Ferrari Sport Cars Thread

Franco Cornacchia & Gino Bronzoni, race #436. Sorry, don't know the body.

 

I am not aware of any other race on 12.04.1953 except the 11° Les Coupes de Vitesse de Montlhéry, the Nationaler Automobil-Slalom Dübendorf and in the USA the Lone Star National Sports Car Races (Bergstrom AFB). I think we can safely discard those, the event has to be the 13° Giro automobilistico di Sicilia.

Chassis 0276 MM was raced by Franco Cornacchia in 1953, but the history of the 250 MMs is highly complicated

 

My info lists the car of Piotti in the 13° Giro automobilistico di Sicilia as on loan from Cacciari which strongly suggests chassis 0272 M.

#428 (Umberto Masetti & Azelio Cappi) was a Ferrari entry?

 

I have #414 Luigi Piotti as DNA instead of DNF (source: Cavallino #117 page 3)

 

#414 Luigi Piotti: Cavallino lists chassis as 0290 M which is a 166 MM/53 Series II (which fits with the 2 liter category).

 

It was Marcel who said that 0276 MM crashed badly on 12 April 1953.

It was only my assumption that this particular crash had to be during the 1953 Giro di Sicilia (as there were no other major races in Italy that day); and if so that the most obvious candidate would have to be race #436 (as Franco Cornacchia had raced 0276 MM in other races in 1953 and was a DNF in Sicily). I can be wrong on both

 

430 Guerino Gerini in Cornacchia's 250 MM.

Marcel Massini

 

If only the history of the 250 MM's was complicated in a lot of models not only Ferrari there are still stuff to discover , new facts . Even in the most written Ferrari car the 250 GTO there are still mistakes in some cars history .

 

I don't know if this helps or hinders but this picture is claimed to be (0276MM) early in 1953, not long before a Morrelli spyder body was fitted. I can't vouch for any of the info.
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Thanks Cyril. That alternative was given on the same website !! However, I have been informed that 0276MM had a similar body and was one of two 250MM that had a body similar to the 375MM - the other being 0356MM (which confusingly was a 166MM/53 chassis with a 250 engine). Is that all nonsense as well ?

 

I personally think that claims of 0276MM having been a PF Berlinetta are based of a clerical error, 0270MM likely re-entered as 0276MM and this entry would naturally soon be striked over. Would not have been the first or last time this happened. Neither is there room for another PF job number. 0270MM was PF/11193 and the next car a month later was 0292MM PF/11194.

I also agree with Aardy that B. Sterzi was #430 on the entry list and I have him likely finishing third in class with finishing time 12:54:00 and average speed of 83.7 km/h, not allowing for a serious accident on the way.

Without photographic evidence of the opposite, I must presume that 0276MM was delayed in production a little for various reasons. First of all all coachbuilders were out of capacity at this time, and the situation was getting so serious that Ferrari started building bodies themselves (sc. Autodromos). The mix-up with PF may also have delayed the production. So maybe Piotti just arranged his car to be built by Morelli after hearing that Vignale could not make it in time.

Once more: I would love to be proved wrong.

 

356MM was a special design resembling a 375MM and also described as "tipo 375MM 2-posti".

There was another car looking quite like it, but it was the second body of 0250MM built around the same time (late53/early 54).

 

Please note that the correct chassis number suffix for 0356 is M (0356 M, not 0356 MM).
Per the build sheets the frame type is 166 MM/53.
Engine is a 3 liter 250, gearbox and rear axle are 166 MM.

Marcel Massini