Charlie Hayes 250 GT SWB

Watching Charlie Hayes race a dark Red(?) 250 GT SWB at East Coast SCCA races in the 60s got me hooked on Ferraris. Anyone know what happened to that car?

 

Chassis #2237GT.

 

From Charlie Hayes's book:

"So I set up a trade in late May with exotic car emporium owner Bob Grossman, also a Ferrari racer, in Nyack NY to purchase Ferrari 250GT #2237, a Short Wheelbase Berlinetta. It was a brilliant Red Burgundy metallic job and was the Paris show car. Only problem was the fuel filler; more about that item later."
*****
"I sold the Berlinetta to one Bob Stelloh who lived in Illinois somewhere around late September of 1962,
Hayes, Charlie. Fast & Faster . Unknown. Kindle Edition."

 

2237 GT at Castle Dyck in Germany 2017.

Marcel Massini

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Thanks for the follow up! IMO, the car looked better with the original Red Burgundy metallic paint and no shields.

 

Photo of 2237 back in her prime and original color, racing at Marlboro, MD(?).

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=936656626463628&set=picfp.100003578972026

 

Charlie Hayes paid US$ 9'000.
Bob Stelloh was in La Grange, IL.
The car was badly damaged several times, including a garage fire at Stelloh's garage.
In 2011 Alwin Hietbrink in The Netherlands built a new nose section.

Marcel Massini

 

Looking again at that photo of 2237, I was likely at that race. Free association of old age but in 1961, the sound of that V-12 Colombo engine at red-line left a lasting impression on a 16 year old.

 

What circuit is that?
Not a corner I recognize so probably a track no longer in use.

 

Upper Marlboro, Md. Track used from about 1952 to 1969.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlboro_Motor_Raceway#/media/File:Marlborowiki.gif

 

Thanks for the link, it must have been fun to drive but the comment that Summit Point was more advanced is sobering, I had several rides including in 250LM 6051 there (FCA national 97) and the lack of guardrails, the proximity of the trees got your attention.

 

The Marlboro road circuit had a half-mile oval at its core. The start/finish line, grandstands and paddock were in the infield. The road circuit utilized approx. 3/4 of the oval track. As the turns were banked, there was a bit of jump exiting the oval(just after the start/finish line) and another when re-entering. The main straight ran down to a section called the Bootleg(I think that this is where the Hayes SWB is in the photo) and then doubled back toward some squiggle before the oval. You could see cars travelling down the straights in both directions, like a divided highway. A pretty tight circuit, less than two miles in length.

 

Like Avus or Baku!

The initial version of the Fuji road course had a poorly designed transition from flat circuit to banked curve which caused at least one fatality.

 

" A pretty tight circuit, less than two miles in length."
******
One race series that I attended (SCCA Nationals?), Sterling Moss was there and the race announcer asked him what he thought of the track. Don't remember his exact words but it was basically "This course is a joke."

 

Marlboro was the perfect track for Bruce “King Carrera” Jennings to feast on Corvettes, Mustangs and Ferraris.

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My father bought the SWB in 1986 from Monte Shalet. We have been very lucky, that we were able to keep the car until today. To the best of our knowledge the car had never been severely damaged apart from a fire at Elkhart Lake that burned the nose section of the bodywork but neither the chassis nor the suspension. When my father bought the car in the US, the new nose section was damaged again due to an accident, which Monte Shalet had at a historic race meeting. Dino Cognolato was therefore commissioned with a full restoration of the SWB including the remodeling of the front section of the bodywork. My father was never 100% satisfied with the shape of the nose, as it was visibly different to the original state. When he finally saw the the car in person in Italy, it had already been painted and almost fully assembled and he therefore just left it as it was. During the certification in 2011, Ferrari Classiche had a similar view and demanded a change of the front section. The work was carried out by Alwin Hietbrink, who had already restored the bodywork of the Breadvan for us and we therefore knew about his great talent with metalwork. Apart from this modification, the certification process was fairly uncomplicated and the car today still retains its original chassis, body (less nose section), engine, gearbox and rear-axle. The attached pictures show the car in the mid 1980s at Cognolato's workshop after metalwork preparation and at Goodwood in 2018.

Moritz
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Wow. Gotta admit it looks Bad-ass in Black.

 

Sun was already setting at Goodwood, so it only looks like black in that light. The colour is called "Blu Scuro" a mid to dark blue. The original colour was "Vinaccia" as one can probably guess from the period pictures. There is no remark about the original colours in the certificate however.

 

That Goodwood "sunset" shot is just pure sex-on-wheels-in-motion.
My hat's off to photographer capturing it so well.

 

Good to see you here Moritz, say hello to Max and Klaus.