engines from the 1930s were so powerful and dependable that they were used in Seagraves fire engines all the way into the 1950s.

This grand old Lincoln’s ride is serene and quiet, with bumps offering little to no resistance on our idyllic cruise through the tree-lined hills behind town. I attribute the ride to the fact that the car is heavy at 4,840 pounds, which is heavier than the equivalent 1925 Packard phaeton. That weight is due partly to the car’s massive chassis, in addition to the fact that much of its body structure is made of ash with metal panels tacked onto it.

Actually, the 1925 Lincoln’s chassis would be sturdy enough for a modern fire engine. That’s because everything had to be heavy duty due to the fact that, in 1925, the pavement usually ended at the edge of town— and even Highway 66, John Steinbeck’s Mother Road— was not completely paved until 1938, 13 years later. And having restored a couple of cars from this era, I can tell you that it is typical to find rocks and dirt up in the chassis and front suspension.

We loaf along at about 25 miles per hour on a nice sunny day, basking in the elegance of another age. The handsome dash has a full array of big, easy to read analog gauges reminiscent of the expensive watches of the era, and the upholstery is top quality leather, though this material was used in open cars of the day of our Lincoln for durability, not luxury. The closed sedans and limousines were done in English wool broadcloth and fancy brocades back then.

The sporty, optional Rudge-Whitworth center-lock wire wheels and side-mounted spare tires look magnificent, though they too were there for practical reasons. Wire wheels were sturdy, but much lighter than the more common, creaky wood spoke wheels of the time. And if you were going touring, a couple of spares were a must, especially when you consider that the tires of the time were made of cotton and natural rubber, and that most of the roads, especially out west, were not much more than dusty, rocky washboard trails.

While the features of Chris Kidd’s Lincoln model L— like those of other early classics— are there for practical purposes, the combination adds up to a gorgeous classic of the era. This is a truly beautiful automobile from any angle. Of course, that is also partly because when Ford bought out Lincoln, in 1922, and Edsel who had taken over the Ford Motor Company, introduced styling changes to the somewhat conservative looking Lincoln line that made it seem sleeker and sportier.

After that, in 1924, the L series Lincoln was spruced up again with the addition of an extra cost, nickel-plated radiator shell among other stylistic touches. Many police departments purchased Lincolns due to their speed and reliability. Those models were called Police Flyers. And then, in 1925, Lincoln deleted the standard cowl lights, and added front and rear bumpers. A vacuum-powered windshield wiper was also included for the driver.

The design of the mid-’20s Lincoln L models was such a hit that when Ford came up with their new Model A, in 1928, many styling cues were taken from the elegant Lincolns. This tied the company’s offerings together stylistically, to the point that the Model A looked a lot like a smaller, stubbier Lincoln. General Motors soon did the same with Chevrolet and Cadillac in the early ’30s.

The Lincoln automobile had originally been the brainchild of Henry Leland, who had previously founded Cadillac, in 1902, after buying out Ford’s first car company, which was in financial trouble, and using its facilities to develop his own car.  His insistence on precision machining meant that he was able to build cars that could be mass-produced and assembled without custom fitting every component. And because of his insistence on excellence, Cadillac soon developed its great reputation.

And then William Crapo Durant bought Cadillac, in 1909, to add to his new General Motors conglomerate. Leland stayed on until 1917, at which time he could no longer tolerate Durant’s frenetic financial management style. He then went into his own business building the big 400 horsepower Liberty V12 aircraft engines that were a derivative of Packard’s Twin Six, in 1917. After the war ended, his company began building Lincoln automobiles, the first being delivered in 1920.

Leland, who was 74-years old at that time, named his car after Abraham Lincoln because Lincoln was the first president for which Leland had voted, and he admired him greatly. The Lincoln motor car’s conservative, but handsome styling originally came courtesy of Leland’s son-in-law Angus Woodbridge, who had been a women’s hat designer. In addition to looking majestic, the car was well engineered and painstakingly constructed to the highest standards. However, Leyland’s timing couldn’t have been worse.

After World War I ended, a sharp recession set in as the demand for food and materiel for our European allies waned, and the Spanish flu ravaged the world, killing over 20 million people. As a result, though the new Lincoln was outstanding, the company foundered and Henry Ford bought it in 1920 for a mere $8 million, even though Leland established that the company was worth twice that. The whole affair may have been a bit of tit for tat, because Leland had bought out the bankrupt first Ford Motor Company some years before, to found Cadillac.

By 1920, Henry was smug and complacent, however his son Edsel figured out that the company’s only real vulnerability was that its fortunes depended on just one product, and though the Model T had been a dazzling success, it was beginning to be eclipsed by more current technology and design – especially since Henry was extremely reluctant to change anything on his beloved black spidery machine.

Under the terms of purchase, Leland and his son Wilford assumed they would have full authority to run the company as they saw fit, but it was not to be. On June 10th of 1922, Ford executive Ernest Liebold came to the Lincoln facilities to request the resignation of Leland’s son Wilford. It then became obvious that Liebold was in charge, so Leland resigned as well, and both of them were escorted from the big factory they had created.

In fact, it was only a matter of months after the sale of Lincoln that Leland and his son left the company and Edsel became its president, with Ernest C. Kanzler as general manager. Edsel then commissioned a cleaner body for the model L, and hydraulic shock absorbers were added, which were quite advanced for the day. Kanzler also implemented cost saving strategies amounting to a thousand dollars per car.

Edsel realized that General Motors’ strategy of offering a car for every pocketbook was a successful approach, despite Henry’s extreme reluctance to change anything. Adding the Lincoln brand brought prestige to Ford’s otherwise plebian offerings, even though by buying Lincoln, Ford was dipping its toes into a very crowded, and intensely competitive market as the ’20s went on.

There were literally hundreds of automakers in the country in the ’20s, and in the luxury market alone there was Packard, Pierce, Peerless, Stutz, Duesenberg, Marmon, Kissel and Du Pont among others. All of these halcyon brands were lovingly custom built exclusively for the wealthy, who could afford the best.

Driving Chris’ 1925 Lincoln is pleasant but participatory. You know you are in charge of a substantial machine. And as with other cars of the era, its transmission does not have synchromesh, which wasn’t invented until 1929, so you need to double-clutch and play the throttle to get the gears in the transmission to match the engine revs. Otherwise you will end up grinding them unmercifully. It takes a little practice to get it right and I am a bit rusty, but not dangerously so.

Steering is firm and direct, and once the car is rolling it is fairly light for a car of such aristocratic proportions. Braking, though mechanical, is quite good thanks to the fact that Chris added front drum brakes from a two-year later model to augment the system. This is allowable by the Classic Car Club of America for safety reasons. Otherwise one would have to take it very easy and plan ahead by today’s standards, though two wheel, rear drum brakes were typical of cars of the time.

To put it into perspective, Ford’s Model T only had one drum brake in 1925, and that was around the driveshaft. There was also a puny parking brake system with small drums at the rear wheels, but it was not designed to be used for routine stops.

Henry Leland had every reason to be proud of the cars he had spawned, even though the companies no longer belonged to him. He got his start in the automotive business by designing, building and supplying engines for Olds Motor Works in the 1890s, and then when the first Ford Motor Company went bankrupt in 1902, Leland and his partners purchased it and came out with a new car called the Cadillac, powered by an updated engine originally designed for the Oldsmobile.

It is surprising that the same man founded two (Cadillac and Lincoln) of the three American luxury marques still extant today if you include Chrysler’s Imperial. However, the main reason these three survived despite the failure of many others was not because they were necessarily better than the Marmon, Pierce or Duesenberg, but because they had the huge conglomerates of General Motors, Chrysler and Ford behind them to back them up through the lean years of the depression. Also, these survivors slowly turned to mass-producing their offerings instead of sticking with the extremely labor intensive custom built cars.

Lincoln also came out later with their magnificent K line of cars, in 1930, that sported stunning coachwork and big V-12 engines, just as the depression hit, and then, in 1936, they introduced their handsome mid-range Zephyr with a smaller V-12 that was actually an adaptation of the Ford’s V-8 first offered in 1932.  Finally, in 1939, they brought out their lower mid-priced Mercury echoing General Motors’ strategy.

In the 1940s, the Zephyr and Continental took Lincoln exclusively into assembly line production. The magnificent hand-built K models of the depression were eliminated in 1940, later to be replaced by the large luxurious post-war models such as the Premier and the Cosmopolitan that were mass produced, though with greater attention to quality.

We take the big Lincoln around and up the hills of Monrovia, and it loafs along at a dignified pace even though it is capable of surprising acceleration. People look up from their gardening and wave and smile, and a few take pictures with their cell phones. Other motorists show the old touring car the respect it is due, and nobody gets impatient with us, though some pull along side for a better look and a photo or two.

As the sun gets low on the horizon we swing back to town and pull into Chris’ shop with its Art Deco front that looks rather humble from the street, but extends far back on the lot and is filled with a wonderland of magnificent machines from all over the world, and all eras. Chris returns the big Lincoln to its slot in the showroom and we adjourn to his office for a cup of coffee and a chat. It is the end of an altogether wonderful day of reliving motoring in another time.

SPECIFICATIONS

The post The Great Emancipator—1925 Lincoln Phaeton appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

As would be expected of a $15,000 Italian thoroughbred, the 330 GTS was built to the highest standards by old-world craftsmen. The cockpit was beautifully finished with bucket seats trimmed in Connolly leather, a wood-rimmed, three-spoke steering wheel, and an attractive wood-veneer fascia with the full complement of Veglia instruments. When Road & Track tested the 330 GTS in August 1968, they found that the new model offered a healthy improvement in all-out performance when compared to the 275 GTS. Although it did not accelerate quite as fast as the 275 GTS/4 NART Spider (their test car was one of two alloy-bodied examples), it reached a higher top speed, had better low-end torque, and was more refined. The editors were so impressed with the new Ferrari that they encouraged readers to “go ahead, give yourself a treat, buy one.”

Completed in 1967 and finished in Rosso Cina (China Red) with black leather upholstery, this 330 GTS, chassis 10703, was delivered through US distributor Luigi Chinetti Motors to its first owner, Emil Martini Jr., of New Jersey.

Car Highlights

• A Rare and Exclusive Open Ferrari; One of Only 99 Examples Built
• Originally Delivered to the US with Known Provenance from New
• Striking Appearance in Black with Green Upholstery and Borrani Wire Wheels
• Retains Matching-Numbers Engine and Features Optional Air-Conditioning
• Recent Service by Rod Drew’s Francorchamps of America Inc.
• Offered with Tool Roll, Records, and Massini Report

Technical Specs

• 3,967 CC SOHC Tipo 209/66 V-12 Engine
• Three Weber 40 DCZ6 Carburetors
• 300 BHP at 6,600 RPM
• 5-Speed Manual Transaxle
• 4-Wheel Ventilated Girling Disc Brakes
• 4-Wheel Independent-Wishbone Suspension with Coil Springs and Shock Absorbers

Ownership trail

President of the Bergen Brunswig Corporation, one of the country’s largest pharmaceutical distributors, Mr. Martini was an avid Ferrari enthusiast who owned several desirable models, including a 365 GTB/4 Daytona and a Dino 246 GTS. He kept this 330 GTS until 1974, when it was sold to his brother, Robert, then living in Hillsdale, New Jersey. A photograph of 10703 is featured on Robert Martini’s profile page in the 1975–1976 Ferrari Owners Club membership roster.

In 1976, Robert Martini sold the Ferrari to FAF Motorcars in Tucker, Georgia, which paid $11,923 for the car, and noted that it featured air-conditioning – a rare and desirable option for the 330 GTS. Later that year, the car was sold to James L. Shuman of Atlanta, who displayed it that June at the FCA Southeast Regional Meeting in Pine Isle, Georgia. The Ferrari remained in the Atlanta area until the late 1980s, when it was sold to Carlo Perego’s Auto Avenir SA in Switzerland. In the early 1990s, Mr. Perego sold 10703 to Kamel Braik, a banker in Geneva, and from there, the car passed to Claude De Marche of Lausanne.

In 1994, the Ferrari returned to the US when East Coast collector Peter Hosmer acquired it. At the time of his acquisition, the Ferrari was well-kept, still finished in red, and reportedly showing just over 20,000 original miles. Remarkably, the 330 GTS remained in Mr. Hosmer’s care for over 20 years. During that time, it was refinished in its current color scheme of black with green leather upholstery – a handsome combination perfectly suited to the Pininfarina design.

Since joining a prominent Southern California collection in early 2018, this Ferrari has benefited from thorough detailing and professional maintenance, including recent services carried out by Rod Drew’s renowned Francorchamps of America Inc. Invoices for this work, and other cosmetic and mechanical attention overseen by Beverly Hills Hi Line Inc., are included in the car’s ample documentation file.

Offered with a tool roll, service records, correspondence, and a history report produced by Marcel Massini, 10703 is sure to impress the discerning Ferrari collector. Refined and elegant, this 330 GTS is the ideal mid-century open sports car – perfectly suited for a variety of events, from prestigious Concours to the most selective tours.

Limited Production

Classic twelve-cylinder Ferraris with open coachwork, disc brakes, and the refined torque-tube driveline are a rare breed, comprised solely of the 330 GTS, 365 GTS, 275 GTS/4 NART Spider, and 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider. The combined total production of these models is just over 250 individual cars.

Without a doubt, the 330 GTS is among the most sought-after sports cars of the 1960s; fast, beautiful, and rare, these Ferraris embody the finest qualities of classic Italian sports cars. The car presented here is a truly outstanding example, one worthy of serious consideration.

Now Available

Now available from Gooding & Co at this year’s Pebble Beach Auction, go HERE for more information.

Above content © 2024 Gooding & Co, reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee

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If you had to pick one of the most misunderstood European automotive brands imported to the United States, chances are Fiat would rise to the top. Though much of their brand name and recognition has improved in North American markets since their introduction of the new Fiat 500 (2007), back in the 1960s and 70s there was little that could be done to convince US buyers to take a chance on a Fiat. All that changed with the introduction of the Fiat X 1/9.

A notable and storied brand in Italy, Fiat built some of the most successful race cars and coachbuilt cars of the 20^th century. Exiting the Second World War, Fiat shifted their focus to building volume vehicles for lower-cost markets. Though much of their product in this category was built to venture around quaint Italian hillsides, Fiats proved to be reliable family cars, provided they were not summoned for duty on long stretches of open highways. With the advent of the Lampredi-designed Fiat 128 SOHC engine, Fiat was eager to shape a modern volume production sports car for the US market.

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New exhibits

Alternating Currents: The Fall and Rise of Electric Vehicles

This exhibit, supported by BMW and Clarios, will showcase the progression of electric vehicles from the late 1800s to modern concepts. Located in the Propulsion Gallery on the second floor, “Alternating Currents” traces the evolution of electric vehicle production and use from the early days to the modern resurgence and future advancements.

Highlighted vehicles on display include 1896 Riker electric roadster, 1928 Auto Red Bug electric roadster, 1969 GM XP 512E, 1970s Zagato Zele 1000, 1981 HMV FreeWay, 1991 BMW E2 concept, 1992 GM Impact, 1996 AC Propulsion tZero, 2009 Mini E and 2021 Lanark DS Roadster. The exhibit will also feature the Clarios x OPTIMA Batteries Rivian R1T and OPTIMA Power Station, a custom Turtleback Trailer designed to power the camp and provide level 2 charging for the Rivian.

From leading the largest EV ride – OPTIMA Unplugged powered by Clarios – through the treacherous terrain of Johnson Valley to scaling the summit of Pikes Peak, this Rivian has elevated EV adventuring to an unprecedented level. Clarios is the world’s largest manufacturer and supplier of low-voltage batteries and solutions and their batteries are found in one in three vehicles on the road globally.

Modern Concepts: Future Visions from the Recent Past

Modern Concepts delves into the past marvels of concept cars produced since Petersen’s opening in 1994. Notable vehicles on display include the 2002 XENO III, 1999 Ford 021C, 1995 Ford GT90, 2002 Cadillac Cien, 2004 Chrysler ME Four-Twelve and 2008 Honda FC Sport.

Super/Hyper: The Ultimate Automobiles

The museum will celebrate the pinnacle of automotive performance with a rotating display of iconic supercars and hypercars, including some of the fastest, most powerful and most audacious models from the 1960s to the present day. Highlighted vehicles in will include a Bugatti Divo and Koenigsegg CCXR.

Driven by Possibility: Waymo’s Road to Autonomous Transport

This exhibit will focus on Waymo’s groundbreaking advancements in autonomous driving technology, from its beginnings as the Google self-driving car project to its status as a global leader in autonomous ride-hailing. Located in the Production Gallery, visitors can catch a glimpse behind the scenes of Waymo’s development process through never-before-seen objects.

Featured vehicles include Waymo’s Firefly prototype, the first autonomous vehicle to pilot a passenger without an accompanying driver, a prototype version of Waymo’s next-generation Zeekr platform, and the Terregator, a six-wheeled mobile robot built by the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute in 1984.

Petersen’s Executive Director Terry L. Karges comments

“This near-simultaneous launch of four incredibly diverse exhibits marks a milestone for our museum,” said Petersen Automotive Museum Executive Director Terry L. Karges. “We are committed to showcasing all elements of the automotive world–past, present and future–and this collection of unique vehicles will bring that experience to life for our guests.”

Online tickets

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Above content © 2024 Kahn Media / Petersen Automobile Museum reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee

Petersen Highlights

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1958 DeSoto Adventurer

The 1950s were a halcyon period for American car manufacturing. After the deprivation of the war years, the American public yearned for a little excess—bigger, faster, flashier. Catering to this new appetite, during the 1950s American manufacturers went through a rapid period of automotive development, both technically and stylistically.

On the technical side, the widespread development and use of the V8 engine ushered in a new war—one of ever escalating power, while in the styling department, wartime advances in jet technology and the growing prospect of space travel heralded a new and rapidly evolving automotive aesthetic that saw American cars grow not only bigger, but sleeker and with an ever more outlandish cadre of fins, bullets and other aircraft-inspired flourishes.

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More than 200 of the world’s finest cars will take over the greens at Carmel’s The Quail Golf Club on Friday, August 16, for the 21st annual The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering. The popular highlight of Monterey Car Week will feature an elegant garden party that’s both family- and pet-friendly highlighted by five gourmet culinary pavilions, music, and live entertainment.

In addition to the featured and traditional classes spread across The Quail’s pristine greens, more than a dozen of the world’s most renowned automakers will host vehicle unveilings, with many more showcasing unique models from the past, present, and future.

Four classes celebrated

This year’s celebration will highlight four featured classes: Tribute to World Rally Cars, 50th Anniversary of the Porsche 911 Turbo (930), 30th Anniversary of Koenigsegg Automotive and 100 Years of MG.

Tribute to World Rally Cars

Superseded only by Formula 1, the World Rally Championship is the second oldest FIA racing series. Inaugurated in 1973, World Rally continues to be one of the most challenging feats in motorsport, with driving surfaces ranging from gravel and tarmac to snow and ice across multiple-day events. On display at this year’s event will be a 1983 Lancia Abarth 037 piloted by Walter Röhrl to win both the 1983 Monte Carlo Rally and that year’s championship. It marked the last time a rear-wheel drive vehicle claimed victory in either event. Joining the Abarth 037 will be a 1986 Lancia Delta S4, which, on its debut, delivered first- and second-place finishes at the 1985 RAC Rally and later saw victory at the Monte Carlo Rally with Henri Toivonen behind the wheel.

30th Anniversary of Koenigsegg Automotive

Born from a dream, Christian von Koenigsegg founded his namesake car company in 1994. Over the last 30 years, Koenigsegg has manufactured some of the fastest, most striking, and technologically advanced vehicles in the world, making the brand a mainstay in the hypercar segment. Standout models registered for this year’s event include a 2005 Koenigsegg CCR, which has the distinction of being the only CCR and earliest Koenigsegg in North America, and a one-of-one 2007 Koenigsegg CCGT GT1 Competition Coupé, the only race car ever built by the Swedish marque.

50th Anniversary of the Porsche 911 Turbo (930)

When it was introduced, the Porsche 911 Turbo redefined the sports car segment, distinguishing itself as the fastest German production car in 1975. It continues to be a favorite among collectors and enthusiasts. Known the world over for the model’s iconic “whale tail” rear spoiler design, two exceptional examples being displayed include a 1975 Porsche 911 Turbo that was among the first 30 vehicles produced worldwide and only the second unit imported to France, as well as a 1975 Porsche 911 Turbo that is the sole example ever built by the Stuttgart manufacturer without the signature rear spoiler.

100 Years of MG

Founded in the 1920s, British automotive icon MG helped define the modern sports car, and its vehicles have been cherished by spirited drivers for over a century thanks to the brand’s commitment to open-top two-seaters. Joining the brand’s centennial celebration at The Quail Golf Club will be a 1937 MG SA Reinbolt and Christé, which is the only surviving example of just seven vehicles ordered with custom coachwork by the Basel-based Carrosserie Reinbolt & Christé. Also on display is a 1949 MG TC driven by Carroll Shelby to his first road racing victory, the beginning of his career as one of the most legendary drivers in American racing history.

“We are honored to embark on our third decade hosting one of the world’s most distinguished motorsports celebrations,” said Kai Lermen, managing director of The Quail Golf Club. “The Peninsula Signature Events team looks forward to celebrating some iconic automotive anniversaries this year with Porsche, Koenigsegg, and MG, and welcoming World Rally Cars to The Quail, along with our valued guests and sponsors.”

Keeping with tradition, this year’s featured classes will complement the familiar roster of classes, including Pre- and Post-War Sports and Racing Cars, The Great Ferraris, Custom Coachwork, The Evolution of the Supercar, and Sports and Racing Motorcycles.

Above content © 2024 Kahn Media reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee

Information

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2023 Highlights

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In the world of early 20th-century racing, the 1914 Sunbeam Tourist Trophy (TT) stands as a testament to innovation and engineering prowess. The Sunbeam Motor Car Company had already catapulted into the forefront of automotive racing under the brilliant and ambitious chief designer, Louis Coatalen. The Sunbeam racing team achieved remarkable success at venues like Brooklands and, in 1912, the marque secured the first three positions in the Coupe de l’Auto. At the 1912 French Grand Prix, Sunbeam claimed 3rd, 4th, and 5th places, competing against cars with significantly larger engine capacities. These victories marked the first continental triumph for a British manufacturer in a decade, solidifying Sunbeam’s status as the premier British motor racing team.

Peugeot’s DOHC 16V engine

However, the story of the all-important 1914 Sunbeam TT really begins with the 1913 Coupe de l’Auto race, where Peugeot’s groundbreaking engine design left an indelible mark on the history of the automobile. In the race, Peugeot’s L3 dominated, clinching 1st Place, while Sunbeam secured a respectable 3rd position. Peugeot’s dominance was undoubtedly due to their revolutionary four-cylinder engine, featuring dual overhead camshafts with four valves per cylinder. This configuration allowed for superior airflow and combustion, giving Peugeot a significant advantage in terms of power, efficiency, and rev limit over its competitors, ushering in the era of the modern high-performance engine.

Despite Sunbeam’s reputation as a prestigious high-quality British marque, Louis Coatalen knew that to remain competitive, changes were necessary. He, along with other English manufacturers, recognized the potential of the Peugeot engine and sought to understand the secrets behind its success. Determined to elevate Sunbeam’s racing capabilities, Coatalen acquired a 1913 Coupe de l’Auto Peugeot, carefully disassembled it, measured its components, and studied the design. His new engine design featured enhancements such as increased displacement to 3.3 litres, which delivered a substantial 85 hp.

Enter the 1914 Isle of Man

Sunbeam’s goal was to assemble a team of four cars for the world-famous 1914 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy (TT) race. Held on June 10th and 11th, this event covered a grueling 600 miles and posed a rigorous test of endurance and engineering prowess. Sunbeam utilized Dario Resta, Sir Algernon Guinness, and Kenelm Lee Guinness, later of KLG spark plugs, as drivers.

On the race’s first day, 22 cars started, but only 13 finished, including Dario Resta, due to a broken big-end bolt. However, KL Guinness finished 1st followed by Sir Algernon just three minutes behind his brother. On the second day, by the tenth lap, only eight cars remained, but both Guinness brothers maintained their lead. Unfortunately, a broken lubrication pipe compromised Sir Algernon’s 2nd Place position, forcing him to retire just three laps from the finish. Despite this setback, KL Guinness secured a commanding victory, crossing the finish line nearly 20 minutes ahead of his closest competitors.

Sunbeam not only won the Tourist Trophy, achieving an average speed of 56.44 mph but also earned the Henry Edmunds Trophy for the fastest mountain climbs. This triumphant performance brought Sunbeam racing back to the forefront and set the stage for a promising future.

1914 French GP

Shortly after the 1914 Isle of Man TT, three Sunbeam TT chassis were fitted with four 1/2-litre engines for the 1914 French Grand Prix, where Dario Resta placed 5th among stiff competition from Mercedes and Peugeot. The outbreak of WWI abruptly halted European racing. Two of the French GP Sunbeams were shipped to America, competing in prestigious races, including the 1915 Indianapolis 500. All of the Sunbeams were subsequently returned, dismantled, and stored at the Wolverhampton Sunbeam factory until after the Great War when the factory rebuilt the Tourist Trophy cars utilizing new chassis and sold them as sporting cars for the road.

Provenence

This 1914 Sunbeam TT was acquired from the factory by Matthew Wills, an heir to the Wills tobacco fortune, in June 1921 and subsequently registered as ‘DA 5852,’ which it retains today. After passing through several hands and being converted to a two-seater coupe, Sunbeam expert and renowned author Anthony Heal recognized the historical significance of this car and acquired it around 1940. Remaining inactive until 1949, it was purchased by C.R. Abbott, who meticulously restored the Sunbeam to its original Tourist Trophy specifications.

Car Highlights

• One of Three Remaining Works-Entered Tourist Trophy-Winning Cars
• Incredibly Advanced, Early Twin Overhead Camshaft Engine
• Highly Competitive; 1st Overall in the 1954 and 1963 VSCC Pomeroy Trophy
• Exceptional Provenance Including Stanley and “Gentleman” Jack Sears and Sunbeam Authority Anthony Heal
• A Fixture of Two of the Leading UK Collections for the Past 74 Years and Never Before Offered for Public Sale

Technical Specs

• 3,295 CC DOHC 16-Valve 4-Cylinder Engine
• Claudel-Hobson Carburetor
• 85 HP at 3,200 RPM
• 4-Speed Manual Gearbox
• 2-Wheel Rear Mechanical Drum Brakes with Internal Expanding Shoes
• Front Solid Axle with Semi-Elliptical Leaf Springs and Houdaille Friction Dampers
• Rear Live Axle with Semi-Elliptical Leaf Springs and Houdaille Friction Dampers

In the 1950s, Stanley Sears, who was assembling one of the pre-eminent early car collections, acquired the vehicle, becoming instrumental in both its preservation and the continuation of its racing heritage. A pioneer collector of veteran and vintage cars, Stanley Sears not only cherished the Sunbeam but actively raced it, achieving notable successes such as winning the Edwardian Class at Prescott in 1951 and securing 3rd Place in the 1952 VSCC Silverstone Itala Trophy race, competing against formidable opponents like a GP Bugatti and a 10 1/2-liter Delage. In subsequent years, Stanley continued to showcase the Sunbeam’s performance, earning podium finishes at events such as Prescott and the Pomeroy Trophy contest.

Stanley’s son, Jack Sears, was becoming an accomplished race car driver and joined his father in vintage car racing in 1951 at VSCC Silverstone, where he began his journey with the Sunbeam TT. Jack’s illustrious career spanned various forms of motorsports, including rallies, sprints, and circuit racing. His remarkable achievements include an overall victory in the 1954 VSCC Pomeroy, a testament to both his exceptional driving skills and the enduring capabilities of the 1914 Sunbeam TT in competitive settings. He later repeated this victory in the 1963 VSCC Pomeroy, further solidifying his legacy in vintage racing circles.

In 1969, Stanley Sears sold the Sunbeam TT to the consignor, who once again restored it. The car continued to compete, achieving fastest Edwardian at VSCC Silverstone in 1986, adding to its rich racing pedigree.

Over the years, the Sunbeam TT has garnered significant attention in automotive circles. It was featured in the June 1914 issue of The Motor in an article titled “The Design of the Sunbeam T.T. Racing Car” by Louis Coatalen. More recently, Cyril Posthumus described it as “pure genius” in the May 1987 issue of Classics and Sportscars in his article “Track Test: Back to the Future.” The car is accompanied by an original program and scoring cards from the Isle of Man TT Races of June 1914, alongside an extensive file of service records, correspondence, restoration notes, and comprehensive photographic records of the restoration process, including archival photos of the vehicle.

This 1914 Sunbeam TT, painted in the traditional British Racing Green, has been a fixture in top car collections in the UK for the past 74 years. Its illustrious history spans from 1914 to the present day, where it has consistently showcased exceptional performance on the racetrack. Today, fewer than 100 genuine pre-1918 racing cars are still in existence, with only eight featuring the classic “Ernest-Henry” twin-cam design. Among these, just three 1914 Sunbeam TTs survive, making this model exceedingly rare and a highly coveted collector’s item. Its historical significance is further enhanced by its association with Louis Coatalen, a pioneering figure in developing high-performance racing cars and engines.

Above content © 2024 Gooding & Co reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee

Now available

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Highlights from 2023

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All have potential, but none can match the beauty of the Lusso. One reason that it is “the” most beautiful is because it has stood the test of time – it is as desirable in 2019 as it was in 1963. The Berlinetta Lusso creates a level of lust in the hearts of car aficionados that is matched by no other automobile. It is a work of art. And we haven’t even gotten to the “luxury” part – “Lusso” means “luxury” in Italian.

Carrozzeria Pinin Farina

Battista Farina was born in Cortanze, Italy, in November 1893, the tenth of eleven children. He was nicknamed “Pinin,” which in the local slang means “baby” or “youngest.” He kept that sobriquet for his entire life, eventually becoming an official part of his last name. In 1905, he was apprenticed to his older brother, Giovanni, who had a business repairing carriages and automobiles.

Giovanni grew his business into a coachbuilding firm, Stabilimenti Industriali Farina SA, and, in 1910, Pinin received his first major assignment. At the age of 17, Pinin was given the job of creating a design for the Fiat Zero’s coachwork. His design was so good, that Giovanni Angelli chose it over those of Fiat’s in-house designers. So pleased was Angelli, he presented Pinin with one of the first Zeros off the production line.

Apparently, Pinin Farina was an impressive designer. On a trip to the United States to learn about some production techniques, he was noticed by Henry Ford and offered a job at Ford. Farina had a more important offer in Italy, so he returned home and was married. He left Stabilimenti Farina, in 1930, to establish his own firm, Carrozzeria Pinin Farina.

His company took on coachbuilding assignments primarily for Fiat and Lancia, but as the company’s reputation grew, assignments came from many premier automobile manufacturers, including Alfa Romeo, Isotta Fraschini, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce, Hispano-Suiza, and Cadillac. Bodies were built for all styles of automobiles, from cabriolets to limousines.

Carrozzeria Pinin Farina was becoming known for innovative design. In 1937, the firm created the Lancia Aprilia Mille Miglia Aerodinamica streamliner. The design, as its name suggests, was to be very aerodynamically slippery. It was pure inspiration, but it was later tested and in fact found to be very slippery. The car finished 26th overall and 4th in class in the 1938 Mille Miglia.

The “Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile” credits Pinin Farina with being the first European designer to drop vertical radiators and windshields in order to gain better air flow. The influence to make this change came from seeing some milestone designs from America – Cord 810, 1939 Buick and Studebaker, as well as the 1940 Pontiac. But more beautiful coachwork would have to wait.

From 1939 until Italy was out of the war, the company concentrated on war production. Allied bombing took a toll on the company’s facilities, and attitudes affected the company’s ability to regain its status in the world automobile community. When auto shows began again, Italy, as a former part of the Axis, was not allowed to participate.

Recognizing that the company needed to show that it still existed, Pinin and Sergio, his son, drove an Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 S and a Lancia Aprilia cabriolet from Turin to Paris. At the Grand Palais, they parked the cars at the entrance to the Paris Motor Show and guarded their spot throughout the show. Everyone who entered or left the show saw their cars and the two Farinas.

Their stunt was even more successful than Pinin had hoped. They received considerable press attention, and the company was promised a central stand at the show the next year. Carrozzeria Pinin Farina was back in business, and the world knew it.

The carrozzeria had another design success as a result of Farina meeting Piero Dusio after the war. Dusio was an interesting fellow – soccer star, race driver, and entrepreneur. One of the firms he started became Cisitalia and, together with Farina, created the Cisitalia 202 GT in 1946. That car has been recognized for its exceptional beauty. It has long been on display at New York’s Museum of Modern Art and remains a part of its permanent collection.

Through the 1950s, business was good. Sergio Farina graduated from the Politecnico di Turino and joined the firm in 1950. The company was doing business with a wide variety of firms. Cars they produced during this decade included some surprises, including the 1952 Nash Ambassador, 1958 – ’60 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, Alfa Romeo’s beautiful Giulietta Spider convertibles, and concepts for Lancia that were eventually produced as the Lancia Aurelia “Florida” cars. Farina even did work for BMC, producing body designs for Morris, MG and Riley brands, for example.

The ’60s saw production car work like the Peugeot (404) and Fiat 124 Spider, and exotics like the Corvette Rondine, shown at the 1963 Paris Motor Show. 1961 also marked a significant name change for Carrozzeria Pinin Farina. The company name had so often been said as if it was one word, that Pinin decided to affect that change permanently.

He requested that his family name as applied to himself, his direct descendants, and his company be officially changed to Pininfarina.The change was made official by a presidential decree on June 6, 1961. That same year, Sergio Pininfarina became General Manager. Upon his father’s death in 1966, he was named Chairman of the Board.

Pininfarina and Ferrari

The website for Carrozzeria Pininfarina (www.pininfarina.com) begins its elaboration of the relationship between Pininfarina and Ferrari with this paragraph: “’ Ferrari and Pinin? It won’t last. It’s like putting two Prima Donna in the same opera.’ This was the general opinion bandied round the automotive environment in the Fifties. Rash forecasts subsequently belied by facts. Since these two giants met, their combined marques have defined some of the most beautiful cars ever built in a constantly evolving relationship that has now lasted for 60 years and shows no sign of ending, as confirmed by the around 200 Ferraris designed by Pininfarina to date.

Enzo Ferrari was born in 1898 and founded his Scuderia Ferrari in 1929, starting to build cars in 1947. Pinin Farina, born in 1893, founded his ‘Carrozzeria’ in 1930. The meeting between ‘Pinin’ and “The Drake” gives some idea of their characters. Back in 1951, initially, Ferrari let ‘Pinin’ Farina know that he would like to meet him and invited him to Modena. The reply was: ‘I am very willing to meet him but I would rather he came first to Turin.’ He was informed that Ferrari rarely leaves Maranello. ‘Pinin’ retorted that Turin is not at the end of the world. At this point, the negotiation seemed to have a ground to a halt.

But son Sergio found the solution: a meeting on neutral ground. In the end, they finally shook hands at a restaurant in Tortona: half way between Turin and Modena. ‘At a certain point, it was clear – relates ‘Pinin’ in his autobiography – that one of us was looking for a beautiful, famous woman to dress and the other a world-class couturier to deck her out’. This marked the start of the long alliance between Ferrari and Pininfarina.” The agreement reached, it was sealed with a handshake, not a contract.

The first collaboration was with the Ferrari 212 Inter. Many Ferraris came after that – both road and racecars – that were designed by Pinin Farina and Pininfarina. Early in the 1950s, there were a variety of Pinin Farina designed Ferraris that followed the 212 Inter, such as the 375 MM, Coupé, America, and Plus built in 1953 and 1954.

There was a 342 America in 1952, then the 340-375 racecars, and a Mondial 500, all designs by Pinin Farina. Production cars weren’t the only Pinin Farina designed cars, there were one-offs, like the Sigma safety car of 1963. But the most significant collaborations between Carrozzeria Pinin Farina and Ferrari came with the 250 series.

Ferrari 250 Series

Model numbers for Ferraris represent the displacement of one cylinder. The bore and stroke for the Ferrari 250 models were 73-mm and 58.8-mm, respectively. For a 12-cylinder car, that produces a total displacement of 2953.21-cc and a single cylinder displacement of 246.1-cc. Using a round number, the model became the 250.

The first Ferrari 250 was the 250 S prototype that won the 1952 Mille Miglia and was subsequently entered in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Carrera Panamericana. Pinin Farina took the basic design of the 250 S and created a beautiful 250 MM that debuted at the Geneva Auto Show, in 1953. Previous models looked dated compared to the 250 MM, which went on to compete in races, finishing fourth at the Mille Miglia in 1954.

Vignale built one of the very few 250 Ferraris that were not built by Pinin Farina, the 250 Europa, and showed the car at the Paris Auto Show in 1953. This Ferrari had an engine based on the Colombo-designed V12 with a displacement of 2963-cc from a square engine – 68-mm x 68-mm bore and stroke. The following year, Pinin Farina followed with the Europa GT.

It was the first Ferrari with a smaller, oval grille, a design feature that would remain for quite some time. It had a longer nose, “fulsome sail panel” and mild fins. It also used the Lampredi “long-block” with a slightly reduced displacement of 2953-cc and bore and stroke of 73-mm x 58.8-mm. This was the same engine used in the 250 racecars.

The first true production Ferrari, the 250 GT, started with the 250 GT Competizione. Then came the road cars in both convertible and coupé form in the late 1950s. Pinin Farina was having some very successful years and was at its capacity, so production of the 250s moved first to Carrozzeria Boano and then to Carrozzeria Ellena when Boano closed his company and went to work for Fiat. Eventually, production returned to Pinin Farina in time for a new design for the 250. From 1956 to 1959, Zagato built a run of five 250 GTs, two of which were Italian GT Champions in 1956 and 1957.

May 1958 saw a significant change in Ferrari production. It was a successful effort to standardize production of the 250 GT by Pinin Farina and Ferrari. This would allow production of cars in the hundreds rather than in the tens. Ferrari built a new production facility and Pinin Farina moved into larger facilities about the same time. By 1960, 350 of the GTs had been built with standardized coachwork, along with a few specials that Pinin Farina built for special clients. The 250 GT was named “Sports Car of the Year” by Sports Car Graphic as a result of its styling and production numbers.

Southern California dealer and racer, Johnny von Neumann, asked for a “simple Spider” in 1958 and was rewarded with the California Spider. It was available with either aluminum or steel bodywork, making it a true dual-purpose Ferrari for street or race track. It looked much like the Series I cabriolet, and the drivetrain was from the 250 Tour de France sports car.

Produced from 1958 to 1963, it was the last open, dual-purpose Ferrari. Production of the California Spider overlapped with the Series II cabriolet, which was produced from 1959 to 1962. It had a different look than the California Spider and was intended for only street use.

The idea of a dual-purpose Ferrari did not disappear with the California Spider. It was enhanced with the 250 GT SWB (Short Wheel Base) coupe. Winston Goodfellow described the 250 GT SWB as “the definitive dual-purpose sports car.” It was a car that could win on the track then be driven home. It debuted at the Paris Auto Show, in 1959, and had a production run from ’59 to ’62.

The name came from the fact that the wheelbase was 7.8” shorter than the 250 GT. This change in wheelbase was a successful attempt to improve handling. The car was available with either aluminum or steel bodywork, various states of tune, suspension set for street or track and leather interior or stripped for racing.

Pinin Farina’s experience with fastback design began with the 1947 Cisitalia 202, and he applied that experience to the Ferrari, calling it “the first of our three quantum leaps in design with Ferrari.” Pinin Farina and, subsequent to the official name change, Pininfarina was the principal producer of the 250 GT SWB, although several other coachbuilders produced re-bodied versions of the coupe.

Bertone was the only other coachbuilder who was authorized by the factory to build the 250 GT SWB. After the end of production of the SWB, there were no more dual-purpose Ferraris. From then on, there were separate roadcars and racecars.

A significant change came about in 1960 with the production of the 250 GTE (see The Classic Ferrari 250 GTE and Driven-1962 Ferrari 250 GTE) and the GT 2+2 – Ferraris with a back seat. According to Piero Ferrari, “the 2-seaters were not my father’s favorite to drive. He loved the 2+2 . . . this was his personal car.” Enzo apparently drove his 2+2 often, although he had a “driver” with him, as well as his little dog.

At the time of the development of the GTE, Sergio Pininfarina was an assistant at the Turin Politechnic wind tunnel and oversaw the wing tunnel testing of the model. Four prototypes were tested to make sure they had the most aero-efficient design. In 1962, Road & Track called it “a not only grand, but glorious, touring car.” A lot of people also thought so. Including Enzo’s car, a total of 954 GTEs were produced, far more than any model up to that time.

Then came the 250 GT/L. Oh, what a beautiful car.

Ferrari 250 GT/L Berlinetta Lusso

“Lusso” means “Luxury,” and it was a significant departure from earlier Ferraris, including the GTE. In some ways, it was designed to attract those potential owners who were more interested in the look that the performance. Still, it had plenty of performance – probably enough to scare some of those who were just looking for a Ferrari because it increased the owner’s social status.

The Lusso had a top speed of 145 mph and could accelerate from zero to 100 in 17 seconds! It was first shown at the 1962 Paris Auto Show and was only produced until 1964. A total of 350 were built. It was the last 250 model produced by Ferrari.

With Pininfarina very busy building other Ferrari models, and cars for other manufacturers, they farmed the body construction out to Carrozzeria Scaglietti. Pininfarina drew the car, but Scaglietti built the body. The result was that, for the first time, there was a badge on a car that said “Designo di Pininfarina” (Designed by Pininfarina). The body was steel, but the hood and trunk lid were aluminum. The body, lacking almost all ornamentation, was sculpted, with the front fenders elongated and the roofline swept back. The effect was to produce an airy greenhouse.

The shape of the roofline appears to have been taken from the GTO or 330LM coupe. The nose was reminiscent of the “sharknose” F1 car and Dino sports racer. The tail included a small spoiler, making it the first road-going Ferrari with an aerodynamic aid. The chassis was based on the GTO, and the Lusso shared its 94.5” wheelbase. Suspension came from the GTO, with independent double-wishbones and coil springs at the front front and live axle on semi-elliptic springs with trailing arms and a Watts linkage at the rear.

The engine was moved several inches forward to provide additional room in the cockpit. That engine was a Colombo-designed V12 with an engine block common to all 250s, but the valves and crank came from the SWB models, and the cylinder heads and pistons were from the GTE. Preston Lerner, in his book “Speed Read – Ferrari,” called the Lusso a “civilized grand touring machine . . . the Lusso exuded the rigorous grace of a ballerina rather than the brawny charisma of the SWB.” Engine horsepower was reduced to 250, because the car was intended for cruising. Not many were raced, but some were. One finished 13th overall at the 1964 Targa Florio.

The interior of the car was just gorgeous. Leather and soft carpet were everywhere, including on the package shelf behind the form fitting seats. The steering wheel was a Nardi – beautiful wood. There was plenty of sound-deadening. And the dashboard – it was unlike that of other Ferraris. The speedometer and tachometer were mounted in the middle of the dash and angled toward the driver. The other gauges were in front of the driver. Opposite of normal practice.

Addicted to Ferraris

Phil and Marth Bachman have owned this Berlinetta Lusso for a long time. Vintage Roadcar interviewed them in January 2018 (Volume 8, Issue 1). They have a preference for Gialo, and many of the Ferraris in their collection are buttercup yellow. They got their first Ferrari in 1984 and have added about one a year since then. Cars that aren’t yellow include a GTO and an F40, which only came in red. Of course, the Lusso is silver because it was not purchased new. Another “used” Ferrari is their oldest – a 1953 166 MM that has been on the Colorado Grand four times.

Driving Impressions

What a delightful automobile! It is beautiful in every way an automobile can be. Obviously, it is beautiful to look at. But, from entering the car to exiting it after a drive, it is all good. The driver’s door is wide, allowing an old guy like me plenty of room to get into the driver’s seat. Not all sports cars from 1963 are kind to old guys when entering. It was easy to slide under the Nardi wheel and into the wonderfully shaped driver’s seat. Can you say comfortable? The seat gives you support without being hard, and provides nicely shaped bolsters to hold you in place when (not if) you find yourself driving with a bit of verve.

Once in place in a car new to me, I like to get familiar with my surroundings. First, though, the seat needed to be adjusted. It was too far back! I was pleasantly surprised that it was not the Italian driving position I have learned to endure – requiring short legs and long arms. There was more than enough legroom. Seat adjusted, the steering wheel was right where my hands thought it should be, as was the shifter.

The dash, as mentioned earlier, was unusual in that the speedo and tach were in the middle angled toward the driver and where they can scare the hell out of a passenger once you get going. The other gauges, clock, gas, water temp, oil temp and pressure are directly in front of the driver. The diameter of the Nardi wheel allows all the gauges to be visible. My only concern was that there are quite a few control knobs, none of which were labeled. After I was assured that none would be important on our drive, I reached for the key.

Turn the key all the way clockwise and push it in to start. Oh what a wonderful sound! Three Webers up front and a V12 burbling through the exhaust. The sound is just incredible! It produced the first of many smiles. The door closes with a nice thunk, and the four-speed slips easily into reverse, which is located to the right and up next to third. Slide the clutch out, and nothing happened. My first try had me in neutral – embarrassing.

On the access road to the 4H facility, the car proved to be a little jouncy. This is a car designed for high-speed road travel, not a long driveway. Once on the road, the car was everything you expect from a Ferrari. It handles nicely, taking sweeping curves as if it wanted me to double my speed. Steering is light and very exact. Through the gears, and the car accelerates well. That’s when I noticed that the gas gauge was indicating empty – relief when told it doesn’t work and that the car was filled before we left the “clubhouse.”

I smiled so much, my jaw hurt when we returned to the starting point. I smiled when I accelerated, I smiled when I shifted (so smooth), I smiled when I turned, and I smiled when I braked. The brakes were as good as the rest of the car. The Lusso is my favorite Ferrari so far, and I’ve profiled five now.

Post Script

The Lusso was not the fastest, nor the most expensive, nor the most exotic Ferrari ever built. But it is certainly one of the most beautiful cars ever built. Steve McQueen owned four Ferraris, including a Lusso that was a birthday present from his wife. His Lusso sold for $8000 in 1973. It sold again, at auction, in 2007 for $2.3 million. The Hagerty Valuation Guide shows that Lussos have declined a bit in value over the past three years, with a concours example valued at $1,850,000 now. McQueen’s Lusso, if it came to auction again, would probably double that number. It’s an honor to be the caretaker of a car as important as this Lusso. And I am so very thankful to Phil and Martha Bachman for allowing me to drive it.

Specifications

• Body                                             Two-seat sports saloon
• Chassis                                        Longitudinal with cross members
• Engine                                          Front, longitudinal 60° V12 driving the rear wheels
• Displacement                          2953.21 cc (180.22 cid)
• Bore/Stroke                             73×58.8 mm (2.87×2.32 inches)
• Valve gear                                  Single overhead camshaft, two valves per cylinder
• Compression ratio               9.2:1
• Induction                                   Three Weber 36DCS carburetors
• Lubrication                               Dry sump
• Power                                           250 hp @ 7500 rpm
• Clutch                                           Single dry disc
• Transmission                            Four – speed with reverse
• Front suspension                   Independent, double wishbones, coil springs, anti-roll bar, hydraulic dampers
• Rear suspension                     Live axle, longitudinal semi-elliptic springs and push rods, hydraulic dampers
• Brakes                                          Four wheel discs
• Steering                                       Worm and sector
• Tires                                              185/15
• Wheelbase                                 2400 mm (94.5 inches)
• Track front/rear                     1395/1387 mm (54.92/54.61 inches)
• Length                                          4410 mm (173.62 inches)
• Width                                           1750 mm (68.90 inches)
• Height                                          1290 mm (50.79 inches)
• Weight                                         1020-1310 kg (2248.72-2888.06 lbs)

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