Chassis Number: 0498M
This car is equipped with a 260-hp, 2,999-cc DOHC inline 4-cylinder engine with two Weber 45 DCO/A3 carburetors, a 5-speed manual transaxle, independent front suspension with transverse leaf springs, De Dion rear axle with parallel trailing arms and semi-elliptic leaf springs, four-wheel drum brakes, and a tubular steel frame. This car finished 5th overall at the 1955 12 Hours of Sebring. It raced to multiple 1st-place finishes in other races. Phil Hill and Carroll Shelby raced the car. Marcel Massini documented the history of the car. This car is an early example of Ferrari’s 3-liter, 4-cylinder customer sports/racing cars. It was recently restored to authentic Monza livery. Chassis 0498M, approximately the eighth car built, was one of the earliest Monzas sold to the United States, and it was acquired new by Chinetti Motors in early 1955. The Ferrari was discovered as a Texas barnyard find in 1994 by Rick Grape of Fort Worth. It was subsequently purchased and sold to collector Terrence Healy of Brisbane, Australia, in November 1998. Mr. Healy commenced a full restoration, which continued when the car was sold in 2004 to the consignor. As the original body had suffered significant corrosion from three decades of exposure to the elements, the consignor decided to commission the fabrication of new coachwork in the Scaglietti Spyder style. Measurements were taken from the original coachwork, as it still retained its original shape. A correct 3-liter, 4-cylinder Lampredi motor — engine number 006 (from a 625 monoposto grand prix car) — was acquired from Tom Wheatcroft, the rescuer and owner of British circuit Donington Park.
