By David N. Seielstad
Pictures copyright and courtesy David N.Seielstad
Vignale bodied 0197EL is one of four 212s at PB. It has
styling cues which later appeared in the 340 Mexicos.
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Scroll down for a complete list of Ferrari Concours results.
August means the annual Monterey, California automobile
feast. For car people it is Elysium and writers are left
grasping for superlatives that still sound trite. Weather
was glorious this year with bright sun, but mild
temperatures, even inland where it is usually hot, it never
seemed too warm and the traditional cold costal fog was
absent. Sunday was overcast at Pebble Beach with hazy sun,
but not at all cool and the light set off the automobiles perfectly.
The kick off event is The Tour d'Elegance on Thursday prior
to Sunday's Pebble Beach Concourse d'Elegance. The Tour is a
50 mile cruise along famed 17 Mile Drive, through Pacific
Grove, Monterey then out to Laguna Seca Raceway for two laps
(wheee), up and over Las Laureles Grade, through Carmel
Valley and Back to Carmel for lunch. The cars park on Ocean
Avenue in downtown Carmel for about three hours giving
everyone a free look at what will be on the Lawn on Sunday,
then it is back to Pebble Beach.
This year 128 show cars signed up for The Tour, including 12
of 14 Ferrari entered. The Tour proved a true test of a show
car's ability to navigate normal roads. Any car which
finished this year's Tour can claim to being completely road
worthy. The Tour was led by a bunch of new Volkswagen
Beetles which proceeded at a leisurely pace unaware of the
mechanical carnage developing behind them. Competition
Ferrari and GT 40 Fords were left snorting and popping with
overheating radiators, cooked clutches, screaming
differential gears and dying batteries. At the end of The
Tour Monterey was littered with dead show cars.
A 250 MM Pf berlinetta early in its life, 0298MM was sold to
Industrie Cinematografiche Sociali in Rome and was driven by
various movie stars. Hence it became known as the "Cinecitta
car" or movie car. It came to PB from Switzerland.
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John Mozart, in 1959/60 250 TR 0770 ran his battery down
when he used auxiliary electric fans, fitted for The Tour.
Most dramatic was when Lorenzo Zambrano, driving the unique
340 Mexico Vignale spyder 0228AT, applied his brakes only to
have them lock solid. Examination revealed that it was not
the brakes, but a broken differential thus setting in motion
an epic repair that saw the car on the Lawn Sunday.
The 340 that could
Lorenzo Zambrano brought the 340 Mexico Vignale spyder back
to Pebble Beach 50 years after it first appeared in the
Pebble Beach road races on 19 April 1953. The Mexico spyder
was painted in the same blue/white livery it had when Bill
Spear finished 2nd to Phil Hill in the Del Monte trophy in
1953. Early in The Tour, Zambrano braked and the rear wheels locked.
Steve Tillack, who was accompanying Zambrano and who was
responsible for the restoration, managed to free up the
brakes, but it was then found that the differential was
damaged, although not the obvious weak point at the input pinion.
Flatbedded back to the "20' X 20' Shed" where Tillack's crew
was also looking after several Monterey Historic race cars
the crew pulled the gas tank, loosened the axle tubes, drive
shaft and leaf springs to open the differential case. Inside
it was found that one of the spider gears had cracked.
Tillack has the original Carrera Pan America rear end, which
had been replaced with a higher gear and sturdier case about
15 years ago, in his shop. What to do? The original could be
installed, but it has the weaker pinion bearing support and
the higher ratio ring and pinion would also have to be
installed, which is very time consuming to set up.
0228AT on Portola Road in Pebble Beach before the start of
The Tour. Portola was the start/finish straight (opposite
direction) in the original Pebble Beach Road Races and in
1953 Bill Spear finished 2nd to Phil Hill in the 4th PB race.
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It was decided to weld the cracked spider gears onto the
axle shafts, making it in effect, a locked rear end. Repair
work was completed by Friday evening and the car was re
assembled on Saturday. "Basically five guys worked 16 hours
a day to get it on the Lawn," Tillack said.
And so 72 hours after breaking down on The Tour, Lorenzo
Zambrano wheeled the 340 Mexico into position on the 18th
fairway. It was awarded 3rd place in class M2 at Pebble
Beach. The story does not end here. The Pebble Beach rules
require a winner to cross the ramp under its own power. 0228
AT drove up the ramp, collected its ribbon then set off for the Beach & Tennis club for the after concours buffet. On
the way over to the Beach & Tennis Club the welds broke and
the Mexico ground to a halt.
Tillack said that he does not usually assign human
attributes to a car, but that this Ferrari has proven to be
a finisher before. Once in the historic Mille Miglia he was
near the end of the event when the generator failed. While
the crew sipped coffee at a cafe a Mercedes was brought over
to charge up the battery and get the 340 going. It worked
and the Mexico ran strongly to the finish in Brescia before
the battery quit again.
Sunday was the big show, the 53rd Concours d'Elegance at
Pebble Beach. A record 240 entries were accepted including
14 Ferraris. [Disclosure statement, the author displayed his
1960 250 GT berlinetta, 2243 GT.] The weather was near
perfect and the surroundings are always stunningly
beautiful. Bugatti and Ford were featured, there were
over 50 Bugattis on the field.
Mark your calendar for 2004. Ferrari will be the featured
marque at both Pebble Beach and Monterey Historic Races to
be followed by the FCA Annual meeting. It is shaping up to
be another banner year as 1994 was.
Ferraris entered in the 53rd Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
Class M1 Ferrari Grand Touring
1951 212 Export berlinetta Vignale 0128E Daniel Sielecki,
Buenos Aires, ARG
1951 212 Inter coupé Vignale 0135E C.A. "Skeets" Dunn,
Rancho Santa Fe, CA. 3rd in M1 class.
1951 212 Inter coupé Touring 0143E Frank Gallogly,
Englewood, NJ
1952 212 Inter coupé Vignale 0197EL Anthony Bamford,
Staffordshire, UK
1955 375 America coupé speciale Pinin Farina 0355AL Jack E.
Thomas, Jr. St Louis, MO. 1st in M1 class with a perfect 100 points.
1959 250 GT coupé speciale Pf 1187GT Greg Garrison, Thousand
Oaks, CA
1960 250 GT SWB California spyder 2161GT Willaim E. "Chip"
Conner, Hong Kong
1960 250 GT SWB berlinetta 2243 GT David & Carol Seielstad,
Princeville, HI
1962 400 Superamerica coupé Aerodinamico 3747 SA Peter S.
Kalikow, New York, NY. 2nd in M1 class.
Class M2 Ferrari Competition
1953 340 Mexico spyder Vignale 0228 AT Lorenzo Zambrano,
Monterrey, MEX. 3rd in M2 class.
1953 250 MM berlinetta Pinin Farina 0298 MM Arnold Meier,
Meilen, CH
1956 250 GT LWB berlinetta Scaglietti 0563 GT Richard &
Diane Gent, Beachwood, OH. 2nd in M2 class.
1959 250 TR59/60 spyder Fantuzzi 0770 TR John & Heather
Mozart, Palo Alto, CA. 1st in M2 Class and won the Luigi Chinetti Award.
Class T Giugiaro Design
1962 250 GT SWB berlinetta Bertone 3269 GT Lorenzo Zambrano,
Monterrey, MEX
At the end of the day John and Heather Mozart's 1959/60 250
TR Fantuzzi took first in class M2 and won the Luigi
Chinetti Award for "best overall Ferrari on the field." Jack
E. Thomas, Jr. captured 1st, and a perfect 100 points, with
his one off 375 America berlinetta Pinin Farina in class M1.
The other winners were:
Class M-1 (Ferrari Grand Touring)
2nd 400 Superamerica Pininfarina Peter S. Kalikow
3rd 1951 Ferrari 212 Inter Vignale Coupé C. A. "Skeets"
Dunn
Class M-2 (Ferrari Competition)
2nd 1956 Ferrari 250GT LWB Scaglietti Berlinetta Richard &
Diane Gent
3rd 1952 Ferrari 340 Mexico Vignale Spyder Lorenzo Zambrano
