Between 1948 and 1974 Ferrari built approx. 475 even-numbered competition cars (chassis #0002-0896 and 1002-1050). Today almost all of these super rare cars are accounted for. Only a handful is still missing and may be lost forever. We all dream about barn finds and very few people have been lucky in the past few years. Finding a long lost Ferrari is like a lottery win. Tom Shaughnessy of San Clemente/CA is such a very happy lottery winner. And this time the lottery was Ebay! On the 20th June 2006 Shaughnessy bought in an ebay auction what was described as a Devin […]
Between 1948 and 1974 Ferrari built approx. 475 even-numbered competition cars (chassis #0002-0896 and 1002-1050). Today almost all of these super rare cars are accounted for. Only a handful is still missing and may be lost forever. We all dream about barn finds and very few people have been lucky in the past few years. Finding a long lost Ferrari is like a lottery win.
Tom Shaughnessy of San Clemente/CA is such a very happy lottery winner. And this time the lottery was Ebay! On the 20th June 2006 Shaughnessy bought in an ebay auction what was described as a Devin Sports Spider of the 1950s,
with a fiberglass body similar to a 750 Monza Ferrari. Tom Shaughnessy was the only one in the world who quickly realized that underneath the Devin body was a genuine Ferrari chassis numbered 0202 A. He was the high bidder
in the ebay auction and acquired the “Devin” for US$ 26’912.
The seller was based in Illinois and was cleaning up his garage. The Ferrari had last be seen in the early 1960s. Chassis number 0202 A is a genuine 1952 Ferrari 340 America, built originally with an attractive Spider body by Vignale. 0202 A raced at the Le Mans 24 hours in 1952 with Maurice
Trintignant and Louis Rosier. Thereafter the factory loaned the car to Piero Scotti who hillclimbed 0202 A extensively through 1953. The car came to USA via Luigi Chinetti who may have re-sold it to Ernie McAfee. In the late 1950s Paul Owens in Houston/TX owned 0202 A and a Chevy V8 engine was
installed. Following a crash a Devin Spider fiberglass body was installed. The original engine was later sold by somebody in the Chicago area. In 1963 chassis 0202 A was titled in Salt Lake City/UT and then the car disappeared
until 2006. Nobody saw it for the next 43 years!
0202 A is one of only 25 340 Americas built (9 bodied by Touring, 11 by Vignale and 5 by Ghia). Sister cars are 0196 A and 0204 A.
Shaugnessy’s new acquisition is a super rare “barn find”. The front part of the chassis with the steering is intact, the front spring is missing, someone has added a carrier for a battery just behind the crossmember. The chassis number 0202 A is crystal clear and intact. The center section and rear have been modified. All of the rear leaf spring mounts have been cut off. The brakes are still there and appear to be in good condition. The wheels should be original. The ends of the rear axle are correct. The center section has been replaced with a Chevy. A full restoration is planned in co-operation with the Ferrari factory in Maranello (Classic Departement).
Today a complete 340 America Spider Vignale ist probably worth US$ 2.8 M and up. Shaughnessy paid less than one (1) percent of this! Congratulations to Tom for a fabulous find! Well done indeed.
Marcel Massini is a noted Ferrari historian based in Switzerland. He can be reached at:
marcel@massini.cc
Phone +41 31 301 87 37
Fax +41 31 301 87 43
Mobile +41 79 356 22 92
