Temporary dealer plates, stuck into a heavy leather cover (sort of envelope) with a transparent face, then hung from trunk lid down, over rear bumper, or attached with straps to the bumper. Absolutely normal, even today. Marcel Massini
Here is what I was thinking (on a 410 Super America). Looks similar... Image Unavailable, Please Login
This photo is Copyright Ted Walker, Ferret Photographics. UK. The car was brought from Italy to Germany by German race driver Wolfgang Seidel (owner of TDF 0879 GT) and he just fabricated a handwritten cardboard license plate with the chassis number of the TDF and put it on the rear of the Ellena to drive it over the border from Italy thru Switzerland to Germany (using the paperwork of his TDF......). This photo was taken in the spectator car park of the Autodromo di Monza. Marcel Massini
Ed, you're doing the right thing by looking at original pictures. I was just trying to bring your attention to it because I've noticed that in restorations, there is a tendency to take these tail pipes out farther than they should be. john
I get myrechromed rear bumper later this week Ill mount it and see how the pipes look and how much trimming i need to do
That's what everyone says, but I honestly have no way of knowing for sure. 0701 GT is a low roof coupe, but I've never seen a photo of 0699 GT. If you have one, please share!
Found this on the net; shows the tailpipes' relationship to the bumper. john Image Unavailable, Please Login
No pic of 0699GT but as 0701GT was a low roof as you said, I would be tempted to say 0699GT is a low roof too...
The first high roof, 0711GT, was shown at the 1957 Turin Motor Show. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Having looked at as many photo's as possible with all your help and others on the web, there are no real great side shots of the orig photo's to determine the correct distance of the end of the pipe out from the bumper of the car. Am i safe to say they extend a little, not a lot, and if i go about 2 inches out that would be safe and appropriate look?
Ed, my take of the old pictures is that two inches past the rear bumper is too much. The down side of have the pipes tucked closer is that every time you drive it you'll have a build-up. But you'll just have clean it more and treat the metal with wax. john
I don't want to sidetrack Ed's thread, so to quickly summarize: 1. Yes, 0701 is a low roof car (verified by photos). 2. Yes, 0711 is a high roof car (well known, photos, first high roof car shown publicly). 3. Chassis were not always delivered to coachbuilders in sequential order. 4. Cars were not always completed by the coachbuilder in the order received. 5. There are little to no coachbuilder records (body configuration, paint & interior colors, etc) extant on the Boano/Ellena series of cars. 6. I have personally never seen a confirmed image of 0699 GT. Does it seem more likely than not that 0699 was a low roof car? Sure it does. It it overwhelmingly likely? I would say not. As an interesting aside, when Boano sold the Carrozzeria to Ellena, he listed seven completed automobiles as company assets. (I would assume the amounts payable on the cars were Boano's assets and not the cars themselves, which belonged to Ferrari). For the longest time, it was widely accepted that there were only seven low roof Ellenas, represented by the seven cars documented as part of this transaction. Of course, we now know of at least nine confirmed low roof Ellena coupes, so it's easy to see how these widely accepted concepts can turn out to be entirely inaccurate. So back to the light colored Ellena driven to from Germany to Monza by Seidel in 1958. I have two Ellena coupes originally delivered to Auto-Becker, West Germany--0699 GT and 0765 GT--yet I have very little information on either. In 2008, 0765 GT was purchased in the UK as a bare chassis by Will Tomkins (F-Chat username 246tasman) to be mated with the Vignale coupe body from 0036/M. I know nothing about 0765 GT prior to 2008. I also have nothing on 0699 GT, but (for whatever reason) I enjoy entertaining the idea that it could have been the first high roof Ellena, despite the widely held belief that this honor belongs to 0711 GT.
Ed, Boano pics that might be helpful: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
0575 GT of Dr. Harry Zweifel, Switzerland, at the Vienna-Aspern airfield in Austria on 15 May 1958. Marcel Massini
