0202 A – Bought on Ebay - Long Lost Even-Numbered Comp Ferrari Found

Bill Devin was very iinfluenced by Ferrari ,

He owned a couple of them in the 50s and if you look at his first bodies with the small "mouth" they are 90% plus copies of a Ferrari,

He was a good promoter and often got his picture in the car magazines, which sold body shells that were almost unbuildable (no inner panels etc)

Unfortunately he was not really a good businessman , and was often close to going out of business,

The chassis is Ferrari, put it back as a Ferrari, same as if it was crashed and repaired that way in the 50s, forget about the few years where it was "hiding" under a fiberglass blanket !

Dave

 

The first Devin body was taken from an Ermini (an etceterini), and the molds were later expanded/ stretched for different configurations. The Ermini looked like a mini-Monza.

 

Must be my monitor, as it looks like dark olive green to me...

 

Sounds good.....sacrificing a relatively rare car to make a not very good replica of a monza.

some things just never change!

 

To answer the engine cost, based on discussions at my local dealer, the only accredited F1 clienti shop in the US for 2006, a one-off engine block fabricated by Ferrari costs over $250,000. $200,000 is what an F1 V6 engine block costed for an ex-niki Lauda 78 F1 car. FYI, a complete service overhaul on an ex-Schumacher V10 engine runs about $400,000.

Now even if Ferrari produces a new engine for 0202A it won't be able to stamp it with the same SN, right?

 

This has and will continue to be a great barnfind story. No doubt when restored this car will be more valuable than a similar car that has just sat in a museum for the last 40 years. Which story would you enjoy telling at a car show? Speaking of car shows, is there a chance that the car may be displayed at Concorso Italiano in August? Does anyone know?

 

Many newer collectors do not understand THE COLLECTOR MENTALITY.
Buy good puzzle pieces, WELL before you buy the puzzle!!!!
A true collector tends to purchase anything and everything for cars that they have sincere interest in, (in my case Lampredi engine 50's cars) to use, swap, trade, barter,sell (never!) etc. Some buy parts for cars and they have not bought the car , yet! You never know when you will need any of these parts, some you may NEVER need but "MAN ARE THEY COOL and I GOT 'EM" !!! The hunt!


I had purchased a back up Lampredi engine for my 410 SA many years back. I traded basically my 5000GT Maserati Allemano, running and driving, for this Lampredi engine. I was happy with that decision years ago, I am even happier today.
Who would have know, what puzzle I was going to attempt to solve?

It was easier to build THIS damaged engine, than to start with the many NOS parts and new heads and try to assemble a collection of parts that I will call an engine (0242AL had dropped a valve and the wrong hands had been inside the motor prior to my ownership (destroying a combustion chamber etc etc etc))
So this engine was built up and has been used in my 410SA for several years, so my streak of static displays on my drive and garage, could finally end. A 50's car in my driveway that finally RUNS AND DRIVE, what a unique concept. Yes it is running! Now! Today! Has been for years.

This engine photographed came out of Mexico 0222A. From all my sources, 0242AL engine was take out of the car in the 80's by Joe Alphabet sold to the Mexico owner Mitch Leyland(?), rebuilt by Harold White and installed in this Mexico in Los Angeles area. Car eventually sold to Japan. 0222A's motor was found in 0325EU in Los Angeles 8-10 years back by Elliot Grossman, and eventually reunited with the Mexico. I acquired 0242's engine was it was enroute to America from Japan, bought it on the boat. 0222A carbs no. 149, 157, and 161 Weber brass tags 40DCF/3's, are on this engine (jetted down) remained with this damaged now running 342 engine, 0242AL. This engine has 9mm cams in it, original parts not remanaufactured. The internal engine number is 7B. Original engine number has been ground off, when in previous hands.

The aircleaner assembly pictured is for a 410SA I do have the 3 individual road air cleaner assemblies, used originals and reproduction. I also have original fuel pumps for you attention to detail, critics. Couple weeks til 0202A is ready to be shown. I will have the right parts on it in time, no worries.
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The Ermini was NOT destroyed when the molds were taken!

 

Tom, I first met you back in 1989, back then I had a 73RS, I believe you were more into maserati's back then, but you have moved up the ladder, your knowledge od older Ferrari's is right up there, from reading this thread recently, All those years of networking looks as thou they are about to return very handsome dividends. You deserve it, CONGRATULATIONS!!

 

Tom, I first met you back in 1989, back then I had a 73RS, I believe you were more into maserati's back then, but you have moved up the ladder, your knowledge of older Ferrari's is right up there, from reading this thread recently, All those years of networking looks as thou they are about to return very handsome dividends. You deserve it, CONGRATULATIONS!!

 

Tom's last post is a cover for the real story.

We should put together a poll to predict how long it will take Tom to come up with engine 202!

Good luck in the quest for the original motor Tom! It's out there and I suspect you already know where it is.

Regards,

Art S.

 

Didn't mean the Ermini...meant the Ferrari!

 

Hello Tom,

Did this motor start life as a 4.1? Just curious. The number 0242 sounds like an America.

john

john

 

He will have to stand in line!

Tom has parts in stock that will make this car correct by any judging standards (read, far more correct than many Pebble winning cars) yet I agree, he likely knows where the origional engine is laying. Give him time, it will be reunited. I remember the Maserati he traded for the engine. I assure you it was no mutt. How's that for forward thinking? My hats off, bowing to the west ...

Dave

 

Crap. Looks like I have the disease...

 

Well,
it looks like the Chicago Tribune cought wind of the deal and made a feature article of it, on the Front page of the Sunday Transportation section, with a number of color pics. A teaser clip, at the link below...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/automotive/chi-0608130044aug13,1,4077074.story

$3 million promise
Collector defies the odds to pick up a rare Ferrari 340 America--1 of 475 only built--for a cool $26,000

By Paul Duchene
Special to the Tribune
Published August 13, 2006

In what could be the greatest barn find, California collector Tom Shaughnessy has bought a 1952 Ferrari 340 America Spider chassis in a Frankfort garage sale for $26,912--less than 1 percent of the car's estimated restored value.

He and seller Mike Sanfilippo are delighted with the discovery that it's a significant racecar lost for 43 years. Both plan to be on hand when the restored car is presented to the world--the target is the Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance in three years.

"It cost me $200 15 years ago," says Sanfilippo, a retired drag racer. "I almost cut up the chassis to make a hot wheels dragster out of the body. Good thing that goofy project never happened."

Shaughnessy's buy is even more remarkable considering the sale was wide-open on eBay. Thousands of collectors had the same opportunity--though the frame has been obscured by Devin fiberglass body for 46 years.

"Lots of guys were going to come and see it, but only one did," says Sanfilippo, who dismantled the car for a thorough series of photographs and answered numerous e-mail queries from the U.S. and Europe.

Hilary Rabb, an expert on early Ferraris, examined the car closely once Shaughnessy bought it and the two made a surprising discovery. The chassis revealed the No. 0202 A. Because it is an even-number chassis, this is a factory competition car, one of 475 made between 1948 and 1974, almost all of which are accounted for. (In case you want to check your own barn, the numbers range from 0002-0896 and 1002-1050).

The $26,000-plus Shaughnessy paid when the auction closed June 20, not counting the $20,000 he gave his tipster, is about 1 percent of the car's restored value, estimates Swiss Ferrari expert Marcel Massini. The chassis is one of 25, 340 Americas built. Nine were bodied by Touring, 11 by Vignale (this is one) and five by Ghia. Sister cars are 0196 A and 0204 A, which should assist in accurate reconstruction. Both sister cars have undergone there own rehabs with one now in England and the other in New York.

A full restoration of 0202 A is planned in cooperation with the Ferrari factory in Maranello, Italy, though Shaughnessy hopes the carmaker will join in on the work.

Massini has tracked the history of 0202 A, and it's a good read.

The car raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1952 with famed French racers Maurice Trintignant and Louis Rosier, but did not finish. The factory then lent it to Piero Scotti, who ran several significant races and won three hillclimbs with it. Other racers borrowed it from Ferrari until U.S. importer Luigi Chinetti bought it in 1953 and sold it to Ernie McAfee in Los Angeles. He owned it until 1958, then sold 0202 A to Paul Owens in Houston, who installed a Chevrolet V-8. McAfee and Owens are well known racers and collectors.

The worst was to come. After a crash in which the passenger was killed, a Devin fiberglass body replaced the original aluminum body was fitted and the resulting combination advertised in Sports Car magazine for $4,250. (Devin was a private manufacturer who made fiberglass bodies to fit a number of chassis for about 10 years in the 1950s and early 60s.) 0202 A's next stop was Utah in 1963, it later made its way back to the Chicago area, with Sanfilippo picking it up in 1990 or so.

"I heard about it, and the guy wanted $200. His kid had abandoned it in his garage, and he wanted his garage back. I took my trailer and picked it up. I bought it for the cool body," he recalls. His only clue as the what lay underneath was a Ferrari badge on it.

Of course Shaughnessy's purchase price is just a down payment on what it will cost to restore 0202 A. The front part of the chassis is intact, though the front spring is missing. The center section and rear have been modified with the rear leaf-spring mounts cut off. But the brakes are complete, and the axles and wheels are correct.

Shaughnessy reckons a neophyte who dropped off the chassis at a professional restoration shop could end up writing a check for seven figures--still acceptable, with Massini estimating the completed car's value at $2.8 million. Shaughnessy a capable restorer will still spend $500,000 to $600,000.

"A 340 motor will cost $200,000, transmission $25,000, differential $20,000, chassis preparation and repair $100,000 and a new body about $200,000," he says.

And here's where Shaughnessy has the edge. "I already have a running engine, rear end, transmission, pedal box, radiator and oil cooler."

He even thinks he knows where the original V-12 engine is and hopes he might be able to persuade the owner to trade for his motor, which is close to the same number.

"I'm pleased as punch," he says. "There are four pages [on the discovery] on Ferrari chat online, and that enthusiasm is part of car culture. I'll just have to put a sticker on the back: `I bought it on eBay.'"

For his part, Sanfilippo is happy.

"Tom was concerned about my response, but I'm good with this. I told him I don't have the knowledge, the resources or the contacts to restore the car properly. I'm totally excited it went to the right person."

Sanfilippo also has a word for people offering him condolences about not making more money from the sale.

"This car's been missing for 43 years, and it's back. Let's just be happy about that." Not to mention his already hefty return on that $200 investment. - - -

Ferrari 340 America

Engine: 4.1-liter, 220-h.p. V-12

Transmission: 5-speed manual

Wheelbase: 96.8 inches

Track (front/rear): 51.12/50 mm

Dry weight: 1,980 pounds

Top speed: 148 m.p.h.

E-mail this story

Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune

 

Would Shaughnessy be so kind as to update us as to the status of this project? Many thanks.

 

Interesting to read about the engine from 0242AL. When I bought this car it was running with its original engine, although the little water pipe (hollow bolt) that runs through the timing case at the top was leaking water into the oil as a result of a loose chain cutting through it. There was no dropped valve at that time. I actually drove it home some miles, and to Sal DiNatale's shop, that way. That "grey oil" may not have been the best lubricant, but it worked. I sold it off "as is", as it didn't seem to be worth fixing at that time. Here's a pic at Sal's shop.
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Hi Marcel: I think that must be 10163, a 275GTB4 sold by Tom Meade to the US with a 330 engine and mis-matched manifolds. I bought it from Conrad Banks, and sold it to Mark Schroeder. Here are the only pix I have, one with it's barn-mate at the time, 0647GT.
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SN 10163 was consigned by Tom S. circa 2000

http://www.ferraris-online.com/pages/cardetail.php?reqcardir=FE-275GTB4-10163

 

Ed's top photo appears to have been taken on Sepulveda Blvd. in Van Nuys. Not exactly Ferrari territory.

 

Andy, you have a good eye! Yes, Sal's shop was on the West side of Sepulveda Blvd. I have posted several pix taken by me there.