Sweet as Cherry Pie
This little Italian prize from the early fifties would garner 5 million dollars at auction. So, I'm afraid we're going to have to pool our money to get it!
The 1953 Ferrari 250 MM Spider was a rare, high-performance competition car with a 3.0-liter V12 engine. It was available in two body styles: a berlinetta by Pininfarina and a barchetta by Vignale. The Vignale-bodied spider was lighter and more eligible for historic races and concours events.
Engine: 3.0-liter Colombo V12 engine, 240 horsepower at 7,200 rpm, Top speed of over 150 mph, and Three Weber 36 IF/4C carburetors.
Chassis: Tubular steel chassis with a short wheelbase and Lightweight construction.
Suspension: Independent front suspension with double wishbones, Live rear axle with semi-elliptical leaf springs, and Houdaille shock absorbers.
Transmission: 4-speed manual gearbox.
Brakes:
4-wheel hydraulic finned-aluminum drum brakes
AIfredo Vignale with his company was not part of the bright generation of Turin coachbuilders of the first period, although he had worked at a very young age at Pinin Farina and Stabilimenti Farina, both of which had shaped his skills of sheet beater. Born on June 15, 1913, Alfredo learned the art of transforming an nude motor chassis into a splendid automobile in the early years of the last century. In 1930 he came into contact with the newborn Pinin Farina, founded in that year by Battista Farina, who broke away from Stabilimenti Farina, the atelier of his older brother Giovanni. Alfredo’s ability to shape the aluminum sheet with the aid of working tools into body sculptures, was consolidated over time, and this mastery in such a creative profession whose secrets were unveiled to him by Felice Mario Boano and Pietro Frua – enabled him in the second half of the 30’s to take over the leadership of the bodywork department at Giovanni Farina’s company, which at the time had almost a thousand employees including his father Francesco and the brothers Eusebio and Guglielmo. The brilliant manual skills of the young craftsman and his tireless dedication to work clearly forged his professional connotations, which nevertheless had no way of finding adequate expression during the years of the Second World War. Thus it was that Alfredo’s great aspiration, that of taking the fateful step of setting up his own business, had to wait until the immediate postwar period. On October 26, 1946, Carrozzeria Vignale & C was established with headquarters in via Cigliano 29/31.
Alfredo Vignale not only was a master in sheet metal shaping, but he was also into drawing, since he had attended a three-year evening course at very young age in which he learned how to design sketch. At the age of 17, in 1930, he had already gained experience as a sheet beater at the Ferrero and Morandi workshop, from which, as mentioned, he moved to Pinin Farina, in the great temple just consecrated of the Italian bodywork.
Sweet as Cherry Pie
This little Italian prize from the early fifties would garner 5 million dollars at auction. So, I'm afraid we're going to have to pool our money to get it!
The 1953 Ferrari 250 MM Spider was a rare, high-performance competition car with a 3.0-liter V12 engine. It was available in two body styles: a berlinetta by Pininfarina and a barchetta by Vignale. The Vignale-bodied spider was lighter and more eligible for historic races and concours events.
Engine: 3.0-liter Colombo V12 engine, 240 horsepower at 7,200 rpm, Top speed of over 150 mph, and Three Weber 36 IF/4C carburetors.
Chassis: Tubular steel chassis with a short wheelbase and Lightweight construction.
Suspension: Independent front suspension with double wishbones, Live rear axle with semi-elliptical leaf springs, and Houdaille shock absorbers.
Transmission: 4-speed manual gearbox.
Brakes:
4-wheel hydraulic finned-aluminum drum brakes
AIfredo Vignale with his company was not part of the bright generation of Turin coachbuilders of the first period, although he had worked at a very young age at Pinin Farina and Stabilimenti Farina, both of which had shaped his skills of sheet beater. Born on June 15, 1913, Alfredo learned the art of transforming an nude motor chassis into a splendid automobile in the early years of the last century. In 1930 he came into contact with the newborn Pinin Farina, founded in that year by Battista Farina, who broke away from Stabilimenti Farina, the atelier of his older brother Giovanni. Alfredo’s ability to shape the aluminum sheet with the aid of working tools into body sculptures, was consolidated over time, and this mastery in such a creative profession whose secrets were unveiled to him by Felice Mario Boano and Pietro Frua – enabled him in the second half of the 30’s to take over the leadership of the bodywork department at Giovanni Farina’s company, which at the time had almost a thousand employees including his father Francesco and the brothers Eusebio and Guglielmo. The brilliant manual skills of the young craftsman and his tireless dedication to work clearly forged his professional connotations, which nevertheless had no way of finding adequate expression during the years of the Second World War. Thus it was that Alfredo’s great aspiration, that of taking the fateful step of setting up his own business, had to wait until the immediate postwar period. On October 26, 1946, Carrozzeria Vignale & C was established with headquarters in via Cigliano 29/31.
Alfredo Vignale not only was a master in sheet metal shaping, but he was also into drawing, since he had attended a three-year evening course at very young age in which he learned how to design sketch. At the age of 17, in 1930, he had already gained experience as a sheet beater at the Ferrero and Morandi workshop, from which, as mentioned, he moved to Pinin Farina, in the great temple just consecrated of the Italian bodywork.