Tag Archives: mondial

Ferrari 500/735 Mondial

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1954 Ferrari 500/735 Mondial Spider by Pinin Farina

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 19, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The car in this photograph definitely has the look of a child’s car. But it is not, as it is a true Ferrari race car. It started life as a 500 Mondial, the third car in Ferrari’s Monza line of sports racers. Bodied by Pinin Farina, it doesn’t quite resemble other 500 Mondial Spiders by the same coachbuilder.

Before it left the factory, Ferrari installed an engine from the slightly-earlier 735 S race car. That means this 500 Mondial is powered by a 2.9-liter straight-four that puts out 225 horsepower. That’s actually quite an upgrade over the Mondial’s comparatively weak 170 horsepower, 2.0-liter unit. To this day, no one knows why Ferrari built this car this way.

Sold new to a man in California, it spent its early days tearing around tracks on the West Coast in regional sports car races. The current owner has had the car since 1999, meaning it is being offered from relatively long-term ownership. It’s one of only 13 Pinin Farina Spider-bodied 500 Mondials. And possibly the only one with a 735 S engine. It should bring between $4,000,000-$5,500,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $3,850,000.

Three Late Ferraris

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1952 Ferrari 342 America Cabriolet by Vignale

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 18, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

RM Sotheby’s really packed their Monterey catalog this year, so much so in fact that I thought they were finished adding cars to it so I mapped out which cars to feature over the three weeks prior to the Pebble Beach Weekend. And then they added these three rare Ferraris. Time is tight, so they are being combined into one post. Enjoy the Ferrari overflow!

The 342 America was the second car in the Ferrari America line, produced in 1952 only. It’s powered by a 4.1-liter V-12 making 200 horsepower. This particular car is the only 342 America bodied by Vignale and it totally has that early-1950s Ferrari appeal.

The amazing thing about the 342 America is that Ferrari only built six examples (with this being the first). Six! That’s it. It’s one of the rarest road-going Ferraris ever made. Only three of them were drop tops and this car was delivered new to Switzerland. The current owners acquired it in 2007 and had it restored to the spec you see here. The estimate on this car is $2,250,000-$3,000,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $2,255,000.

1954 Ferrari 500/735 Mondial Spider by Pinin Farina

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 19, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The car in this photograph definitely has the look of a child’s car. But it is not, as it is a true Ferrari race car. It started life as a 500 Mondial, the third car in Ferrari’s Monza line of sports racers. Bodied by Pinin Farina, it doesn’t quite resemble other 500 Mondial Spiders by the same coachbuilder.

Before it left the factory, Ferrari installed an engine from the slightly-earlier 735 S race car. That means this 500 Mondial is powered by a 2.9-liter straight-four that puts out 225 horsepower. That’s actually quite an upgrade over the Mondial’s comparatively weak 170 horsepower, 2.0-liter unit. To this day, no one knows why Ferrari built this car this way.

Sold new to a man in California, it spent its early days tearing around tracks on the West Coast in regional sports car races. The current owner has had the car since 1999, meaning it is being offered from relatively long-term ownership. It’s one of only 13 Pinin Farina Spider-bodied 500 Mondials. And possibly the only one with a 735 S engine. It should bring between $4,000,000-$5,500,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $3,850,000.

1955 Ferrari 121 LM Spider by Scaglietti

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 18, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

This is one of the more obscure Ferraris. But because it’s a sports racer from the 1950s, that means it’s worth a huge amount of money. Ferrari’s chief competition during the 1955 World Sportscar Championship were cars like the Jaguar D-Type. So Ferrari went head-to-head, developing a monster six-cylinder engine to take down the English.

This car is powered by a 360 horsepower 4.4-liter straight-six. This chassis began life as a 118 LM and was one of two examples of that model to be upgraded by the factory to 121 LM specification. In this new spec the cars were unbelievably fast: capable of over 180 mph! The race history for this car includes:

  • 1955 Mille Miglia – DNF (with Paolo Marzotto as a 118 LM)
  • 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans – DNF (with Maurice Trintignant and Harry Shell as a 121 LM)

After that, Ferrari sold it and it entered service as a privateer car in California road races. Unfortunately, driver Ernie McAfee was killed while racing this car in Northern California. The then-owner rebuilt it and the present owner acquired it in 1997. This is a rare chance to acquire a factory Ferrari Le Mans racer. One of just four 121 LMs built, it should bring between $6,500,000-$7,500,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $5,720,000.

Ferrari 500 Mondial

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1955 Ferrari 500 Mondial by Scaglietti

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | New York, New York | December 10, 2015

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

Ferrari race cars from the 1950s – the sports racers, not the Formula cars – are just so sought after. After all these years, they remain some of the most authentic, primal, and fun to drive historic race cars. Their values have skyrocketed and to find one that begs to be raced and not pampered is a rare treat.

The 500 Mondial was the Scuderia’s racer for 1954. It used a 2.0-liter Lampedri straight-four making 170 horsepower (can we all stop and take a second to appreciate how awesome that output is for 1955!). The car was also light-as-air, as far as cars are concerned.

This car was sold new to a Frenchman and was painted in beautiful French Blu – the original paint is still on the car. It is a “Series II” car, hence its late, 1955 production year. The first Mondials were Scaglietti coupes, later cars were open cars from Pinin Farina and Scaglietti.

The original owner of this car took it racing and blew the engine. In 1955, after having it worked on at Ferrari, the owner didn’t pay his bill, so Ferrari kept the car for the next two decades, painting it red and displaying it in a museum. They sold it again in 1975 and it had a series of owners up until 2007, when its new Polish owner had the red paint removed to reveal the beautiful blue underneath. This is a factory-original car – never wrecked and ready to go. It’s a preservation class shoo-in. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Ferrari 500 Mondial

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1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider Series I by Pinin Farina

Offered by RM Auctions | Monterey, California | August 16-17, 2013

1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider Series I by Pinin Farina

We featured a Ferrari 750 Monza a few weeks back. Well this car, even though it’s called a “Mondial,” is part of that family of cars. In fact, it directly preceded the 750 Monza. The 500 Mondial was built for 1954 only.

Ferrari began building four-cylinder engines for Formula Two in 1952 and walked away with the championship in ’52 and ’53. Back in these days, the Scuderia would transfer those race engines directly into other cars – many of which were sold to customers (imagine Ferrari or McLaren doing that today). In this case, the 2.0-liter Lampredi straight-four was dropped into the 500 Mondial sports racing car. It makes 170 horsepower.

This was one of four cars entered by Ferrari in the 1954 Mille Miglia – but because the organizers of that race kept such poor records, nobody knows for sure who drove it or where it finished. It was sold upon completion of that race and used by a privateer in Italy before making its way to its second owner in Venezuela the following year.

It entered American ownership in 1964 and it was restored for the first time in 1987 and again 10 years later in 1997. Only 20 Series I cars were built, with an additional 10 Series II cars – making there just 30 examples of the 500 Mondial built. This is car #6. It has Scuderia Ferrari team history and Mille Miglia history. And it’s one of those great cars that is perfect for classic car rallies and tours. It is expected to sell for between $2,750,000-$3,250,000. Click here for more info and here for more from RM.

Update: Sold $3,520,000.

S/N: 418MD