Whatever became of this 1955 Ferrari?

[Horsefly]

While doing some Corvette net browsing, I came across this photo of a Ferrari once owned by GM racer Jerry Earl. Does it still exist in this form?
He sold the Ferrari for a Corvette? Well,....not exactly. He was in the GM family so to speak. But the Ferrari is still probably a lot more valuable today than the SR2 Corvette racer.

Scroll down to middle of link:
http://www.carofthecentury.com/gm's_...ports_cars.htm

[Anteriore]

My best bet is that this car is 1953 250 MM Vignale Spyder, s/n 0348MM. Owned today by Mr. del Arroz.

[kare]

Originally Posted by 250GTO/64

My best bet is that this car is 1953 250 MM Vignale Spyder, s/n 0348MM.

Yes, still shows remains of a race number from Cumberland. Best wishes, Kare

[Marcel Massini]

Originally Posted by kare

Yes, still shows remains of a race number from Cumberland. Best wishes, Kare

1.) It is not a 1955 but a 1953 Ferrari.

2.) 0348 MM is the 27th of a total of 31 250 MMs built.

3.) The owner in 1955 was not Jerome or Harley Earl. In January 1954 J. M. Richard Lyeth of Grosse Point/MI, owner of Lyeth Engineering Co. in Detroit/MI, acquired 0348 MM from Briggs S. Cunningham (who had bought it from Alfed Momo Corporation in Woodside/NY). See also issue #10 of the SCCA Bulletin of 10 January 1954.

4.) The race number "220" was first seen on chassis #0348 MM on the 4 July 1954 during the Omaha Centennial Grand Prix at Offut AFB in Omaha/NE when Lyeth raced it to 7th OA and 1st in class.

5.) Lyeth sold 0348 MM in October 1955 to Paul Montcastle of Nashville/TN.

6.) The Le Mans 24 hours took place on 28 July 1956. At that time 0348 MM was already owned by Chuck and Audrey Saffel of Huntsville/AL. They entered it regularly in the name of their "Scuderia Furioso". I have lots of old color shots which confirm the aforementioned. No, Briggs Cunningham did NOT take this Ferrari to Le Mans 1956 and did NOT place it in the top-5 finishers.

Marcel Massini

[GTSguy]

Wow, I've heard this legend (albeit with less information and no pictures) several times over the years. It seemed quite plausible. Glad to now know the truth.

Another urban legend gone in 60 seconds!

[mroz]

Hey .... That's my car! Thanks for posting the web link!

[sjvalin]

Originally Posted by mroz

Hey .... That's my car! Thanks for posting the web link!

My god, Manny, that is BEAUTIFUL! Is this picture post Brian's work?

So, which car are you bringing to Monterey this year???? :-)

-steve

[mroz]

Can 0348M 250MM be the Corvette prototype?? Thats a wild thought!
Well, it was the only Ferrari in Michigan at the time.

Can someone confirm the the person sitting in the 250MM is Jerry Earl? Also, is the lady standing next to 0348M Suzy Earl?

[mroz]

Originally Posted by sjvalin

My god, Manny, that is BEAUTIFUL! Is this picture post Brian's work?

So, which car are you bringing to Monterey this year???? :-)

-steve

I took the picture on Mt Diablo.
No car at Monterey. Will be their to just hang out. Much more fun that way.

[kevfla]

just how exotic these little convertibles must have looked "in their day," (without the historical context of today).

KevFla

[Marcel Massini]

Here's a photo showing 250 MM Spider Vignale #0348 MM at Courtland/AL in July 1957 with Chuck Saffell, surrounded by Corvettes and a Jag. Note headrest.
Photo by Walter Bailey, Marcel Massini Collection.

[mroz]

Today, I talked to Harley Earl's Grandson - Richard Earl. He confirmed that the man and woman in the recently discovered photo of 250MM 0348M is his mother Suzy and father Jerry Earl.

Another quote by Richard Earl interviewing his farther Jerry (Jerry is still alive). :
"When he (Jerry Earl) bought the Ferrari 250MM, Harley saw the car and was inspired to begin the first Corvette race program inside GM. As a result, Harley built the first, in house, purpose built racing Corvette - The SR-2. The SR-2 was a one off race car built secretly inside GM studios for Jerry. Jerry raced the SR-2 in 1956. The 250 MM was owned for a short time by Jerry and not raced."

After all, was Harley Earls son really going to race a Ferrari? As the story seems to go, the SR-2 Corvette was built!

[marat]

What evidence do you have regarding the 1956 Le Mans entry ?
Seems it was not raced and also not DNS.

[mroz]

Originally Posted by marat

What evidence do you have regarding the 1956 Le Mans entry ?
Seems it was not raced and also not DNS.

0348M was not raced at Le Mans. The article has some errors and seems to confuse 0348M with another car. One thing for sure, the car pictured with Jerry Earl is 0348M. Race history is another issue.

It's also possible that 0348M was on loan to Jerry Earl. Will check out.

[Rogerp]

Originally Posted by mroz

Race history is another issue.

Do you know whether it raced at the Big Ridge Hillclimb in Tennessee in 1955 and is the car pictured in Cavallino 91 on page 4?

[mroz]

Originally Posted by Rogerp

Do you know whether it raced at the Big Ridge Hillclimb in Tennessee in 1955 and is the car pictured in Cavallino 91 on page 4?

My old Cavallino's are at another location.Will look at 91 over the weekend. Maybe Marcel would know?

[Aardy]

yes, the picture in the Cavallino 91 shows 0348MM...

[driver]

This appears to be a sister car to 0336MM, which was driven through the streets of Manhattan before entering the 1956 Sebring event.

[etienne]

I love this car ! Some pics I made at the Concours d'élégance of Düsseldorf, in july 2004. And if you look at the last, you can see another 250MM, but berlinetta...0256MM

http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/6806/1292953ty3.jpg
http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/650/1292965so2.jpg
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/3690/1292972no8.jpg
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/9393/1292993gm0.jpg
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/2055/1303060vd6.jpg

[TopMonkey]

fantastic car, nice pictures.