Tag Archives: Mondial

The Ethiopian Ferrari – Ferrari 500 Mondial #0468MD

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In 1954 an Italian, Guido Petracchi, took delivery of today’s featured Ferrai 500 Mondial chassis #0468MD in Ethiopia where it was issued with the registration number ‘ER 22289’.

Ferrari 500 Mondial, Rolex Reunion, Laguna Seca

Guido is believed to have raced the car at least once in the 1954 Ethiopian Grand Prix, an event for which no precise date, circuit or even other entrants are known and from which the car is believed to have retired !

Ferrari 500 Mondial, Rolex Reunion, Laguna Seca

While looking for information about the 1954 Ethiopian Grand Prix I stumbled across this linked photo of an open wheel Maserati and what appears to be a shiny #30 Ferrari 500 Mondial which has yet to be confirmed as showing Bigi Cristoforo and Guido Petracchi at the wheel of the respective cars on the Asmara Street Circuit in Eritrea, then part of the Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea, in 1954.

In 1970 the #0468MD is said to have been rediscovered by Colin Crabbe and sold to an owner in Penrith in 1972. In 1982 DK Engineering restored #0468MD with new bodywork.

From 1989 to 1997 #0468MD went to Switzerland where it had three owners before being sold to it’s current owner in Medina Washington USA in 1998.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton who took these photographs of #0468MD at last years Rolex Reunion.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Ethiopian Ferrari” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for a look at another Jaguar Special. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Will The Real #0404MD Please Stand Up – Ferrari 500 Mondial Spyder #0434MD

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In 1954 Pininfarina is thought to have built Spyder bodies for 12 Ferrari 500 Mondial chassis. Sounds simple enough but it would appear there are in fact 13 chassis numbers ascribed to the type.

Ferrari 500 Modial PF Spyder, Danville Concours D'Elegance

It turns out that the problem car for historians is the very first one #0404MD, some sources believe that this car was renumbered to #0434 after completion and before delivery to Dutchman Herman Roosdorp, while other less credible souces believe #0404MD was rebodied by Scaglietti.

Ferrari 500 Modial PF Spyder, Danville Concours D'Elegance

What ever the truth the reasons why a car should be either renumbered or rebodied twixt completion and delivery appear to be lost in the mists of time and no car is known to exist with the #0404 MD identity today. Remember to give the new identity would mean renumbering chassis plates, chassis and engine block which is not the work of a moment and would require considerable effort. I believe the 500 Mondial PF Spyder seen in Geoffrey Horton’s photographs is #0434MD primarily on the flimsy evidence that this RHD has just a single silver/chrome central mounted mirror, a distinctive white exhaust and is known to have been seen in the Danville area. If you know better, please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Ferrari 500 Modial PF Spyder, Danville Concours D'Elegance

If my ID is correct and wether or not the car is the renumbered #0404MD, #0434MD was believed to have been raced by Herman Roosdorp, Dries van der Lof and Joke (?) Maasland exclusively at Zandvoort between 1954 and 1956 with all three drivers securing at least one class win.

The car was restored by Edwin Niles in 1978 and you can see some photo’s of the restoration on this link.

More about 500 Mondial PF Spyders can be found on this earlier GALPOT post.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for today’s photographs taken at Danville Concours d’Elegance.

Thanks of joining me on this “Will The Real #0404MD Please Stand Up” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a cool Lotus road car. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Ferrari Mondial Cabriolet

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Ferari replaced the 308 GT4 2 + 2 I looked at last week with the Mondial model, like the one seen here at Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festibal, in 1980. The Cabriolet was not introduced until 1983.

Ferrari Mondial T Cabriolet

Pininfarina was chosen to design the replacement for the Bertone designed 308GT4, the Mondial featured a steel body built by Carrozzeria Scaglietti to sit over a steel box section space frame.

Ferrari Mondial T Cabriolet

The second generation Mondial t was introduced in 1989 with smaller tidier side intakes and bumpers in matching body colours.

Ferrari Mondial T Cabriolet

The engine and gearbox of the Mondial is mounted, for ease of maintenance, on a subframe which makes taking the engine out to change the spark plugs a much easier process, this innovation has transferred to all subsequent V8 Ferrari’s.

Ferrari Mondial T Cabriolet

Originally the Mondial 8 was powered by a 4 cam 2 valve per cylinder 3 litre 183 cui V8, in 1982 QV Quattrovalvole, four valve per cylinder heads were fitted to the 3 litre / 183 cui motors. In 1985 these motors were increased in bore and stroke to give 3185 cc / 194 cui for the 3.2 Mondial models with 280 hp up from 240 hp on the original Mondial motor. 1989 saw the introduction of 3.4 litre / 207 cui motors which produced 300 hp.

The T designation introduced in 1989, seen on today’s featured 1990 car, denotes a change in the power train layout from transversely mounted engine and gearbox of all models up to 1989 to a longitudinally mounted engine and transverse gearbox that allowed the engine to be mounted lower in the chassis which consequently improved the handling. This engine gearbox layout was also carried over to future Ferrari V8 models.

Thanks for joining me on this drop top edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Ice Maiden – Ferrari 500 Mondial Spyder PF Series I #0408 MD

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The 1953 Ferrari 500 Mondial used a version of the 2 litre / 121 cui 4 cylinder engine that powered Alberto Ascari to the 1952 & 1953 World (Mondial) Championship run to Formula 2 open wheel regulations. With body work by Pinin Farina a Mondial Spyder finished second in the 1954 Mille Migllia driven by Vittorio Marzotto despite giving a 1 litre / 60 cui in engine size to the top class vehicles tipped for overall victory.

Ferrari 500 Mondial Spyder PF Series I, Danville C d'E

So far as I can tell the vehicle in Geoffrey Horton’s photo above taken at Danville Concours d’Elegance in 2007 is chassis #0408 MD completed in March 1954 and sold to Valdemar Stener in Sweden who in 1955 set a class Swedish Speed Record in the car. This vehicle has had many owners one of whom Mas-Olle Persson won the 1958 Swedish Ice Racing Championship in this car.

In 1958 0408 MD was rebodied with a copy of a later Scaglietti body in fibreglass and just over 30 years later the Pinin Farina Spyder spec body by Carrozzeria Bachelli & Villa was fitted.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sending today’s photograph and to toggie at Ferrari Chat for pointing me in the direction of the cars probable chassis number.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s Ice Racing Champions edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

PS Belated congratulations to Geoffrey and his Jaguar XK 140 on winning class B at Palo Alto Concours last weekend !

24 01 12 Amendment Tomas Karlson has kindly informed me that there was not much ice racing, and none with a Ferrari, in Sweden due to the Suez Crisis in 1957, as originally stated, but that Olle Person did win the Sports Car final at Vilhelmina in 1958.

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