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[helioseism]

In case anyone is interested, the web site of La Libreria dell'Automobile is listing 18 wooden body forms created by master modeler Michele Conti for his 1/10 scale handbuilt models.

Porsche 911
Maserati 250F
Jaguar D-Type 1955
Ford GT-40 1967
Austin-Healey 2000
AC Cobra
Ferrari 156 F1 1961
Ferrari GTO 1985
Ferrari 330 P4 1967
Ferrari 312 PB 1971
Ferrari 375 Plus 1954
Ferrari Spider California 1962
Ferrari TR 1960
Ferrari 250 GTO 1962
Ferrari 250 GT Sperimentale 1961
Ferrari 212 E 1965
Ferrari 166 MM 1948
Auto Avio Costruzioni/Ferrari 815 AAC 1940

[wildman]

My first exposure to Conti's exquisite models was in the early '70s, when Oscar Kovaleski featured them in his Auto World mail-order catalogue. I hadn't given them much thought until I saw your post, which led me to do some research online. Apparently Conti died in 1996, just 65 years old, having completed somewhere around 250 of his model masterpieces during his lifetime. His son Maurizio continued his father's work until his own untimely passing in November 2011. Sadly, it seems that there are no further Conti family members to carry on the tradition, as the contimodels.com domain has been abandoned. One assumes that the body bucks listed by La Libreria came from Maurizio's estate.

 

http://www.conticoll...historyofmc.htm

http://www.dfwelitet...michelle-conti/

 

I've seen it mentioned several places that MOMA in New York once had one or more Conti models in its collection, though there's no mention of same on moma.org. It's also said that Enzo Ferrari had a Conti model in his office. Anyone know if there's any truth to those stories?