500 Mondial, S.II 0556(0446)MD | FerrariChat

500 Mondial, S.II 0556(0446)MD

Discussion in 'Mid-Atlantic Region - USA (PA, DE, MD, DC, VA)' started by Bryanp, Apr 25, 2008.

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  1. Bryanp

    Bryanp F1 Rookie

    Aug 13, 2002
    3,799
    Santa Fe, NM
    #1 Bryanp, Apr 25, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    As requested, this thread is about the Ferrari 500 Mondial, Series I, s/n 0556(0446)MD that my father, Robert Phillips, purchased in 1960. A lot of the following pics have already been posted somewhere on f-chat, usually in the Vintage section, over the last 5 years I have been on here. We've been invited to show the car in the Ferrari Competition class at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance this August 17.

    I'll start with some early pictures of the car. It was completed in the first week of May, 1955 and sold to a good Ferrari customer, Francois Picard, so it was painted French Racing Blue.

    Picard first ran it in the GP of Paris on May 15, 1955, but DNF'd. The track, Monthlery, was just outside of Paris and like Monza, featured a large banked curve. You'll notice that this one lacked a guardrail - a little scary since most of the cars that raced there were RHD and you couldn't see the edge once you were close to it. The track is still there, but is in ruins - I believe it is slated for demolition in the near future.
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  2. Bryanp

    Bryanp F1 Rookie

    Aug 13, 2002
    3,799
    Santa Fe, NM
    #2 Bryanp, Apr 25, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    After the GP of Paris, Picard and his friend, Gino Munaron (who was an occasional team driver for Enzo) raced the car a lot in Europe and North Africa during the summer and fall of '55.

    As he often did, Picard traded the car back into the Factory in October. Ferrari was preparing to ship works cars to the first GP of Venezuela, so they put the SF shields on the car and shipped it to Caracas. Harry Schell started the race in the car. In those days, both two and three liter cars ran in the Grand Prix races - some GPs were for formula cars and some for sports racers. Eugenio Castellotti stated the race in one of the 6-cylinder 121LMs, but had mechanical failure in the first lap. Ferrari pulled Schell from the Mondial and put in Castellotti. Castellotti drove like a maniac and finished first in the 2-liter class and fifth overall - at the end of the race he was putting in lap times only a hair slower than Fangio in the 3-liter Maserati.

    First shot is before the race (the shade of blue in this shot is pretty far off, but it's a real treat to have color pics from this time period) ; second is Schell in the car; third is Castellotti in the car.
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  3. Bryanp

    Bryanp F1 Rookie

    Aug 13, 2002
    3,799
    Santa Fe, NM
    #3 Bryanp, Apr 25, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    After Caracas, Ferrari sold the car to Porfirio Rubirosa whom we believe was at the GP. Rubi has had books written about him - he was definitely the playboy of the era; a polo player and diplomat from the Dominican Republic who dated/married a rash of celebrity women; Barbara Hutton, Zsa Zsa Gabor, etc. He was allegedly dating a very you Zsa Zsa while he owned our car, so I am seeking the holy grail of photos; Zsa Zsa in our car in 1956!

    Rubi ran the car in the Nassau Speed Week races the end of 1955 and did quite well. He painted the car dark blue and ran the 12 Hours of Sebring in spring 1956. He and Jim Pauley came in first in class (2 liter).

    First shot is Rubi in our car, before he painted it. Second pic is American Ebby Lunken driving Rubi's car at one of the Nassau races, because Rubi had to fly backto Miami to play polo (I'm not kidding). Rubi was killed in 1961 (I think) driving a Series I PF Cabriolet, coming home after a very late night of partying in Paris. We have Sebring shots (and some movie film) but many of the copies we have are copyrighted by Tom Burnside,so I will not post them here.
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  4. Bryanp

    Bryanp F1 Rookie

    Aug 13, 2002
    3,799
    Santa Fe, NM
    #4 Bryanp, Apr 25, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    After Rubirosa, Charles Hassan, one of the "Cincinnati Gang" of Ferrari owners, bought the car and campainged it extensively in the midwest. We have a treasure trove of pictures that we got out of a shoebox his ex-wife, Jane Earls, had kept for 40 years. I don't remember the exact issue, but an article on the Cincinnati Gang was published in Prancing Horse a year or so ago; most of the pictures in that article are of our car, courtesy of Ms. Earls.

    After Hassan, Robert Davis briefly owned the car, but the transaxle seized on him and he put the car up for sale near Berkley, CA. Dad was a junior grade Navy Lt. stationed at the old Oakland NAS and racing his MGA 1500 when he heard about the Ferrari for sale. He went to the Rambler dealer in Berkley and was told that the car was in the shop around back. the body guys had been using the side of the car to clear their spray guns and the car was completely filthy from being towed a long distance. Dad took a rag and wiped off the cam cover, revealing the classic "Ferrari" logo and that's all she wrote. He rebuilt the car over 9 months, took another driver's school (since this was a quantum leap over the 70 HP MGA) and went racing.

    This is Dad waiting for the start of a hillclimb in northern CA. He says he might be the first person guilty of "re-sale" red since that's what he put on the car in 1960.

    I'll do restoration pics next week. Have a good weekend!
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  5. 4REphotographer

    4REphotographer F1 Veteran

    Oct 22, 2006
    6,197
    Arlington, VA
    Full Name:
    Chris
    That is an incredible history, I love how you can trace every owner and pretty much every part of this car. I bet the car looks amazing now, can't wait to see the pictures. Good luck at Pebble Beach.
     
  6. BillP00

    BillP00 Formula 3
    Owner

    Apr 23, 2007
    1,933
    Northern VA
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    Bill
    Bryan,

    What a fantastic story!! Thank you for starting this thread. I also wish you the best of luck at Pebble Beach, but I was wondering...did you say there's a book published about this car? Or are you penning one? Will we ever get a chance to see this car here in the Mid-Atlantic area once the restoration is complete?

    Best Wishes,

    Bill
     
  7. wetpet

    wetpet F1 World Champ
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    May 3, 2006
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    thanks bryan. can't wait to see the rest. what color are you painting it? blue i hope.
     
  8. kvisser

    kvisser Formula 3

    Dec 11, 2004
    1,956
    Damascus, MD
    Full Name:
    Ken Visser
    Thanks for finally starting this thread as opposed to making us poke thru every post in hopes of unearthing some shots of the push rods being delicately inserted whilest holding a hand fabricated pulley puller that has to angle back at 37.5 degrees in order to properly seat.... you know what I mean.

    Fabulous history of your car. I think this thread really belongs in the vintage session because those guys will really get a kick out of seeing your pictures and hearing the story. We should probably share it with the rest of the world, not just our little corner of Fchat.

    Thanks again for taking the time to put this together.

    regards

    ken
     
  9. Bryanp

    Bryanp F1 Rookie

    Aug 13, 2002
    3,799
    Santa Fe, NM
    thanks guys;
    we are extremely lucky to have such an unmolested example of a mid-50s Ferrari sports racer. We hve the trifecta of originality - chassis, motor and body - which is really unusual for a 50+ year old race car. It is truly a no-stories car since it has been under our roof for 48 years. Most of these cars, whether privateers or works cars, had brutal lives and ended up as bitsas - you couldn't give these things away in the late 60s thru the early 80s. Dad tried to sell before he went to Nam in 65 or so and had no takers at $4000.

    Bill - we wrote articles about the 500 Mondials and 750 Monzas in Cavallinos #61 and 62 around 1991 or so. Those articles represent our knowledge/hypostheses at that time and are in dire need of updating! Someday . . . . As far as the car appearing at local events, I'll be pushing for it, but I don't have the key (which is a strange looking steel rod)!

    Ed - the color/livery will be as it was for its most famous outing, the GP of Venezuela as #8 w/ Castellotti driving (my avatar). We found a nice area of original blue underneath the gauge bezels on the dash - never dirty or exposed to UV - and have a paint match.

    Ken - as much as I enjoyed my hit-and-run pic posting, it will be nice to have this story and pics in one place. As far as Vintage versus Mid-Atlantic; while I appreciated Jim Glickenhaus sharing his resurrection of 0846 in the Vintage section, it was also evident that there were a lot of "experts" in the peanut gallery. Jim's car is what it is and he was very open w/ his process - as he says, "the metal speaks for itself" - but as a person who has actually researched old racing Ferraris, it was excruciating for me to have to endure every tom, dick and harry w/ an opinion in that debate - and I don't even own the car! We are in the enviable position of having a car that nothing bad ever happened to, while jim did not w/ 0846. This car has lived in the Mid-Atlantic for most of its life, and the preservation/restoration effort has been an overwhelmingly Mid-Atlantic venture - I'm happy to have the thread live here. Vintagers doing their homework will find it.

    Bryan
     
  10. E60 M5

    E60 M5 Moderator
    Moderator Owner

    Jan 2, 2006
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    Robert
    Bryan,

    Thanks soooo much for taking the time to again make a post regarding the Mondial. My Ferrari history on most of the vintage cars is scarce at best and I really enjoy reading and learning all I can of the history of these great cars! Thanks again and I look forward to the rest of the thread and the excitement of the trip to Pebble Beach!


    Robert
     
  11. 285ferrari

    285ferrari Two Time F1 World Champ
    Sponsor

    Sep 11, 2004
    20,845
    Southern Md
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    Robbie
    Keep it coming!!! This is an awesome story!! more pics!!!!
     
  12. Rafienva

    Rafienva Formula Junior

    Oct 18, 2004
    485
    North Palm Beach, FL
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    Ralph(Rafi) Cestero
    Brian , thanks for sharing. Not many people in Ferrari circles know much about the old Ferrari's.
     
  13. VIZSLA

    VIZSLA Four Time F1 World Champ
    Owner

    Jan 11, 2008
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    David
    Its good to see such a fine car in good hands.
     
  14. CornersWell

    CornersWell F1 Rookie

    Nov 24, 2004
    4,874
    Over the years, I've read all the Burt Levy books, but I've never taken the time to actually look at the entry list and time sheets of the races themselves. Just lazy, I guess.

    I realize Levy's books are based on real people and events and races run, so I'd be interested in knowing if your car was ever written about in these novels.

    Also, the characters of Levy's books are often based on real people. Was Toly Wolfgang's character possibly based on Rubi Porfirosa? Anyone know?

    CW
     
  15. ProCoach

    ProCoach F1 Veteran
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    Sep 15, 2004
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    Peter Krause
    Ask Burt, he'll tell you:)
     
  16. ProCoach

    ProCoach F1 Veteran
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    Sep 15, 2004
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    Peter Krause
    Great story, Bryan! Still remember driving my good friend Paul Tavilla's 0418MD through the factory gates 20 years ago...
     
  17. Bryanp

    Bryanp F1 Rookie

    Aug 13, 2002
    3,799
    Santa Fe, NM
    With a name like "Toly", my guess is that that character is mostly based on Anatoly "Toly" Aruntonoff who was known to drive just about anything Italian that had wheels. Drove the Targa and Nurburgring in a Lancia back in the day as well as Sebring in the early 60s. I believe he is still alive.
     
  18. Bryanp

    Bryanp F1 Rookie

    Aug 13, 2002
    3,799
    Santa Fe, NM
    0418MD is a great car - it actually ran in the same GP of Venezuela in 55 as our car - it was a local car since it had been purchased by a Venezuelan after it was in both the 54 and 55 Mille Miglias.

    It is currently running with the motor from the last Series I Mondial, 0506MD; the correct motor tipo for a Series I 500 Mondial like 0418.
     
  19. tomberlin

    tomberlin Formula Junior
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    Apr 9, 2005
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    tom berlin
    This is great stuff. And thanks for deciding on the original color.
    Tom B.
     
  20. Bryanp

    Bryanp F1 Rookie

    Aug 13, 2002
    3,799
    Santa Fe, NM
    Now that I'm home, I can say that I erred earlier when I said that the "Cincinnati Gang" article was in Prancing Horse; it was actually in Cavallino 144 im December 2004
     
  21. Bryanp

    Bryanp F1 Rookie

    Aug 13, 2002
    3,799
    Santa Fe, NM
    #21 Bryanp, Apr 25, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Dad parked the car around 1967 - by then it was totally uncompetitive w/ big drum brakes that started working only after a couple of laps when they had warmed up. He drained a lot of fluids and poured gear oil into the top end of the motor. Since dad was in the Navy til 1988, the car just moved around with us, kept in the corner of our various garages, covered with blankets, my bike leaning against it, etc. We raced and restored many a british heap in the intervening years, but the Mondial was always in the corner.

    Around 1987, of course, values started going crazy for vintage Ferraris, Picasos, NYC real estate, etc., and the Japanese were buying. Over a period of about 18 months or so, the Mondial went from taking up space in the garage to being worth 10 times more than the house it was stored in. Very weird. Dad resisted the urge to sell despite the many offers he received during the late 80s. We spent most of the 80s and 90s researching our car, by virtue of hat research, Dad is regarded as the world expert on the 500 Mondials. Ferrari cranked out an amazing variety of motor types in those days, especially in the 4 cylinder family; from the 2 liter formula 1 motors that won Ferrari the F1 World Championships in 52 and 53 (where the "Mondial" name comes from) to the 500, 500TR (remember, the first "testa rossa" was a 4 cylinder car), 625, 735, 750, 757 and 860 cars.

    About two years ago, we started disassembly on the old beast. Bagging, tagging and lots of pics.

    here are some pics of that process. Since the skin of the car is a thin gauge aluminum, we had to be very careful with paint removal, using only plastic scrapers. Second pic; blasting 50 years of dirt and grime out w/ the powerwasher (in February)
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  22. Bryanp

    Bryanp F1 Rookie

    Aug 13, 2002
    3,799
    Santa Fe, NM
    #22 Bryanp, Apr 25, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  23. Bryanp

    Bryanp F1 Rookie

    Aug 13, 2002
    3,799
    Santa Fe, NM
    #23 Bryanp, Apr 25, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    I forgot to mention that we also took the car to Reading 2000 at Pietro Castiglione's gracious invitation since he was trying to gather as many Scaglietti-bodied Ferraris as possible for that event; his special guest was Sgr. Scaglietti himself. Through his interpreter, we heard him express his respect for all of the marvellously restored Ferraris around him; "I wish I could have hired all of you in 1952!" He ran his hand over 0556's metal and said "This is how we did it back then." It was a great day, in addition to having a road trip w/ Dick and Kendall Merritt in the their tow vehicle. We asked Sgr. Scaglietti to autograph the underside of the spare tire cover. Here are the pics of that day - Dad w/ Sgr. Scaglietti (and Bob Dusek to the far right - owns, among other things, the 712 CanAm Ferrari - the biggest, baddest F-car of all time).
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  24. Bryanp

    Bryanp F1 Rookie

    Aug 13, 2002
    3,799
    Santa Fe, NM
    #24 Bryanp, Apr 25, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  25. Bryanp

    Bryanp F1 Rookie

    Aug 13, 2002
    3,799
    Santa Fe, NM
    #25 Bryanp, Apr 25, 2008
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