Ferrari Built from 12 Photos

The "Motorsport Memorial" for Severt "Kroken" Sundberg clears up a few misconceptions."Kroken" translated means "the Hook" which became his nickname.He lost only the lower part of his right arm, not in a racing crash as stated in Autosport of March 27, 1953 but a carpentry factory accident before the war. He became a well known rally and ice racer in Sweden before getting #0238 which he drove new from Italy to Sweden. This was by far the most powerful race car in Sweden at the time competing in the Nordic Special class and winning everything until the crash.The car was returned to Italy after the crash, repaired and rebodied by Vignale and sold as new to Valdemar Stener in 1953. It remained lost from 1955/56 until 1966 when it reappeared in 1966 in Nyack N. Y. If anyone can fill in what happened during the "lost" period please do. just one man's opinion tongascrew

 

I have been mulling over an earlier comment in this thread for some time now >>>

>> "This is s/n 0238A and it's a complete nonsense to remove an ORIGINAL Vignale coupe body to put a Vignale spyder REPLICA body on the chassis, even if it's true that 0238A was born as Vignale spyder... <<



"Even if it is true"? Please allow me to put all doubts to rest and tell you in no uncertain terms that this car is in fact the Sundberg Ice Racer

I know this car well as I do the present owner and the owner previous to him.

The present owner is a person of the highest integrity who witnessed Severt "Kroken" (HOOKIE) Sundberg race this car on the ice in the early 1950's

Sundberg was one of his racing hero's at that time.
I remember him telling me what an awesome sight it was to see Sundberg on those early spiked tires tearing through the ice in the first Ferrari to compete in Sweden.

Those early tires, with their aggressive spikes created a type of "Rut" in the ice.
Some of the finest drivers would get tangled in one of those spike induced "ice ditches" resulting with the car flipping on their roof ...Sundberg was not so fortunate and was pinned under #0238A and killed. There exists a grizzly photograph of the scene when the spider came to rest.

The present owner went on to take up ice racing and won the National Series in Sweden in the 1960's when I believe he unseated the great Erik &#8220;On The Roof&#8221; Carlsson from his throne.
In his profession as an engineer he designed a safer spike configuration for ice racing tires which was adopted and likely saved the lives of many drivers.

The owner previous to him understood the Swedish connection and he was very kind by allowing the present owner to purchase the Sundberg racer and bring it home to Sweden where it belonged.

To say the current body was built from 12 photos is a stretch.
The metal man mentioned in this string was my subcontractor on several of my customer projects and I know that he studied other Ferrari Spyders to ensure the authenticity of his work. He also consulted with Phil Hill who we all know had a mind like a steel trap when it came to these things and I know through personal discussions with Phil that he was glad to see this important car brought back to it's original racing configuration.

I remember several years ago when the present owner and Phil were having a pleasant debate at Pebble Beach as to which driver was "crazier" ...a road course driver or one who drives with studded tires on the ice. I remember Phil's exact words when he pointed his index finger at my friend and said "YOU ice racers are the crazy guy's who aren't wrapped very tight" .... At the end of all of this they were both in total aggreement. In that conversation Phil was very interested to hear about the progress of the work being done.

During that meeting of two old drivers at Pebble Beach, the owner of this car gave Phil an open invitation to come to Sweden in the winter where he would supply him with one of his "Properly Prepared Volvo Ice Racers" where he could "Slide to his heart's delight"... "at a civilized speed of 80 mph or so" Too bad it never happened...What a sight that would have been...

I remember the chassis well and it was in an original condition that was truly remarkable and I believe the car had limited "every day" road time after it was fitted with the other body although I think there are some records that exist showing the car competed in a some races with the second body.
We made careful measurements of the chassis and it was as plumb as the day it left the factory,

My guess as to why the body was changed may be as simple as the fact that open cars were not necessarily a first choice for comfort; even for a race driver;.. in the Swedish winter...just a guess on my part... The crash photo that I saw does not show anything so catastrophic that it would necessitate replacement of the body.

My job was to rebuild the engine and I performed some of the machine work, subbed out some, performed some pre-assembly, made and or repaired parts as needed in house and had other parts made by sub's etc..(the usual) The engine was shipped to Sweden in a sort of kit form and completed by one of the best craftsmen in Sweden and I was happy to hear that the car was tested on the ice and with proper spiked tires as well as being tested on pavement at Anderstorp Raceway in Sweden.
Just another note on the engine... I found it amazing that it retained all of it's original hardware, fastners, brackets and linkages even down to the spark plug connectors, it was so original and unmolested. The owner and I were very meticulous in not altering this original patina
.
So for the record;.. This is the Sundberg Ice racer ...And I will stake what little reputation I have earned in this business on what I have written here.

Alec Giaimo

 

Interesting read Altitude Problems. Thanks for that.

 

I prefer to own a car with an ORIGINAL Vignale coupe (even if it's a rebody) than a car with a REPLICA Vignale spyder body (even if the car was born as a Vignale spyder).

It's a question of point of view...

 

+1

Thanks for joining into the discussion.

Great story about Phil Hill.....

 

I'm inclined to agree that, in general, if a car is rebodied as part of it's original history, then it is not right to take all that history away and rebody it again now, after its original historical period has passed.

Would it be right for someone to take a '62 250 GTO that had been rebodied as a '64 at the time, take that off and build a new '62 body for the car? I think not.

 

Great post Alec! Thank you for the insight.

Too bad not everyone in this thread can carry on a civilized, objective discussion;-)

 

Great story thanks for sharing, it is always nice to hear from people involved.

 

???

Turning a 412P back into a P3 would involve a lot more than modifying the body.

Induction, gearbox, brakes, etc., etc.

 

Sometimes it's not that simple.

For example before I owned 002 Stan rebodied her back to a SC and sold her second Moto body which IMO was a good thing. The Moto body wound up on 031S.

Years later I had Brandoli rebody her into a correct SC as she won the Turin GP.

I'm very happy with her and I think this one is fine as well.

 

uhh...does this mean that you have to have your arm amputated to "correctly" race this car on the ice?...just wondering.

 

OK.

Who in this thread would be happy to see this gorgeous 1955 Scaglietti (re)body removed and replaced by a 2011 REPLICA PF spyder body ??
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I think we all fall into the delicate dance between what i sthe real history and what is the history we have come to love.

Either way, we all love these cars for what they are....

I think this is something the Ferrari Classiche department has failed to realize.

When I was in Maranello in January this year, I couldn't get anyone to give a Cr*p about the car I was asking about. I couldn't even get anyone to remember these cars who could offer an opinion......

I was asking about a car "PRODUCED" by Ferrari, I can only imagine how much they could say about a One-Off.......

 

There is no despute as whether this is the Sundberg Ice racer or not. It still "was" the Sundberg Ice racer when it wore the Vignale Coupe body.

History of a car never changes (unless lying is involved) ...
Pete

 

<<< "There is no despute as whether this is the Sundberg Ice racer or not. It still "was" the Sundberg Ice racer when it wore the Vignale Coupe body." <<

>> "History of a car never changes" <<

Thank You Pete ! Very Well Said !

Yes, and the car Still Is the Sundberg Ice Racer....


I also must acknowledge Aardy's respectful and honest words;...

>>> "It's a question of point of view..." <<<

I thank you for that Aardy...

Youzzz Guyzzz can keep beating this dead horse if you wish but I think there may be more interesting things to discuss elsewhere...


Last Words are for fools who haven't said enough already"

Karl Marx


(Thanks Karl)

 

This is one of the most famous Ferrari cars ever built. When Wayne Sparling bought the car with the Scaglietti body in 1979 he did it with the determination to recreate the original Abarth body. There were only photographs of the original body; no drawings, parts or designe plans existed. So for the next 24 years Sparling recreated this most famous of body work. Yes,I am sure some will see a few flaws, but this is a spectacular recreation of the original and has every right to be where it is. I am sure that even Classiche,if given the chance, will find a Certificate to honor this effort. just one man's opinion tongascrew

 

What did you expect? That Fangio`s mechanic comes out of the shop after working on an FF?
Hey - nobody is there anymore from the 50s! I bet that 99% of all people at Ferrari S.p.A. today don`t even know what a 250GTO is ...! They are simply too young!

Ciao!
Walter

 

That's what I thought too.

 

Some pics of 0262/M...
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you have coachbuilders and you have COACHBUILDERS...

 

Yep not even remotely close. Not that I could do any better.

Pete

 

The Abarth body is not even close to the original shape.
Remember the 250P (ex Chinetti and Michelotti body) by Marco Baldi (Protauto, Sorbara IT) exactly the same.
With all photos available and modern techniques (Autocad etc) you can come VERY close to the original)

 

very insightful! thanks!

 

Many cars with new replica bodies are wrong. Compare period photos with the body of #0808, the 1962 Le Mans winner. The rear is too high, the nose is wrong as other details. And the many 500TRs and others with a wrong nose. Another exemple is 290MM #0628. The recreated nose is totally wrong.

 

Quite True. The Windshield on 0808 is wrong as well.

I look forward to your critique of our 002.