Saturday, December 10, 2016

Andy Warhol had one rare Ferrari, he bought it only to make an art piece parody of Rolls Royce, but sold it without racing it, making art of it, or knowing how rare it was


above,  a 1955 Ferrari 857 Sport Scaglietti Spider 0588 M.

Ferrari built just four 857 Sports models, and 0588 M was the last example created.

After a brief period with the Ferrari works team, the car returned to Ferrari and Scaglietti, where it received its spider coach work on and distinctively finished with a rear upright fin, similar to that of a D-type Jaguar.

 In 1956, John Edgar purchased the “new” Ferrari to add to his stable. In its first US competition outing in 1956, Jack McAfee wielded the 857S to a second place at Palm Springs. Soon thereafter, McAfee drove 0588 M, finishing third at Pebble Beach.

All this racing wore out the Ferrari mechanicals, and mechanic Jack Deren put a Chevy engine, gearbox, rear end in it. Then Oscar Kovaleski won races with it. Even beating NART Factory Team Ferrari's and private Cobras.

These initial successes kicked off a long list of significant wins for the car but by 1966, this Ferrari ended up bought Andy Warhol, for $3600, who painted the car yellow with the intention of creating a parody of the movie The Yellow Rolls-Royce,

http://theoldmotor.com/?p=54021
http://www.slotcarillustrated.com/index.php?categoryid=41&p2_articleid=87
http://www.dkeng.co.uk/restorations/65/Previously_Restored_Cars/Ferrari_857S.html

Funny how Andy Warhol shows up here in the auto enthusiast world, isn't it!

2 comments:

  1. "All this racing wore out the Ferrari mechanicals, and mechanic Jack Deren put a Chevy engine, gearbox, rear end in it. Then Oscar Kovaleski won races with it. Even beating NART Factory Team Ferrari's and private Cobras."

    Ha, ha, ha. I love it. I've heard of this ultimate Ferrari fix, many times before. It's fairly common, since it is often more economical and provides better results than repairing the original equipment.

    Excellent material for shutting down arguments over whether "super cars" are better than Chevys.

    If super car engines were so great, you'd often see them being used in drag racing, boat racing, truck and tractor pulling, mud bogging, etc, but you hardly ever do, and it's not a matter of money as to why either. There is no limit to the amount of cash spent on some of the vehicles used in any of the motor sports I mentioned above.

    The simple fact is that small block and big block Chevy engines have been superior to super car engines for decades, and now, with the introduction of the LS engines, Chevy is by far superior.

    Don't feel bad, Ford and Mopar guys. Your engines are better than super car engines too. America rocks!!!

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    Replies
    1. nothing beats a hemi, proof is the top fuel and funny cars.

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