Gregor Wenner
Specialist Consultant
LOT 144
1954-55 Ferrari Tipo 555 'Super Squalo' 2.5-litre Formula 1 Racing Single-Seater Chassis no. 555/1 - FL 9001
Sold for €1,983,750 inc. premiumLot to be sold without reserve
Lot 144
The Ex-Mike Hawthorn, 'Nino' Farina, Piero Taruffi, Paul Frere, Peter Whitehead
1954-55 Ferrari Tipo 555 'Super Squalo' 2.5-litre Formula 1 Racing Single-Seater
1954-55 Ferrari Tipo 555 'Super Squalo' 2.5-litre Formula 1 Racing Single-Seater
1954-55 Ferrari Tipo 555 'Super Squalo' 2.5-litre Formula 1 Racing Single-Seater
Chassis no. 555/1 - FL 9001
Chassis no. 555/1 - FL 9001
• Scoring World Championship points with a fourth place at Spa-Francorchamps 1955
• One of only two known survivors
• Extensive in-period competition history
• Won its class at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2000 with Martin Stretton
• Eligible for the most prestigious international car events
Very few surviving front-engined Grand Prix cars have ever been driven in earnest by a Formula 1 World Champion racing driver. Even fewer have ever been driven by two. This sleek-bodied Ferrari 555 'Super Squalo' is exceptionally rare in having been campaigned for the legendary Italian factory team by both the sport's very first World Champion racing driver, Dr Giuseppe 'Nino' Farina, and also by the first-ever British driver to win that Formula 1 World Championship title, John Michael 'Mike' Hawthorn.
It contested four World Championship-qualifying Grand Prix races during the 1955 season – which was itself truncated by the after-effects and bans imposed following the Le Mans 24-Hour race disaster in June that year.
Mike Hawthorn had won his second title-qualifying Grand Prix, the Spanish race on the Pedralbes circuit in Barcelona, at the end of 1954, driving an uprated Ferrari 555, the latest Formula 1 design from the Maranello factory with its fuel tankage focused upon broad pannier tanks, clad beneath voluptuously swelling side panelling, and with an abbreviated tail cone housing just a fuel header tank and the dry-sump engine lubrication system's oil tank. Money was tight for Ferrari as it prepared for the forthcoming second season of 2½-litre Formula 1 racing, through 1955. One new Squalo – or 'Shark' – was prepared for the opening non-Championship race of the European calendar, the Turin GP on the city's twisting, bumpy, Valentino Park circuit.
This public debut for '555/1' saw the car confined to practice, driver Farina preferring the rugged reliability of the well-developed Ferrari 625 for race day. Two of these latest 'Super Squalo' cars then appeared at the non-Championship Bordeaux GP in France, driven by Farina and Maurice Trintignant. After having burst an oil pipe during practice Farina drove furiously during the opening stages of the race, and broke his car's gearbox. For the Monaco GP at Monte Carlo, Ferrari ran five drivers, the Belgian journalist Paul Frere being the reserve together with Farina, Trintignant, Franco-American Harry Schell and 'The Silver Fox' veteran, Piero Taruffi, who ended up co-driving '555/1' with Frere. Sadly their race day was dogged by gearbox problems.
The high-speed Belgian GP followed at Spa-Francorchamps, for which three 'Super Squalos' were entered by Ferrari. They ran faultlessly, Farina finishing third in his while Paul Frere brought '555/1' now offered here home in fourth place, scoring World Championship points. Trintignant, hampered by a leg injury from a recent sports car crash, finished seventh.
For the Dutch GP at Zandvoort the same three 'Super Squalo' cars appeared, '555/1' driven by Mike Hawthorn finishing seventh. Hawthorn had left the team for Vanwall at the end of 1954 but rejoined Ferrari in part since Farina had abruptly decided to retire from racing. Lancia had collapsed and young Eugenio Castellotti ex-Lancia would drive for Ferrari from Zandvoort forward, alongside Trintignant and Hawthorn, who was fastest but lost much time with gearbox problems, finally finishing seventh.
Convinced that the 'Super Squalo' was a fast-circuit contender, the cars did not reappear until the Italian GP at Monza in September. But by then Ferrari had fallen heir to the highly-sophisticated V8-engined Lancia D50 cars, and the three 'old' 'Super Squalos' were run for Hawthorn, Trintignant and Umberto Maglioli. The cars featured a new five-speed transaxle and a fourth 555 had been completed, which Castellotti took over for the race after his Ferrari-entered Lancia was withdrawn. He drove his heart out to keep the works-entered Mercedes fleet in sight, finally inheriting third place overall. Mike Hawthorn in '555/1' was forced out by gearbox failure while Maglioli and Trintignant finished distantly sixth and eighth.
Into 1956 Ferrari concentrated upon developing its V8 ex-Lancia D50 design. The 'Super Squalo' cars were surplus to Ferrari's needs and buyers were found for two of them in long-time British Ferrari private-owner/driver Peter Whitehead and his veteran friend Reg Parnell. For them two of the 4-cylinder cars' chassis were slightly lengthened, and big 3.5-litre 4-cylinder Ferrari 860 Monza sports car engines installed for Formule Libre racing in the 'down under' European-winter races in Australia and New Zealand.
The debut event for these twin-sister cars with their immensely experienced British drivers was the celebratory 1956 Olympic Games event run in Albert Park, Melbourne, Victoria, on November 25...which Peter Whitehead won comnfortably. Staying on in Melbourne he and '555/1' then finished third in the December 2 Australian GP. The cars were then shipped to New Zealand, where on January 12, 1957 Whitehead finished second in the national GP race at Ardmore Aerodrome, Auckland, on the North Island. Further success followed in the local international Libre series, Whitehead winning the Lady Wigram Trophy race in this car at Christchurch, South Island, on January 26, then placing third at Dunedin on February 2 before winning again at Invercargill on February 16.
Both of the Whitehead/Parnell équipe Ferrari 'Super Squalo' cars with their big 3.5-litre Type 860 engines were then sold to local racers, '555/1' going to Tom Clark, wealthy head of the iconic Crown Lynn Potteries business. He campaigned the car for the following three years, as follows:
1957
March 3 - Levin, New Zealand – FIRST
April - Bathurst, Australia - Preliminary Race – FIRST
April - Bathurst '100' – Retired
October 6 - Bathurst – Retired, accident
1958
October 6 - Australian Grand Prix, Bathurst – 9th
November 23 - Melbourne, Australia – 3rd
November 30 - Melbourne Heat 2 – 4th
November 30 - Melbourne Grand Prix – 10th
1959
January 10 - New Zealand GP, Auckland – 10th
January 24 - Lady Wigram Trophy, Christchurch, NZ – 9th
January 31 - Waimate 50, NZ – Retired
February 7 - Teretonga Heat 2, NZ – 3rd
February 7 - Teretonga – 5th
February 28 - Ohakea Preliminary Race – 2nd
February 28 - Ohakea Main Event – 3rd
March - Levin Hudson Trophy – FIRST
This Ferrari 'Super Squalo' was then bought from Tom Clark by fellow New Zealand enthusiast Bob Smith who continued to race it at both national and international level within the country from 1960-63. The front-engined car was outmoded by new rear-engined designs from Cooper followed by Lotus, Brabham and others and its best finishes were 10th places at both Dunedin and Waimate in 1961.
During the February 2, 1963, Auckland Car Club Trophy meeting at the city's new Pukekohe circuit... "Bob Smith led the field away at the start ... but overshot the right-hander before the back straight to finish up through the straw bales and almost on the railway track. The car was only slightly damaged but could not continue the race." Damage was largely confined to bodywork and front suspension but the cost of repair probably exceeded the contemporary value of the car itself. It was abandoned in a used-car lot in Auckland, progressively losing its steering wheel, dash panel instruments and its still powerful engine, which was used in a speed boat.
It was eventually revived for racing by Garth Souness, who clothed the chassis with a modified Morris Minor two-door body (accommodating near identical wheelbase) and installed a powerful Chevrolet V8 engine. As an 'all-comers racing saloon car' , driven by Souness, it looked (and proved) fast but just about controllable. Originally entered as a Morris-Chevrolet or Morris-Corvette, it quickly gained notoriety in New Zealand as the 'Morrari'.
The car was subsequently rescued and preserved by Southland Motor Museum founder Len Southward before being acquired by New Zealand jeweller and classic car enthusiast Gavin Bain who began restoration. In the early 1970s the car was acquired by like-minded British collector Nigel Moores together with its original Whitehead period Ferrari 860 engine from Mr Southward. Into the 1980s the car passed to Tom Wheatcroft, celebrated founder and owner of the Donington Collection of Grand Prix Racing Cars. From him it passed to Yoshiyuki Hayashi's Italya Trading company in Japan, who had it restored to original Formula 1 2.5-litre engined guise, and body form, by the well-respected British specialist Tony Merrick.
He drove the car in the Monaco Historic Grand Prix at Monte Carlo on May 3-4, 1997 and in 1998 it passed to broker Nick Harley. It appeared in the inaugural Goodwood Revival Meeting that September, driven by Willie Green, and was later displayed at the Techno Classica show, Essen, Germany by Klaus Werner. It sold subsequently to Roger Willbanks, and reappeared at the 2000 Monaco Historic GP, driven by Martin Stretton. That August saw it pass into the hands of the current Spanish collector who entered it in some of the most prestigious events in 2016, including the Monaco Historic Grand Prix, Goodwood Revival, and Chantilly Arts & Elegance. For its maintenance, the current owner relies on the esteemed Corrado Patella of Autofficina Omega, a renowned Ferrari specialist located in Northern Italy.
This is one of only two known survivors of the Formula 1 Ferrari 555 'Super Squalo' design. With its provenance of having been driven by not just one World Champion, but by two, plus its World Championship points-scoring finish in the 1955 Belgian Grand Prix, and its subsequent race-winning performances in 3.5-litre Formule Libre form in the hands of both Ferrari's pioneering British owner/driver Peter Whitehead, and indeed of New Zealand business celebrity Sir Tom Clark – not least its spectacular 'stealth' appearances as the spectacular 'Morrari' – this is a unique Ferrari, indeed. We commend it to the market...
Please note there is restricted bidding on this lot which requires enhanced bid verification checks. Please contact us at [email protected] or call +44 20 7447 7447 as soon as possible if you are planning to bid on this lot to prevent any last-minute delays.
• One of only two known survivors
• Extensive in-period competition history
• Won its class at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2000 with Martin Stretton
• Eligible for the most prestigious international car events
Very few surviving front-engined Grand Prix cars have ever been driven in earnest by a Formula 1 World Champion racing driver. Even fewer have ever been driven by two. This sleek-bodied Ferrari 555 'Super Squalo' is exceptionally rare in having been campaigned for the legendary Italian factory team by both the sport's very first World Champion racing driver, Dr Giuseppe 'Nino' Farina, and also by the first-ever British driver to win that Formula 1 World Championship title, John Michael 'Mike' Hawthorn.
It contested four World Championship-qualifying Grand Prix races during the 1955 season – which was itself truncated by the after-effects and bans imposed following the Le Mans 24-Hour race disaster in June that year.
Mike Hawthorn had won his second title-qualifying Grand Prix, the Spanish race on the Pedralbes circuit in Barcelona, at the end of 1954, driving an uprated Ferrari 555, the latest Formula 1 design from the Maranello factory with its fuel tankage focused upon broad pannier tanks, clad beneath voluptuously swelling side panelling, and with an abbreviated tail cone housing just a fuel header tank and the dry-sump engine lubrication system's oil tank. Money was tight for Ferrari as it prepared for the forthcoming second season of 2½-litre Formula 1 racing, through 1955. One new Squalo – or 'Shark' – was prepared for the opening non-Championship race of the European calendar, the Turin GP on the city's twisting, bumpy, Valentino Park circuit.
This public debut for '555/1' saw the car confined to practice, driver Farina preferring the rugged reliability of the well-developed Ferrari 625 for race day. Two of these latest 'Super Squalo' cars then appeared at the non-Championship Bordeaux GP in France, driven by Farina and Maurice Trintignant. After having burst an oil pipe during practice Farina drove furiously during the opening stages of the race, and broke his car's gearbox. For the Monaco GP at Monte Carlo, Ferrari ran five drivers, the Belgian journalist Paul Frere being the reserve together with Farina, Trintignant, Franco-American Harry Schell and 'The Silver Fox' veteran, Piero Taruffi, who ended up co-driving '555/1' with Frere. Sadly their race day was dogged by gearbox problems.
The high-speed Belgian GP followed at Spa-Francorchamps, for which three 'Super Squalos' were entered by Ferrari. They ran faultlessly, Farina finishing third in his while Paul Frere brought '555/1' now offered here home in fourth place, scoring World Championship points. Trintignant, hampered by a leg injury from a recent sports car crash, finished seventh.
For the Dutch GP at Zandvoort the same three 'Super Squalo' cars appeared, '555/1' driven by Mike Hawthorn finishing seventh. Hawthorn had left the team for Vanwall at the end of 1954 but rejoined Ferrari in part since Farina had abruptly decided to retire from racing. Lancia had collapsed and young Eugenio Castellotti ex-Lancia would drive for Ferrari from Zandvoort forward, alongside Trintignant and Hawthorn, who was fastest but lost much time with gearbox problems, finally finishing seventh.
Convinced that the 'Super Squalo' was a fast-circuit contender, the cars did not reappear until the Italian GP at Monza in September. But by then Ferrari had fallen heir to the highly-sophisticated V8-engined Lancia D50 cars, and the three 'old' 'Super Squalos' were run for Hawthorn, Trintignant and Umberto Maglioli. The cars featured a new five-speed transaxle and a fourth 555 had been completed, which Castellotti took over for the race after his Ferrari-entered Lancia was withdrawn. He drove his heart out to keep the works-entered Mercedes fleet in sight, finally inheriting third place overall. Mike Hawthorn in '555/1' was forced out by gearbox failure while Maglioli and Trintignant finished distantly sixth and eighth.
Into 1956 Ferrari concentrated upon developing its V8 ex-Lancia D50 design. The 'Super Squalo' cars were surplus to Ferrari's needs and buyers were found for two of them in long-time British Ferrari private-owner/driver Peter Whitehead and his veteran friend Reg Parnell. For them two of the 4-cylinder cars' chassis were slightly lengthened, and big 3.5-litre 4-cylinder Ferrari 860 Monza sports car engines installed for Formule Libre racing in the 'down under' European-winter races in Australia and New Zealand.
The debut event for these twin-sister cars with their immensely experienced British drivers was the celebratory 1956 Olympic Games event run in Albert Park, Melbourne, Victoria, on November 25...which Peter Whitehead won comnfortably. Staying on in Melbourne he and '555/1' then finished third in the December 2 Australian GP. The cars were then shipped to New Zealand, where on January 12, 1957 Whitehead finished second in the national GP race at Ardmore Aerodrome, Auckland, on the North Island. Further success followed in the local international Libre series, Whitehead winning the Lady Wigram Trophy race in this car at Christchurch, South Island, on January 26, then placing third at Dunedin on February 2 before winning again at Invercargill on February 16.
Both of the Whitehead/Parnell équipe Ferrari 'Super Squalo' cars with their big 3.5-litre Type 860 engines were then sold to local racers, '555/1' going to Tom Clark, wealthy head of the iconic Crown Lynn Potteries business. He campaigned the car for the following three years, as follows:
1957
March 3 - Levin, New Zealand – FIRST
April - Bathurst, Australia - Preliminary Race – FIRST
April - Bathurst '100' – Retired
October 6 - Bathurst – Retired, accident
1958
October 6 - Australian Grand Prix, Bathurst – 9th
November 23 - Melbourne, Australia – 3rd
November 30 - Melbourne Heat 2 – 4th
November 30 - Melbourne Grand Prix – 10th
1959
January 10 - New Zealand GP, Auckland – 10th
January 24 - Lady Wigram Trophy, Christchurch, NZ – 9th
January 31 - Waimate 50, NZ – Retired
February 7 - Teretonga Heat 2, NZ – 3rd
February 7 - Teretonga – 5th
February 28 - Ohakea Preliminary Race – 2nd
February 28 - Ohakea Main Event – 3rd
March - Levin Hudson Trophy – FIRST
This Ferrari 'Super Squalo' was then bought from Tom Clark by fellow New Zealand enthusiast Bob Smith who continued to race it at both national and international level within the country from 1960-63. The front-engined car was outmoded by new rear-engined designs from Cooper followed by Lotus, Brabham and others and its best finishes were 10th places at both Dunedin and Waimate in 1961.
During the February 2, 1963, Auckland Car Club Trophy meeting at the city's new Pukekohe circuit... "Bob Smith led the field away at the start ... but overshot the right-hander before the back straight to finish up through the straw bales and almost on the railway track. The car was only slightly damaged but could not continue the race." Damage was largely confined to bodywork and front suspension but the cost of repair probably exceeded the contemporary value of the car itself. It was abandoned in a used-car lot in Auckland, progressively losing its steering wheel, dash panel instruments and its still powerful engine, which was used in a speed boat.
It was eventually revived for racing by Garth Souness, who clothed the chassis with a modified Morris Minor two-door body (accommodating near identical wheelbase) and installed a powerful Chevrolet V8 engine. As an 'all-comers racing saloon car' , driven by Souness, it looked (and proved) fast but just about controllable. Originally entered as a Morris-Chevrolet or Morris-Corvette, it quickly gained notoriety in New Zealand as the 'Morrari'.
The car was subsequently rescued and preserved by Southland Motor Museum founder Len Southward before being acquired by New Zealand jeweller and classic car enthusiast Gavin Bain who began restoration. In the early 1970s the car was acquired by like-minded British collector Nigel Moores together with its original Whitehead period Ferrari 860 engine from Mr Southward. Into the 1980s the car passed to Tom Wheatcroft, celebrated founder and owner of the Donington Collection of Grand Prix Racing Cars. From him it passed to Yoshiyuki Hayashi's Italya Trading company in Japan, who had it restored to original Formula 1 2.5-litre engined guise, and body form, by the well-respected British specialist Tony Merrick.
He drove the car in the Monaco Historic Grand Prix at Monte Carlo on May 3-4, 1997 and in 1998 it passed to broker Nick Harley. It appeared in the inaugural Goodwood Revival Meeting that September, driven by Willie Green, and was later displayed at the Techno Classica show, Essen, Germany by Klaus Werner. It sold subsequently to Roger Willbanks, and reappeared at the 2000 Monaco Historic GP, driven by Martin Stretton. That August saw it pass into the hands of the current Spanish collector who entered it in some of the most prestigious events in 2016, including the Monaco Historic Grand Prix, Goodwood Revival, and Chantilly Arts & Elegance. For its maintenance, the current owner relies on the esteemed Corrado Patella of Autofficina Omega, a renowned Ferrari specialist located in Northern Italy.
This is one of only two known survivors of the Formula 1 Ferrari 555 'Super Squalo' design. With its provenance of having been driven by not just one World Champion, but by two, plus its World Championship points-scoring finish in the 1955 Belgian Grand Prix, and its subsequent race-winning performances in 3.5-litre Formule Libre form in the hands of both Ferrari's pioneering British owner/driver Peter Whitehead, and indeed of New Zealand business celebrity Sir Tom Clark – not least its spectacular 'stealth' appearances as the spectacular 'Morrari' – this is a unique Ferrari, indeed. We commend it to the market...
Please note there is restricted bidding on this lot which requires enhanced bid verification checks. Please contact us at [email protected] or call +44 20 7447 7447 as soon as possible if you are planning to bid on this lot to prevent any last-minute delays.
Footnotes
Ex-Mike Hawthorn, « Nino » Farina, Piero Taruffi, Paul Frère, Peter Whitehead
1954-55 Ferrari Tipo 555 « Super Squalo » monoplace de Formule 1 2,5 litres
Châssis n° 555/1 - FL 9001
• A marqué des points en championnat du monde avec une quatrième place à Spa-Francorchamps en 1955
• Une des deux survivantes
• Historique en compétition à l'époque complet
• A gagné sa classe au Grand Prix historique de Monaco en 2000 avec Martin Stretton
• Éligible aux plus prestigieux événements internationaux
Peu de voitures de Grand Prix à moteur avant qui ont survécu ont vraiment été pilotées par un champion du monde de Formule 1. Encore moins par deux. Cette Ferrari 555 « Super Squalo » fuselée est exceptionnellement rare pour avoir été engagée par la légendaire écurie de l'usine italienne à la fois pour le tout premier champion du monde des pilotes en catégorie Sport, le Dr Giuseppe « Nino » Farina, et également pour le premier pilote britannique à remporter le titre de champion du monde de Formule 1, John Michael « Mike » Hawthorn.
Elle a participé à quatre Grand Prix du Championnat du monde au cours de la saison 1955 – qui fut écourtée à la suite du désastre des 24 Heures du Mans en juin de cette année-là.
Mike Hawthorn avait remporté son second Grand Prix du championnat en Espagne, sur le circuit Pedralbes à Barcelone, à la fin de 1954, au volant d'une Ferrari 555 améliorée, le dernier concept de Maranello pour la Formule 1 avec ses réservoirs latéraux coincés entre les roues sous de voluptueux renflements de tôles et sa pointe arrière raccourcie ne contenant que le petit réservoir d'huile et la pompe du système de lubrification par carter sec. L'argent se faisait rare chez Ferrari qui se préparait pour la seconde saison de Formule 1 en 2½ litres pour 1955. Une nouvelle Squalo – requin – avait été préparée pour la course d'ouverture hors championnat du calendrier européen, le GP de Turin sur le circuit citadin tortueux du parc du Valentino.
Cette première apparition publique de 555/1 la vit réservée aux seuls essais, le pilote Farina préférant pour la course la sécurisante fiabilité de la Ferrari 625 mieux préparée. Deux de ces récentes Super Squalo firent leur début au Grand Prix de Bordeaux hors championnat, pilotées par Farina et Maurice Trintignant. Après avoir éclaté une conduite d'huile pendant les essais, Farina pilota avec fougue au cours des deux épreuves d'ouverture de la course et cassa sa boîte de vitesses. Pour le Grand Prix de Monaco à Monte-Carlo, Ferrari engageait cinq pilotes, le journaliste belge Paul Frère comme remplaçant, Farina, Trintignant, le Franco-Américain Harry Schell et « le Silver Fox », le vétéran Piero Taruffi, qui termina en partageant 555/1 avec Frère. Malheureusement leur course fut entachée par des problèmes de boîte.
Le Grand Prix de Belgique qui suivit à Spa-Francorchamps, trois Super Squalo étaient engagées par Ferrari. Elles coururent sans encombre, Farina terminant troisième sur la sienne, tandis que Paul Frère menait 555/1 à la quatrième place, marquant des points au championnat du monde. Trintignant, handicapé par une blessure à la jambe lors d'un récent accident, terminait septième.
Pour le Grand Prix de Hollande à Zandvoort les mêmes trois Super Squalo réapparurent, 555/1 pilotée par Mike Hawthorn terminant septième. Hawthorn avait quitter l'écurie pour Vanwall à la fin de la saison 1954, mais revenait chez Ferrari périodiquement depuis que Farina avait brusquement décidé de se retirer de la compétition. Lancia venait de faire faillite et le jeune Eugenio Castellotti, ex-pilote Lancia, pilotait pour Ferrari à partir de Zandvoort aux côtés de Trintignant et Hawthorn, qui était plus rapide mais avait perdu beaucoup de temps avec des problèmes de boîte, terminant finalement septième.
Convaincu que la Super Squalo était une concurrente pour circuit rapide, les voitures ne réapparurent pas avant le Grand Prix d'Italie à Monza en septembre. Mais à l'époque, Ferrari avait hérité des très sophistiquées Lancia D50 à moteur V8 et les « vieilles » Super Squalo furent confiées à Hawthorn, Trintignant et Umberto Maglioli. Les voitures recevaient une nouvelle boîte transaxle à cinq rapports et une quatrième 555 avait été construite dont Castellotti prit le volant pour la course, après que sa Lancia engagée par Ferrari eut été éliminée. Il se bagarra pour garder les Mercedes d'usine en vue terminant finalement à la troisième place. Mike Hawthorn au volant de 555/1 fut forcé à l'abandon à cause de sa boîte tandis que Maglioli et Trintignant finissaient loin derrière à la sixième et à la huitième place.
Pour 1956 Ferrari se concentra sur la mise au point du V8 de l'ex-Lancia D50. Les Super Squalo étaient devenues inutiles pour Ferrari et des acheteurs furent trouvés pour deux d'entre elles auprès du pilote privé britannique propriétaire de Ferrari Peter Whitehead et de son ami le vétéran Reg Parnell. Pour eux, deux des châssis des voiture 4 cylindres furent légèrement allongés et des 4 cylindres 3,5 litres de Ferrari 860 Monza Sport furent installés pour les courses de Formule Libre dans les épreuves européennes aux antipodes, en Australie et en Nouvelle-Zélande.
La première épreuve pour les deux voitures jumelles, accompagnées de leurs très expérimentés pilotes britanniques, fut la course d'ouverture des jeux Olympiques de 1956 à l'Albert Park, à Melbourne, dans la province de Victoria, le 25 novembre... que Peter Whitehead remporta avec facilité. Restant sur place à Melbourne en compagnie de 555/1, il termina troisième le 2 décembre au Grand Prix d'Australie. Les voitures furent ensuite expédiées en Nouvelle-Zélande, où Whitehead finit second le 12 janvier 1957 au Grand Prix national sur l'aérodrome d'Ardmore, à Auckland, sur l'île nord. D'autres succès suivirent dans les épreuves internationales Libre locales, Whitehead remportant le Lady Wigram Trophy sur cette voiture à Christchurch, sur l'île sud, le 26 janvier, puis en se plaçant troisième à Dunedin le 2 février, avant de gagner à nouveau à Invercargill le 16 février.
Les deux Ferrari Super Squalo de l'équipe Whitehead/Parnell dotées de leur moteur 3,5 litres type 860 furent ensuite vendues à des pilotes locaux, 555/1 à Tom Clark, le riche directeur des emblématiques céramiques Crown Lynn. Il engagea la voiture au cours des trois années qui suivirent, comme suit :
1957
3 mars - Levin, Nouvelle Zélande– PREMIER
Avril - Bathurst, Australie – course préliminaire – PREMIER
Avril - Bathurst « 100 » – Abandon
6 octobre - Bathurst – Abandon, accident
1958
6 octobre – GP d'Australie, Bathurst – 9e
23 novembre 23 - Melbourne, Australie – 3e
30 novembre - Melbourne qualif. 2 – 4e
30 novembre - Grand Prix de Melbourne– 10e
1959
10 janvier – GP de Nouvelle Zélande, Auckland – 10e
24 janvier - Lady Wigram Trophy, Christchurch, NZ – 9e
31 janvier - Waimate 50, NZ – Abandon
7 février - Teretonga qualif. 2, NZ – 3e
7 février - Teretonga – 5e
28 février - Ohakea course préliminaire– 2e
28 février - Ohakea épreuve principale – 3e
Mars - Levin Hudson Trophy – PREMIER
Cette Ferrari Super Squalo fut ensuite achetée à Tom Clark par un ami néo-zélandais passionné, Bob Smith, qui continua de la faire courir en national et à l'international dans son pays en 1960-63. Ce modèle à moteur avant fut démodé par les Cooper à moteur central puis par les Lotus, Brabham et autres et son meilleur résultat fut une 10e place à Dunedin et à Waimate en 1961.
Au Car Club Trophy d'Auckland le 2 février 1963, sur le nouveau circuit Pukekohe de la ville... « Bob Smith prit la tête dès le départ ... mais rata le droit avant la ligne droite et finit dans les bottes de pailles, presque sur les rails de chemin de fer. La voiture fut seulement légèrement endommagée et put continuer de courir ». Les dommages étaient seulement confinés à la carrosserie et à la suspension avant, mais les coûts de réparation excédaient probablement la valeur de la voiture à l'époque. Elle fut abandonnée dans une casse à Auckland, perdant progressivement son volant, son tableau de bord et son moteur, toujours puissant, qui fut utilisé sur un bateau.
Elle fut finalement ressuscitée pour courir par Garth Souness, qui habilla la voiture d'une carrosserie modifiée de Morris Minor deux portes (elle avait à peu près le même empattement) et y installa un puissant V8 Chevrolet. Comme berline de course à tout faire, pilotée par Souness, elle semblait (et s'avéra) très rapide mais incontrôlable. Engagée à l'origine comme Morris-Chevrolet ou Morris-Corvette, elle acquit rapidement une certaine notoriété en Nouvelle-Zélande sous le nom de Morrari.
La voiture fut par la suite sauvée et préservée par le fondateur du Southland Motor Museum, Len Southward, avant d'être achetée par un joailler de Nouvelle-Zélande et amateur de classiques, Gavin Bain, qui entreprit sa restauration. Au début des années 1970, la voiture fut achetée par un autre amateur et collectionneur britannique, Nigel Moores, simultanément avec le moteur contemporain de la Ferrari 860 de Whitehead à M. Southward. Dans les années 1980 la voiture passa aux mains de Tom Wheatcroft, célèbre fondateur et propriétaire de la Donington Collection de voitures de Grand Prix. Elle passa ensuite à l'Italya Trading company de Yoshiyuki Hayashi au Japon, qui la fit restaurer dans sa configuration originale de Formule 1 2,5 litres, moteur et carrosserie, par le très respecté spécialiste britannique Tony Merrick.
Il conduisit la voiture pour le Grand Prix historique de Monaco à Monte-Carlo les 3 et 4 mai 1997 et en 1998 elle passa aux mains de l'agent de change Nick Harley. Elle apparut au Goodwood Revival Meeting inaugural en septembre, pilotée par Willie Green et fut plus tard exposée au Techno Classica à Essen, en Allemagne, par Klaus Werner. Elle fut ensuite vendue à Roger Willbanks et réapparut au GP historique de Monaco en 2000, pilotée par Martin Stretton. Le mois d'août la vit passer aux mains de son actuel propriétaire, un collectionneur espagnol, qui l'engagea dans quelques-uns des événements les plus prestigieux en 2016, dont le Grand Prix historique de Monaco, le Goodwood Revival et Chantilly Arts & Élégance. Pour l'entretien, le propriétaire actuel la confie au très reconnu Corrado Patella de l'Autofficina Omega, spécialiste de la mécanique Ferrari dans le Nord de l'Italie.
L'une des deux Ferrari 555 Super Squalo de Formule 1 survivantes. Son pedigree qui inclut non seulement un, mais deux champions du monde, plus les points marqués en championnat du monde au Grand Prix de Belgique en 1955 et ses performances en Formule Libre 3,5 litres aux mains du pilote privé britannique Peter Whitehead et du célèbre capitaine d'industrie néo-zélandais Sir Tom Clark – sans oublier ses apparitions notoires sous l'aspect de la spectaculaire « Morrari » – en font une Ferrari vraiment unique. Nous la recommandons fortement...
Purple Paddle Lot: Veuillez bien noter que ce lot est soumis à des conditions spécifiques pour pouvoir enchérir nécessitant des vérifications supplémentaires. Si vous envisagez d'enchérir sur ce lot, veuillez nous contacter à [email protected] ou appeler le +44 20 7447 7447 dès que possible afin d'éviter tout délai dans votre enregistrement.
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Please note that this Lot should include a P symbol. Please see the speak to the department or the end of the catalogue description for more information. Veuillez noter que ce lot doit comporter un symbole P. Pour plus d'informations, veuillez contacter le département ou vous reporter à la fin de la description du catalogue.
Mathieu Damiens
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©CorsaResearch
©CorsaResearch
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