6 replies to this topic

[HistoryBuff]

As shocking as it sounds, someoneonce took out a V12 engine from a prototype Testa Rossa (0666) some decades ago and installed a REAL MAN's engine (talking like a Yank now) a 427 Ford. I have been researching this car and want to get my facts right. I first thought the conversion was by Shelby American but now found a blog that say sit was a man named Bob Sanders of Covina,CA.
So what I want to know is, was Sanders an ex-Shelby American mechanic?
Was it a side oiler 427? What was the manifold andcarbs (there was a side draft Weber manifold for the 427 as Bruce McLaren ran one on the X1-GT he created out of a GT40 lightweight chassis)
Incidentally I heard it had a Corvette rear end and maybe a Borg Warner T-10 4-speed.
Finally who owned the car when a match was tossed into the interior?
Don't worry-- the car survived and in modrn times sold for $16 million with the correct engine re-installed.

[arttidesco]

someoneonce took out a V12 engine from a prototype Testa Rossa (0666) some decades ago and installed a 427 Ford.

I wonder if Enzo would have seen the irony in the chassis number of the desecrated car (pun intended) ?

[HistoryBuff]

I thought of that but of course was much too polite to say it. I read the other day that the wife of one race driver
referred to Enzo as "The Executioner" because so many of his drivers died.

Edited by HistoryBuff, 08 May 2013 - 15:53.

[D-Type]

I thought of that but of course was much too polite to say it. I read the other day that the wife of one race driver
referred to Enzo as "The Executioner" because so many of his drivers died.

That's not really justified when you consider the number of Ferraris racing. Ferraris were no worse than most of the opposition and certainly better than some. What also distorts the percetion is the number of potent Ferrari sports cars driven by less talented, less experienced drivers - particularly some of the amateurs.

Edited by D-Type, 08 May 2013 - 17:50.

[Lee Nicolle]

It would be interesting to know the weight factor. The 427 [or any FE engine] is a big lump though I am told the V12 Ferrari was also quite heavy, and bulky. As an engine I know the one I would prefer, but the weight would always be the No1 factor. I doubt the T10 would be a backward step as a close ratio 4 speed is often better than a wider ratio 5 spd. Especially on a big torquey Ford lump.

[Cynic2]

I have never heard that 0666 had a 427 Ford engine installed. I wonder if you're confusing it with the John von Neumann 625 TRC, 0672 MDTR, which did have a 427 Ford enigne and drivetrain installed for drag racing. It was then owned by a Ford dealer in California named Ron something -- I'd have to dig in my records to find his name. The frame was never carved up for either the engine or rear end installation -- I later owned the car.

You might also be thinking of 0770, a TR/60 owned by George Reed (RRR Motors). He replaced the TR engine with a 290 MM four-cam, then later with a Ford engine -- I think it was a 427, but truthfully I don't recall.

Carroll Shelby et al had nothing to do with either of these Ford engine installations.

[HistoryBuff]

That is good information but the man I talked to who bought the car from Pete Civati is quite reputable and knowledgeable in the Ferrari community and later on sold the car for several million dollars so if he said it had a Ford V8 when he went to purchase it I believe him.

You are right I could find no Shelby connection, though of course Shelby would take on side deals as he did with the Sunbeam Tiger which was a little $10,000 conversion job for the prototype.

Also Chet Flynn, a GM eexcutive out of Detroit raced some vintage Ferrari with a Chevy engine. I wonder if GM installed the engine for him? I never read a story about his cars, but CAVALLINO might have had something.

Coincidentally I need a 1965 iron block side oiler 427 right now, so if anyone has one for sale, in US or England, let me know. It's going in a Mk. II Ford GT replica.

I have never heard that 0666 had a 427 Ford engine installed. I wonder if you're confusing it with the John von Neumann 625 TRC, 0672 MDTR, which did have a 427 Ford enigne and drivetrain installed for drag racing. It was then owned by a Ford dealer in California named Ron something -- I'd have to dig in my records to find his name. The frame was never carved up for either the engine or rear end installation -- I later owned the car.

You might also be thinking of 0770, a TR/60 owned by George Reed (RRR Motors). He replaced the TR engine with a 290 MM four-cam, then later with a Ford engine -- I think it was a 427, but truthfully I don't recall.

Carroll Shelby et al had nothing to do with either of these Ford engine installations.