From Farina to Gonzalez - a plotted history

Browse pages
Current page

1

Current page

2

Current page

3

Current page

4

Current page

5

Current page

6

Current page

7

Current page

8

Current page

9

Current page

10

Current page

11

Current page

12

Current page

13

Current page

14

Current page

15

Current page

16

Current page

17

Current page

18

Current page

19

Current page

20

Current page

21

Current page

22

Current page

23

Current page

24

Current page

25

Current page

26

Current page

27

Current page

28

Current page

29

Current page

30

Current page

31

Current page

32

Current page

33

Current page

34

Current page

35

Current page

36

Current page

37

Current page

38

Current page

39

Current page

40

Current page

41

Current page

42

Current page

43

Current page

44

Current page

45

Current page

46

Current page

47

Current page

48

Current page

49

Current page

50

Current page

51

Current page

52

Current page

53

Current page

54

Current page

55

Current page

56

Current page

57

Current page

58

Current page

59

Current page

60

Current page

61

Current page

62

Current page

63

Current page

64

Current page

65

Current page

66

Current page

67

Current page

68

Current page

69

Current page

70

Current page

71

Current page

72

Current page

73

Current page

74

Current page

75

Current page

76

Current page

77

Current page

78

Current page

79

Current page

80

Current page

81

Current page

82

Current page

83

Current page

84

Current page

85

Current page

86

Current page

87

Current page

88

Current page

89

Current page

90

Current page

91

Current page

92

Current page

93

Current page

94

Current page

95

Current page

96

Current page

97

Current page

98

Current page

99

Current page

100

Current page

101

Current page

102

Current page

103

Current page

104

Current page

105

Current page

106

Current page

107

Current page

108

Current page

109

Current page

110

Current page

111

Current page

112

Current page

113

Current page

114

Current page

115

Current page

116

Current page

117

Current page

118

Current page

119

Current page

120

Current page

121

Current page

122

Current page

123

Current page

124

Current page

125

Current page

126

Current page

127

Current page

128

Current page

129

Current page

130

Current page

131

Current page

132

Current page

133

Current page

134

Current page

135

Current page

136

Current page

137

Current page

138

Current page

139

Current page

140

Current page

141

Current page

142

Current page

143

Current page

144

Current page

145

Current page

146

Current page

147

Current page

148

Just 27 miles from the start, Nino Farina’s dream of winning the Mille Miglia shattered. Farina had driven Alfa Romeos into second place in the 1936 and ’37 Mille Miglias and, in 1954, he believed his 375Plus offered the best chance of victory. But the mix of the powerful Ferrari, wet tyres on dry roads and, maybe, Farina admitted from hospital, too much speed, and the Ferrari had crashed at over 110mph, glancing a barrier before thumping into a tree.

The Ferrari, chassis no. 0386AM and one of just six 375P1us built, went back to Maranello where, apparently, it sat for a couple of years. Now, as often happens with the history of old Ferraris, things mysterious came to pass and the whole truth will probably never be known.

It seems Ferrari couldn’t afford to pay Froilon Gonzalez the agreed fee after he won the 1954 Le Mans. Instead, Ferrari gave him the winning car which was shipped to Argentina. Gonzalez then crashed it and appealed to Maranello for spares. Rather than send individual parts, Ferrari shipped out the still badly damaged Farina car. Bernardo Favero, who owns 0386AM, has copies of government documents to prove this 375P1us was given temporary admission to Argentina on December 3, 1954, though other sources say the car was scrapped in Maranello.

Once the admission expired the Ferrari was sent to Uruguay. In 1956, the car was owned by one Duijo d’Alejandro, who sold it unseen for $3500 to Olivier Gendebien, the four-time Le Mans-winning Belgian driver. According to Favero, Gendebien was so disappointed with the car’s condition he realised he’d bought a wreck, not a car and refused to accept the car, though 1993 FIA documents accept the fact that Gendebien became the owner in 1956.

Based upon Favero’s record, the 375Plus was still in Uruguay in 1960. At some stage it was confiscated by the Government and later went to public auction. Nothing then is known of its life until 1989 when Favero discovered it was to be auctioned. Thus, 33 years after he first bought the car, Gendebien, now a close friend of Favero, re-bought the car. Favero admits that Gendebien, who died in 1999, did not obtain a complete car. There were the front and rear chassis sections, suspension, brakes, instruments, and the engine’s conrods, cams, crankshaft, one cylinder head and a box of gears. Missing were the block, the other head, the differential, the central section of the chassis, and the body.

Gendebien and Favero wanted to restore the car but a letter to Ferrari was ignored so they began to search for replacements. Through contacts in South America and the US, Favero found some parts including the original wheels and tyres, still fitted when we drove the car.

“Parts for the 375Plus were always bigger than similar parts for normal Ferraris,” he explains. “The hubs were too big to fit any other model, so they were of no use to anybody else.”

The breakthrough came when Gonzalez admitted he had the engine from the Le Mans winner, and would provide it for the rebuild. Restoration was completed in time for Gonzalez and Gendebien to run the 375 Plus in the 1993 Mille Miglia but the magneto broke three miles from the start. So 0386M never did complete Italy’s famed sportscar race, not even today’s mobile museum. Peter Robinson