Ferrari is astonishing. It has made vanishingly small quantities of stupendously successful racecars. It has made larger quantities of spectacular road cars. It has cycled through mechanical arrangements religiously, habitually, in workmanlike fashion – not to please us or the press, but always to improve, to refine, to perfect. It has handled the transition from Enzo to the modern era with alacrity. It’s hard to say when the company was founded: I’m tempted to say the date was 1898 – when Enzo Ferrari was born. But maybe we can say it was 1932 when Ferrari formed his racing team and the prancing horse appeared. Technically, the first car bearing Il Commendatore’s name was produced in 1947, and it was a race car. This 342 America was one of the company’s first road cars. Offered by Gooding Christie’s for no reserve as lot 44 in their Amelia Island auction on March 5th, this barn-find Ferrari has never been restored. It is the first of seven 342s made, and the only Ghia-bodied example. The estimate sits at $900,000 – $1,200,000, but presumably, with no reserve in play, there’s an opportunity to pay less.
Rather than conceiving this car to fit a market niche, it was really its engine that drove the development of the car. Ferrari had shifted from Colombo’s V12 to a Lampredi-designed big bore twelve – a strategy meant to nudge Alfa off the Formula One stage. For about a season and a half, the new engine gave Ferrari a taste of the dominance it craved. But when European race organizers opted to support a grand prix championship series for F2 instead – where displacement topped out at 2 liters – Ferrari moved its engines into road cars. The first was the 340, an untamed but beautiful GT. This car, chassis 0130 AL, was shown at Earls Court in 1951 – constituting the formal introduction of the 342. Situated on a longer wheelbase than the 340 and presented with a detuned version of Lampredi’s V12, the new road car still featured the familiar five-speed gearbox and drum brakes. This car will need recommissioning, but its matching numbers drivetrain is a siren song for Ferrari fans.
The unusual single binacle housing a primary gauge, the plain-Jane dash, and the bench seat set this Ghia-bodied car apart in the galaxy of Ferrari road cars. Almost austere, chassis 0130 AL was met with buyer hesitation; it’s no wonder Ferrari commissioned Vignale and Pinin Farina to finish out 342 production. We note auxiliary gauges installed at the dash’s lower edge, a dilapidated steering wheel, and a few missing fittings. The passenger’s door panel still wears the car’s original blue paint.
Speaking of its paint, while this car has not been “restored” per se, its color was changed from stock: it came from the factory painted an elegant dark blue accented with a silver roof. Aside from the color, chassis 0130 AL remains substantially original, and its provenance is impeccable. If a buyer is looking for an early road-going Ferrari and has the resources to complete a restoration, this example might fit the bill.
You know, I prattle on about how awful a derelict Jag is, I’m sure our good friends in Italy probably tossed their cannolies as well, seeing this. Big frowny face, how could this even happen? I mean, it’s not a Gremlin( no offense to Gremlin lovers, both of you), it’s a freakin’ Ferrari, for heavens sake, are there no scruples left? Viewing images of this unbelievable car, makes me want to wretch, and like the Jags, incredibly expensive to restore. Apparently so rare, I can’t even find a nice one. IDK, if you have a million bucks to buy this, why bother, just take out another mil, find a nice one and be roaring down the highway that very afternoon, :)
I think if you’re buying this car for 1M and restoring it for another 250K (or whatever) you are in a financial category that doesn’t care about the price.
It will be all about bragging rights and the accolades you receive at Pebble Beach. And who knows, you could possibly break even.
Needs recommissioning, uh huh :)
From what I’ve read, Enzo Ferrari didn’t care much about the road cars his factory built, wanting them to provide finances for his racing efforts. Even so, he — and/or people who worked for him — put together some cars that deserve to be called “iconic.”
The 340s came after the 166 and 212 road cars. Most were downright gorgeous or at a minimum quite pretty, as were many later Ferraris, but a handful were clothed in rather ordinary coachwork like this example. Still, if it has some original parts in salvageable condition and a serial number, it WILL be restored.
And it should be.
Interesting, just when you think you’ve seen it all…
Rich people often do not care how they treat things.
So this belonged to David Brown? The man who gave us the Aston Martin DB series? I wonder who let it go this far-was it a deliberate slap in the face to IL Commendatore (who was known to be less than diplomatic when it suited him). I just hope Italy doesn’t declare war on England when they see this! (lol). Imagine what a shock this car must have been in England in 1951. The only dab of color and excitement in a country that was black and white (I know this because I’ve watched a lot of 1950’s English films lol) still living in the Steam Age. If it’s evidence of an industrial feud, it should be preserved as is……
I see this rare Ferrari and I wonder how come it was not cover correctly? You put a rare Ferrari in a barn it should be covered up! It looks like it was drove into the barn engine off walk out and bye bye.(Drove hard put away wet) What a shame. It would be nice to see this 342 fixed up and driven on some nice country roads and sound of this engine echoing in the valley. Up shift turn down shift floor it … I just hope the right person buys it and restores this 342 to the original colors not Ferrari red. Good luck to the next owner. 🇺🇸🐻
I don’t think neglect has anything to do with make, just laziness, ignorance, but some people see cars, trucks, etc… as just a means of getting from one place to another. I see them, since I first saw a fire truck driving down my brick lined street, as a rolling piece of art. I’d love to have an older Ferrari, the smell or the leather, the sound of the engine, just magic.