If there’s one thing you’re guaranteed to see at any major concours it’s a Ferrari or two, but Salon Privé has a dedicated Ferraris of the ’50s and ’60s class, with some extremely special examples set to take part. We’ve already discussed the 1950 Ferrari 166MM/212 Export ‘Uovo’ and 1957 Ferrari 335 S that will be involved, but two more stars have just been confirmed.
1953 Ferrari 166 MM/53 Spider by Vignale – chassis #0308M
Originally ordered as a Berlinetta, this car’s first owner, Porfirio Rubirosa, had it rebodied as a Spider – the fifth of six such cars built – before taking delivery. A Dominican diplomat, Rubirosa was a larger-than-life character who enjoyed a jet-setting lifestyle; as well as being a successful professional polo player, he was romantically involved with many of the era’s biggest Hollywood stars, including Zsa Zsa Gabor, Rita Hayworth and Marilyn Monroe.
However, Rubirosa’s competition career with chassis 0308M wasn’t quite so high-profile and only included one race: the 1953 12 Hours of Reims. Sharing the drive with Pierre Leygonie, the pairing achieved the ninth-fastest lap of the race before mechanical problems forced a retirement. Soon after the race, Rubirosa was dismissed from his post in Paris, and 0308M was returned to Maranello to be prepared for sale. After Ferrari sold the car, it was campaigned through 1954 and ’55 by French driver Fernand Tavano, before returning to the factory once again. After a spell with Belgian Ferrari concessionaires Garage Francorchamps, the 166 MM passed through three more owners in Belgium and France between 1956 and ’58, during which time it was entered in a series of hill climbs and grands prix. In 1958, London dealership, The Chequered Flag, imported the car and sold it to John Vivian Stanbury, who had recently been appointed chief designer at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
But in 1960, 0308M was bought by Bernard Worth, who was to keep the car for the next 63 years. Always registered as ‘72 SMK’, it has participated in a remarkable variety of events during that time, including club races during the mid-1960s; the Ferrari Owners’ Club of Great Britain Inaugural Meeting in 1967; the Le Mans Cinquantenaire Festival in 1973; two editions of the 1000 Miglia Storica during the 1980s; and the Le Mans Legend race in 2001. In recent years, it has been a regular attendee at the Ferrari Owners’ Club of Great Britain annual meeting and other prestigious shows. Since being purchased by its current owner, Lord Bamford, in 2023, the car has undergone a sympathetic restoration undertaken by Clark & Carter to take the vehicle back to how it was initially specified by Rubirosa when it was new.
1966 Ferrari 500 Superfast – chassis #8897SF
There couldn’t be a starker contrast to the pared-back, competition-focused 166 MM than this opulent 500 Superfast. Built for a rarified clientele, but with a weather eye to the prosperous US market, only 37 500 Superfasts left Ferrari’s factory, and of those, only eight were right-hand-drive UK market cars.Chassis 8897 is not only one of those but also the very last 500 Superfast to be produced by Ferrari. In the UK, its exclusivity would have been sealed with a new list price in 1966 of £11,518 – almost twice that of its 275 GTB/4 sibling.
The 500 Superfast had its origins in Ferrari’s Lampredi-engined 340-/342-/375-series cars of the early 1950s, which was then further developed into the 410 Superamerica range from 1956-’59, complete with its independent coil-sprung front suspension, and power from a 4962cc version of Lampredi’s long-block V12 engine. The 410 SA then evolved into the 400 Superamerica series, changing to a smaller 4-litre Colombo V12 engine. Battista Farina remained at the design-helm and refined his ‘Aerodinamico’ thinking still further with the pretty 400 SA Coupé, a stunning example of which will be joining the 500 Superfast at Salon Privé’s Concours. While the two are quite different mechanically and in their external detailing, the similarity of the cars’ Pininfarina (as it became known from 1961) designs is apparent.
When it launched at the Geneva Show in 1964, the 500 Superfast was the most extravagant and expensive road car in Ferrari’s range. It also used Maranello’s largest and most powerful V12 engine, which retained the displacement of the earlier 5-litre Lampredi units but blended it with features from Ferrari’s Colombo-designed engines to produce a claimed output of 400bhp. This was enough to gift the 500 Superfast a top speed of 170mph – faster than any other production car at the time.
As well as being the last of the line, the Salon Privé car is also one of only 10 fitted with factory air conditioning and originally one of two with power-assisted steering (though after this failed early in its life, the system was never reinstated). First registered with the number ‘KGH 8D’ by Ferrari’s UK distributor, Maranello Concessionaires, in August 1966, the car’s first owner was a Mr. Samuels. After his passing the following year, the 500 had one more owner for a brief period, during which time it was repainted in Bianco Polo before being acquired by Ferrari collector Jack Crowther, who kept the car – then registered ‘NAN 399D’ – until 1985. Three more owners followed until the 500 was taken on by Simon Kidston in 2017 and recommissioned by marque specialists GTO Engineering. It then resided in a British collection for the next few years before being sold to its current owner, New Zealand-based Andrew Bagnall. Since then, Bob Houghton Limited has returned the paint to its original Avorio colour and undertaken a complete re-chrome and interior renovation.
Other highlights to look out for…
We’ve previously discussed some of the other major highlights to look out for at Salon Privé this year, but there will also be a UK debut for the
Naran’s debut vehicle was initially announced in 2021 and built in Germany before finishing in Coventry, UK. Company founder Ameerh Naran conceived it to be the perfect blend of an ultra-high-performance vehicle and an object of pure beauty.
The first ever Naran model will be positioned on the lawn and members of the Naran team will be on hand to explain more about the company’s vision. Only 39 will be built and, with unparalleled customisation options available to owners including the chance to christen their own edition, each one will be a unique luxury creation.
Naran founder and CEO Ameerh Naran said: ‘Our cars are about indulging our owners in unparalleled tailoring and visceral performance, offering them all the things they have always dreamed about in a vehicle, in an aesthetic, luxury and driving experience sense.
‘Our unprecedented customisation options mean our customers can even give their vehicle its own name. And, because the car has four seats, our owners can share their vision with others, too.’
The car will produce up to 1000bhp thanks to its bespoke 5.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine, delivering a competitive 0-60mph time. Those opting for a more race track-inspired aero pack, informed by the adjustable systems used in motorsport to enhance downforce, will benefit from an aerodynamic package promising a GT3-style driving experience on road and track.
The DeLorean of the future
An electrified DeLorean DMC-12 will be making an appearance at Salon Privé 2024, from the EV technology company Electrogenic. The hero car of the Back to the Future films “now finally has the sporting performance its futuristic shape always deserved,” with Electrogenic’s custom ‘plug and play’ EV conversion kit transforming the 1980s supercar. It offers more than 150 miles of real-world electric motoring and can use the latest CCS rapid chargers.
Electrogenic’s drop-in conversion, which is fully reversible, replaces the lukewarm V6 engine with an electric motor producing nearly 220hp. This motor drives a fixed-ratio gearbox that drives the rear wheels. It has a 43kW battery pack, which is fitted in place of the fuel tank under the front luggage compartment and above the electric motor in the rear.
Given its starring role in Back to the Future, the EV has fittingly futuristic extra features, too, including touchscreen Apple CarPlay and a bespoke virtual dashboard that displays drive modes, battery usage, and charge status. The air conditioning system has been enhanced, and the EV system has vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality, so owners can charge a laptop, power a fridge, or even charge another car on the go.
