Topic: Solved NIC#142 - 1952 Ferrari 340 America with Devin body

[nicanary]

The body of this car does not tell all the story. What lies underneath?

[prototypefan]

1952 Ferrari 340 America bodied by Vignale as a Spider....also a LeMans entrant.....VIN 0202AM
I've had the privilege of standing on the property and seeing the car.....with a ton of the original parts found to put the car back together.
Incredible story!

[nicanary]

1952 Ferrari 340 America bodied by Vignale as a Spider....also a LeMans entrant.....VIN 0202AM
I've had the privilege of standing on the property and seeing the car.....with a ton of the original parts found to put the car back together.
Incredible story!

You got this one by some great insider knowledge. Well done - yes, it's a great story. Before I award the point, what body is on the car at present?

[nicanary]

It's been pointed out to me, quite correctly, that "prototypefan" answered my puzzle in full, and I then moved the goalposts, So the point is his without delay.

The car was driven in the 1952 Le Mans race by Trintignant and Rosier, but retired. It then made its way to the USA via the usual suspects (Chinetti and McAfee) and was badly damaged in a crash. Hence the Devin body. I believe when found it was V8 powered, but it will be reunited with its original engine. It's all on the web somewhere, but I'm now off to work, so it'll have to wait.

[nicanary]

Just to finalise the story - the car was sold to Luigi Chinetti in 1953 and he then sold it on to Ernie McAfee. In the late '50s the car was sold to a Paul Owens who took out the Ferrari engine and installed a Chevy V8 - it is believed that the original engine ended up somewhere in Chicago. After a crash, the damaged Ferrari body was junked and replaced by the Devin GRP item and the car was known to be still racing in this form up to 1963. It then went "off radar" until 2006 when it appeared on E-bay and was bought for the low price expected of an old '50s race car with GRP body.

Such is the luck of the Irish - the purchaser has an Irish surname so I'm assuming some family link to "the old country". The web link that I was reading was in French-language, but I gather that the buyer is either getting hold of an engine similar to the original, or has tracked-down the actual motor. What a great find, and a superb story.

[Avalanche]

I gather that the buyer is either getting hold of an engine similar to the original, or has tracked-down the actual motor. What a great find, and a superb story.

The original engine has now been obtained. The owner is known for his uncanny ability to track down "finds" such as this. Recently he pulled a GT40 out from under a pile of boxes in a garage somewhere in California. Not only does he find whole cars, at a recent visit to his shop I counted at least a dozen Ferrari V12 engines and many more blocks and cylinder heads. A unique individual, to say the least.

[prototypefan]

Sorry for my tardy reply......yes it was a Devin body and the body languishes in the Southern California sun almost exactly where it was taken off the chassis.

The key to this find was the chassis.....Gilco was the original manufacturer of some of the early Ferrari chassis and they are very unique in that Gilco had sections that were of oval tubing rather than just round or square. This was picked up on in the photos that were posted in the original ebay listing.

It has been sold to a new owner who will restore it to likely far better condition than it ever has been and deservedly so.