Carrozzeria VIGNALE - Ferraris bodied by Vignale

Amen to that.

Looking through this thread, there is almost a discrepancy amongst the bodies created by Vignale. Some have incredibly simple and pure lines, others are, in my opinion, way over the top and incoherent. It would be very interesting to know who penned which particular bodies, as I don't think they all came from the same hand.

My favourite car has to be Jan Smits' 179(?), of which I'd love to see some period pics.

 

Great car!

Best

 

See photo on page 16 of "Cavallino" magazine, issue #1, of September 1978. Or page 120 of my book "Ferrari by Vignale".
Marcel Massini

 

Completely, totally disagree with you.
Cheers,
Dave

 

Fantastic car! full of character, used in the way it was meant to be!

 

The car is what it is. It certainly is unique. The only other one that is in this state of "patina" is 052M. Mechanically, it would have to be in tip top shape; it is campaigned regularly. But, at this point, cosmetic renovation in any partial form would be a mistake.

john

 

0071S is the real deal. Well maintained mechanically by Motion Products last 3+ years and yet sympathetically retains all that left the Ferrari factory. Very unique and special to those that appreciate history. Beautiful and wonderful car!

 

One cannot fail to thank Marcel for the suggestion, and all others who posted these lovely pix. In my view, this was the most exciting period of the Ferrari factory's history. Almost all the cars were unique, and those bodied by Vignale were unfailingly fascinating. It was, in part, that element of uniqueness that had me hooked on Ferraris as soon as I saw my first one (a Vignale berlinetta with a large chrome trim piece around the front and sides of the engine compartment). In retrospect, the Vignale designs ranged from absolutely exquisite, to unusual, to downright bizzarro (you can figure out which is which). One wonders why some are so stunningly successful and others, well... Was Michelotti always the designer? I guess when I get home I'll have to drag out Marcel's book for a re-read. Anyway, thanks!

 

Ed, yes, see my question of a few posts back.

In this light it should also be noted that a lot of the now 'clean' looking cars shed their busy chrome decorations, adapting them to 'what we like to see' in more modern times.

Another influence on this would be the brief that the owner gave Vignale when a car was to be constructed. I suppose in the days you also had the different camps within the then small following of Ferrari, those who went after the true sportscar vs. the gold-chain crowd. Pardon the categorisation, but in my opinion this best describes the vast difference in styles.

 

some of my detail pics of 0071S - great car ! the new owner has to leave it as it is !!!
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A more appropriate distinction might be between those headed for the street and those headed for the track. The ornamentation that some of us see as almost like fine jewelry should be seen in the context of the time they were built and not judged by today's tastes.

 

A couple of cars that I am somewhat familiar with haven't been mentioned. A gentleman by the name of Fred Herdeen, now deceased, owned 069S, a coupe that he drove quite vigorously. I was following him to the Bridgehampton track, and watched him jump the railroad tracks on Scuttlehole Rd. He told me that the car was shown in Paris at the 1949 show. The other car is a 250MM, 0336MM, owned and driven by Gene Greenspun in the 1956 Sebring race, number 32. I am not sure, but I think that it is now owned by Tony Wang.
Joel

 

0069S was built in 1950...

 

The factory issued the Certificate of Origin for 0069 S on the 1st September 1950.
Marcel Massini

 

Always perfectly accurate Marcel !!!

 

0071S @ LeMans Classic & Monaco Historique
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One to identify, I can't. 212 export
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0110 E. Pictured in the current owner's garage. Name redacted out of respect for his privacy. There are earlier references to this car in this thread.

Cheers,
Dave

 

Also, yellow car is a Fiat 8V with Zagato coachwork with, IIRC, MM competition history.

Best.

 

Yes, chassis 000082, originally silver with blue interior.
Anton

 

Hi!
This car not only shows "patina"..... each ding, each blemish in the paint, each hole in the body has a story..... all these things tranforms an old dirty racing car in a wonderfull rolling piece of history.

Really nice.

Best regards,
Alvaro.

 

That looks like quite the collection, does anyone here collect 8V pictures by chassis #?

 

Didn't mean to cause a stir, when I tried reading the descriptive plaques before posting the resolution seemed too poor to do so. I did ask permission to take the photos----.

 

Permission of making a picture is something different that throwing it on the internet....
ciao
Oscar

 

Richard:

I have some sorted by chassis number, but they all have appeared elsewhere. I you are intersted in 8Vs and Siata 208s, I would strongly suggest you pick up a copy of Tony Adriaensens book. I loaned Tony all my 8V and Siata stuff, as did many others to help him do the book, which he took something like 10 yeas to do. Anton (Tony) Kravanek also helped him a great deal, as he is probably the world expert on 8V mechanics, and has been involved in the restoration of a number of them. The book is quite expensive, however, at around $600 including the post. Here is a link: http://www.corsaresearch.com/ottovu.html