Was there a Ferrari dealer in Modena in 1954 named Cammellini (spelling?)? What was his full name?
Mario Camellini, SAS Motors S.p.A., via Malmusi 46/48, Modena, I Workshop at via Malmusi 78 (Garage Camellini)
Garage Mario Camellini in via Malmusi 78 in Modena was the first ever Ferrari dealership; 1962 SASA-Motors S.p.A. got established 16 January 1962 as a ‘società a responsabililà limitata’ (S.r.l.) and transformed mid 1963 in a ‘società per azioni’ (S.p.A.) with 'sede legale' in via Malmusi 46/48, amministratore unico Mario Camellini.
Mario Camellini sold Ferrari cars starting from 004 chassis: he was the Ferrari first dealer ever. Here you are the heirs (son and grandson, Umberto and Alessandro) who tell the whole story and show their fantastic cars collection, that includes the 1953 1000miglia race winner: Giannino Marzotto's 340 MM. ciao
That's is called "filone": the 250 GTO body shape made by thick iron wires, a tool to make the 250 GTO body panels (that were hand made with an hammer by the "battilastra"). Yes, that's original, but it's not a car. ciao Picture below taken by myself at last year Modenart: 250 GTO '64 and '62 bodies with the two cars "filone" Image Unavailable, Please Login
Mario was referring to the car at the back on the right in the video in the link here. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Umberto Camellini's car is not a real 250 GTO. It is an incomplete replica based on a 250 GTE 2+2. Marcel Massini Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login no that's not, of course. Camellini's collection gem is the Ferrari 340 MM 0280AM ciao Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
this is 0280 AM, the Camellini collection gem, 1000Miglia 1953 winner.At Ferrari 70th, Modena, 2017. My picture ciao Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yes I went there with Joanna and had a lovely evening with Umberto- lovely man and he got all the very old NOS parts he had out which we bought from him
Another car with uncorrect nose. Grill is sooo wrong and soooo small... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Compare with photo on page 158 of the book "Ferrari by Vignale", authored by me and published 1993 by Giorgio Nada Editore. In 1957 0280 AM was used in the filming of the movie “Checkpoint” by Rank Organization, produced in Italy, starring Anthony Steel, Odile Versois, Stanley Baker and James Robertson Justice, using race #14. Prior to Mario Camellini there were four owners, Camellini (the father) is the fifth and he got it in 1964. And here's a photo of 0280 AM in Monaco 30 May 1965 when driven by Piero Taruffi and Toulo De Graffenried during the meeting of the Club International des Anciens Pilotes Grand Prix in Monte Carlo. 0280 AM was restored in 1993 by Bacchelli & Villa Carrozzeria Auto Sport in Bastiglia. Marcel Massini Image Unavailable, Please Login
Marcel, I am not blessed by owning your book about the "Ferrari by Vignale". So I can not compare. On the photo you posted the front grill looks pretty much the same as in 1953. Question -for me- is: when was the nose not correctly restored and by whom? Hard to believe for me that Bacchelli & Villa modified it to the incorrect shape. Was it done before the car was restored by them and so they "copied" the mistake?
I agree that Autosport (named back to Bacchelli & Villa original name only few years ago) cannot have done any mistake. This not only because I know them very well, but also because their battilastra #1 is Alberto V., a friend and a neighbour too. When there is to operate on a supertop car like that, they go with their best man: him, and trust me that he never missed the target one time. And I don't think Camellini family (who owns the car since almost 60 years...) wants a "wrong" car. And no wrong car can win the Elegance tropy at Ferrari 70th contest in Maranello. Usually race cars are allowed to change a bit during years, as they replace often body pieces (grill, nose and fenders at first) and official Ferrari spare parts (nor Ferrari "official" body shops) of the time were not mould made... I don't know what happened between 1953 and 1964 to Ferrari 340 MM #280AM, but I'm sure that Camellini family (and Autosport body shop) did the best possible, as they are both excellences here in Modena. ciao
0280 AM: The restoration was done 27 years ago, in 1993. And between 1964 and 1987 this car had other owners. Umberto Camellini, whom I have known since decades, purchased it only on the 9th of May 1987. As for Carrozzeria Auto Sport Bachelli & Villa, for the (yes, much more complicated) restoration/recreation of the sister car 0284 AM, it took them 11 years (eleven), from 2006 to 2017. They lacked period photographs which I then provided. Here's 0284 AM, the sister car to Camellini's 0280 AM, at Auto Sport. Marcel Massini Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yes, I agree. But this cannot be an excuse for correcting these non-original changes in today's (!) restoration. As Marcel states in his last post, pictures of the car were not available in the 1990s. This has now changed. In our days the challenging question is: original or not? In this case...not!
I'd be happy to contribute to a NEW SEPARATE thread covering the details of 0280 AM and 0284 AM. This here is the Camellini (Modena Ferrari dealer) thread and it would certainly be better to discuss the two sister cars in a different thread. I am also quite sure that fellow fchatter aardy will have a lot to say. Five Vignale bodied 340 MM Spiders: 0280 AM, 0284 AM, 0286 AM, 0324 AM and 0350 AM. Marcel Massini