MERGED: 250TR 0666/TR at Gooding Pebble Beach

Big news from Gooding today that the 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa Prototype (s/n 0666 TR) will be offered for sale at their upcoming Pebble Beach sale. As you'd imagine, they expect it to break the all-time auction record of $12,402,500 set by another Testa Rossa, 0714TR.

http://www.sportscardigest.com/ferrari-250-testa-rossa-expected-to-break-auction-record/

 

Butch did a great job restoring that TR!
CH

 

Couldn't agree more. We've seen it many times and it never ceases to drop the jaws a bit.

 

Wow. I'm only a Powerball ticket away from being the caretaker.

Given the s/n, 0666 TR, I suspect this FChatter will be bidding on it.

 

Is Shirley done with it?

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A5t5_O8hdA[/ame]

My apologies; I couldn't resist.

 

That car is gorgeous!

 

Who was the restorer?

 

Is 0666TR the one that Joel Finn owned for a while? He of the seminal V12 TR book.

Jeff

 

I am reading thru that book now.......great read!!!

 

I am pretty sure that Betz and Peters owned 0666TR for many, many years (I think it was a basket case at one point) and then it was acquired by Shirley and restored by Butch Dennison while owned by Shirley. I am sure others (i.e., MM) will chime in with more exact details.

 

THE TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN !!
RARE & BEAUTIFUL

 

0666TR. one for show and one to go.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I think Chuck and Fred built it up over a long time from very little; a monumental undertaking. I think Marcel DeLay (sp?) made the body. At one time I think it had a Corvette rear end. At one time it had a Ford big-block engine. Interesting race history, and a real prototype; some claim the frame started out as a 290MM. After C&F made a car out of what was not much more than a frame, I think Butch re-restored it to Shirley's liking.

 

P.S. Does that wheel hub look like a standard 250GT wheel? Didn't these cars use a different hub? Picky, picky.

 

Here's an on-track picture taken at the 2009 Sonoma Historics nee Wine Country Classic.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Did Pete Lovely have just the motor from 0666 at one time?
CH

 

Yes. Pete had just the engine itself. It was in a cabinet in the shop for decades. Most people walked by not having a clue it was there.

There is no longer a Corvette rear diff in it -- it was a newly made rear gearbox setup that was duplicated from Jon's ex-290MM. Works great. The restoration was pretty comprehensive and there was a lot of work involved to correct things and put back to "as researched" condition. Remember this chassis had been heavily modified originally and damaged in subsequent history.

The shop just did a complete once over on the car and it is in immaculate condition. There has been a LOT of pictures being taken of it for articles upcoming as will as the auction house itself. Literally the parking lot has been a photo studio for days. It's also been up/down the road numerous times for driving tests by the media involved.

I've seen it run hard at the racetrack -- this car isn't babied -- it is a racecar. It's spent quite a bit of time on the dyno as well and the engine works fantastic. (I don't remember the last hp/bhp readings) Most people don't realize that Butch and his crew do all their own Ferrari engine work and tuning for the past 10+ years. Thus all these cars run as well as they look.

It will be interesting to see where 0666TR ends up -- hopefully with someone who regularly exercises her on the racetrack as intended.

 

Pete did not have the motor to 0666/TR.

There were many Ferrari engines fitted to 0666/TR in period. One of them ended up in Texas many years ago and that is the engine that was fitted to the car when I had it for sale and it was the engine that went with the car when it was sold to John.

The engine Pete had was something a bit more special and I was able to get that engine back to the Ferrari it ran with it in period in most of its races. While not the "born with" engine, it was far more appropriate than any other and they still remain together to this day.

Ciao,

Bill

 

I wonder what Shirley's intentions are. Downsizing the collection? Moving onto something else? More pre-War stuff? That TR fit so perfectly into his collection alongside a 290MM and a 250GTO! Just curious if someone has any ideas.

- Jan

 

Anyone have pictures of it after the fire?

 

Thanks to the always informative Mr. Noon for the 'discretely presented' details there!
CH

 

After the fire. Copyright unknown. It was a terrible accident initiated by the fatal accident of the D-type driven by J.M.Brousseler.
0666TR's was struck by the débris of the crashed car and was smashed against the barrier wall bursting into flames.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Boudewijn, great shot thanks. I was looking for pictures from after the garage fire.

 

I have seen far worse. The dirt and debris likely kept the car from being burnt out completely.

Ciao,

Bill