London, 10 January, 2014
Fitted with a 4.9-litre V12 engine developing 330 brake horsepower and clothed
in spectacular lightweight Pinin Farina all alloy open bodywork, the 375-Plus
was entrusted by the Scuderia Ferrari works racing team only to the bravest and
most skilled racing drivers of the day.
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Such drivers included Jose Froilan Gonzalez from Argentina – known as ‘the
Pampas Bull’ as much for his courage as his physique – and Umberto Maglioli,
the great Italian long distance road racer.
The 375-Plus model was an outright winner at Le Mans and Silverstone, as well
as in the astonishing five-day Carrera PanAmericana road race through Mexico,
which Umberto Maglioli won at the astounding average speed of 107mph
(173km/h). His Ferrari 375-Plus averaged more than 150mph (240km/h) for
more than five hours during the final stages of the great road race.
Car 0834AM being offered by Bonhams was the 1954 works entry driven by
Maglioli in the Mille Miglia, then piloted to victory by the great Argentine star,
Froilan Gonzalez, at Silverstone. In its last factory team outing it was co-driven by
Maglioli and Paolo Marzotto in that year’s Le Mans 24-Hour race.
The car then passed to well known amateur racer and Kleenex heir, Jim
Kimberly, in the USA, before being sold to Howard Hively, an Ohio Cadillac
dealer, in 1955. He campaigned the car enthusiastically at Watkins Glen,
Nassau and Sebring, as well as in the 1957 Cuban Grand Prix.
Howard Hively then sold the Ferrari to Ohio resident and nuclear physicist, Karl
Kleve. It later passed to noted Belgian Ferrari importer, racer and close friend of
Enzo Ferrari, Jacques Swaters, founder of the highly successful Ecurie
Francochamps racing team. Jacques Swaters had the car fully restored in
Modena.
Long-running title disputes over the car broke out between the Kleve and
Swaters families, which Bonhams is glad to have been able to assist in
resolving.
Bonhams is proud to have been instructed to offer the car without reserve at the
Goodwood Festival of Speed this summer where last year Bonhams sold the
ex-Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes Benz W196 for £20m, the world record price
for any car sold at public auction.
The car will be sold with a spare period works block engine and its original body
panels, still bearing traces of the 1957 Cuban Grand Prix race colours.
Philip Kantor, Bonhams head of motor cars for mainland Europe, said: “We are
honoured to have been chosen to sell this wonderful car, which represents a key
early stage in the Ferrari racing legend. It is very rare indeed for a Ferrari team
works car with continuous history and undisputed identity to come to the market
for sale by public auction. We believe it will attract interest from all over the
world.”
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