Cars of Interest at the FOC Concours, Castle Ashby
10.8.00

by John Elliott

The English are well known for complaining about their weather since it is so unpredictable. Rain in copious quantities had been falling at the end of June prior to the FOC Concours at Castle Ashby. Although we did experience the irritation of some heavy showers the sun also managed to shine on some excellent examples of Ferrari Sports and GT cars.

The lawn in front of the house makes an excellent stage on which to exhibit some of Maranello's finest pieces of racing machinery. We are most indebted to Sir Anthony Bamford, Paul Vestey, Clive Beecham and Pierre Bardinon for permitting some of their cars to be used for display.

Firstly, we had a gorgeous 1952 225 Vignale Sport Spyder. This car (s/n 0154 ED) was originally sold to Vittorio Marzotto and entered in May 1952 for the Mille Miglia but failed to finish. About one month later it was taken to the Monaco Grand Prix. That year the race was run for sports cars after a dispute between the Monaco Sports Car Club and the ruling body for Formula 1. A number of 225 Sports cars were entered for this event and Vittorio Marzotto was to prove successful by coming first overall. After a long period in South Africa 0154 ED returned to the U.K. It was recently restored by DK and taken down to Monaco again this Spring for their historic event in the weekend prior to the F1 race.

Immediately in front of the Castle sat s/n 0320 AM, a very rare 340/375 MM Pinin Farina Berlinetta. This car dates from 1953 where it ran at Le Mans with Hawthorn and Farina. It was modified in July after this event, receiving a lower more streamlined nose while the headlights had flush plastic covers fitted and the curved rear window was replaced by flat glass surrounded by sheet aluminium. Its lack of race success at Le Mans, Spa and Senigalia (all were DNF's) was partly repaired when it came first at Pescara with Hawthorn and Maglioli. (See 'Who, What, When and Where, FOC News, December 1999, Issue 76 for a photo of this car at Pescara.) The 340 engine was then converted to 375 MM specification and the car was sold to Scuderia Guastalla. Franco Cornacchia entered s/n 0320 AM in the Carrera Panamericana in November 1953 and driven by Mario Ricci, Forese Salviati and Maglioli it managed a creditable sixth place in this gruelling road race.

Its racing career having ended, this 375 MM then spent an active retirement in the U.S.A. before joining the Bamford collection. Not only did this wonderful berlinetta grace our Concours but at the beginning of June it was also an award winner at the Louis Vuitton Concours in London. This was not surprising when you examined its pristine condition and excellent preparation by D.K.

The third jewel in our Concours crown was the most welcome appearance of the 275 Prototype, s/n 0816. This Fantuzzi bodied car had made the journey north from the Bardinon collection for the Goodwood Festival where it had been driven by Jean Guichet. In June 1964 this car, when driven by Guichet and Vaccarella, came first in the 24-Hour event at Le Mans. The 250 and 275 Prototypes hold a special affection in my memories since they were paramount in attracting me to the Ferrari marque in my teenage years. 0816 made a couple of appearances in 1963 when it was fitted with a 4-litre engine. Unfortunately it failed to finish at both Reims and Silverstone with Parkes at the wheel. In 1963 it was the 250 P which was achieving the success and the 330P was in an experimental stage. In March 1964 0816 came second at Sebring with Scarfiotti and Vaccarella but undoubtedly its greatest performance came the same year on the circuit at Sarthe. For Sebring in 1965 the car was actually painted gold but was then sold in the U.S. to a Major Cooper. It did run in a couple of events at Road America with Cooper but in the early 1980's it joined the Mas du Clos Collection and was finally restored with a new Fantuzzi body.

From the cars of the past (the 1950's and 1960's) to the cars of the present. Well 1995-96 anyway! A blue F40 LM (s/n 74045) had been an active participant in the BPR and Le Mans races with Michel Ferte. I'm told that it can generate 800 bhp and contains a computerised box of tricks so that various combinations can be programmed for various circuits and race conditions.

Four such cars from the annals of Ferrari's past would be sufficient to make our annual concours a success but in addition there were other notable visitors. The early cars were supplemented by what could possibly be described as regular attendees, although I would hate to think that familiarity meant they were not appreciated. Bernard Worth brought his 1953 166 MM Vignale Spyder (s/n 0308M) while Ari Embiricos arrived with his 1954 735 Monza spyder, (s/n 0444 MD, the winner of the Supercortemaggiore Race at Monza with Mike Hawthorn). In addition David Cottingham had sent his yellow 500 TRC, s/n 0682 MDTR.

GT cars were represented by a 250 Europa (s/n 0375 GT), a 250 Pinin Farina Coupe (s/n 1381 GT) and two 250 LWB Tour de France models. One was the early 14 louvre version, which Gendebien was successful with in the 1957 Giro di Sicilia, 3rd in the Mille Miglia that year and then first overall in the Tour de France. It is still actively campaigned by Paul Vestey and recently ran in the Tour Auto. The second Tour de France was a 1958 car with a single vent on the sail panel. I believe this car (s/n 1037 GT) of Andrew Pisker went to Venezuela and it was raced in the 1959 Trinidad GP and also the 1960 Cuba GP where it was crashed by Chimeri. After the crash the car was sent back to Scaglietti and rebodied with a 1959 style body. Following the 250 GT LWB's came the 250 GT SWB Berlinettas and we had five examples on display. Richard Colton's well travelled 1960 car, s/n 1995 GT, Stuart Passey's car, s/n 2209 GT which is white with a green stripe, Clive Beecham's ex Rob Walker car from 1961, s/n 2735 GT, Peter Teichman's 1961 car, s/n 3037 GT (a regular Lusso with a steel body) and Martin Lange with his 1962 steel Lusso Berlinetta s/n 3605 GT.

Finally the display was completed by Stephen Pilkington's well loved 250 GTO (s/n 3527 GT), a 250 GT Lusso, a 275 GTB4, a 330 GTS and a 330 GTC plus the 330 Nembo Spyder (s/n 5805 GT) of Richard Allen. A selection of more recent sports car competition was represented by a selection of Maranello Challenge cars plus the magnificent 512 BB LM (s/n 26685) of Nigel Chiltern-Hunt. On a summer's day at the beginning of July what more could an enthusiast ask for?

The event is an excellent chance to meet with friends old and new but we must not forget the overall winner of the Concours was again Jeff Dix with his faultless example of the F40 tipo. Geoff's car has now been the winner of many such concours events and as a result is the star of a number of magazine advertisements in the U.K.

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