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| The much-rebuilt, one of a kind and very pricey Ferarri 'Egg'. |
TWO very different Ferrari cars made the news this week.
The main attraction is the 2018 Portofino, Ferarri’s latest
convertible, which will make its public debut at next month’s Frankfurt Auto
Show, selling for $200 000 (over R2,6 million).
Ferarri said the 591-horsepower Portofino uses new pistons,
conrods, intake, exhaust designs and twin turbos to wring a bit more power out
of the California’s turbocharged V8.
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| Ferarri's latest entry-level carbiolet. |
The other Ferarri that made the news is the one-of-a-kind 1950
Uovo, which sold for $4,5 million (over R58,7 million) at the Monterey Auction
in mid-August.
Specially designed by Franco Reggiani for Count Giannino Marzotto,
the one-off race car was highly competitive in both Europe and North
America.
Seldom exhibited in public, the car was accompanied by a personal
report from Ferrari historian Marcel Massini.
He recounted how the four Marzotto brothers, all very talented
drivers in their own right, invested large chunks of their family’s textile
fortunes to become the best gentleman racers in Italy. He explained the Marzotto
brothers were arguably the Scuderia’s most important customers in Ferrari’s
earliest days.
“They not only kept the company on its feet by owning multiple
Ferraris between themselves, but they also earned Ferrari great fame through
their success on the race track.”
Massini said the Uovo is “the living expression of one of the
greatest personalities of the Italian early fifties racing world”.
Count Giannino Marzotto won particular fame as one of the few
racing drivers to win the Mille Miglia twice — a feat that immediately
catapulted him among the likes of Tazio Nuvolari.
Winning his first Mille Miglia in 1950 wearing a double-breasted
brown suit, Giannino’s spirit captured the hearts of Italian fans
everywhere.
Conceived and executed by Giannino from start to finish, the Uovo
is the epitome of a car envisaged by a racing driver without limitation of
imagination and financial means. Several crashes also led to several rebuilds,
each lighter and faster.
Completed by the factory on February 2, 1950 and delivered to
brother Umberto Marzotto, chassis number 024 MB’s first outing was in the Targa
Florio, where a clutch problem unfortunately sidelined the car.
The car’s next outing was at the Mille Miglia with Umberto and
co-driver Franco Cristaldi.
It was crashed heavily and was fully rebuilt by Ferarri. After the
Mille Miglia, the Marzottos were looking for even better results in 1951. Rather
than fit the car with traditional coachwork from Touring, Fontana of Padova and
the soon-to-be famous sculptor Franco Reggiani were commissioned to create a
streamlined body, with maximum efficiency and performance in mind. The result,
lovingly nicknamed “Uovo” (“egg” in Italian), was an automotive design like no
other.
Heavily inspired by Reggiani’s previous aeronautical training, the
Uovo took the shape of a jet, minus the wings. The windshield was made from
crystal.
Massini said the opportunities that the Uovo provides its next
owner with were limitless.
“Having competed in the Mille Miglia in period, it is of course
welcome to return to that event as well as a number of other historic races,” he
wrote.
“As it has never been shown at any concours event, it would surely
be welcome at the most exclusive concours around the globe,” he concluded.
