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Ferrari Testa Rossa 0704 from HF Museum: best trade in history?


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#1 HistoryBuff

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Posted 10 February 2014 - 23:58

Long ago when I went to the Henry Ford Museum, decades ago, they had a Testa Rossa on display. I since found out it was the second prototype, number 0704, built on a 500 TR chassis instead. Its debut was at Le Mans in 1957, where drivers Olivier Gendebien and Maurice Trintignant retired early with a burned piston. On the car’s next outing, the Grand Prix of Sweden, Masten Gregory and Wolfgang Seidel would retire early with a gearbox failure. The car’s first completed race came at the end of 1957, when Peter Collins and Phil Hill drove 0704 to a fourth place finish at the Grand Prix of Venezuela. The following season would open with a pair of wins at Buenos Aires and Sebring, with Hill and Collins again behind the wheel. - Chassis 0704 was then sold to a series of privateer teams after the 1958 season and then raced through the 1962 season. This was one of the few racing Ferraris that never got hit bad. For some reason whoever the private owner was at the time (I believe it was raced in the Pacific NW in small regional races) left the car to the HF Museum in his will. Three decades later The Henry Ford sold chassis 0704, and it eventually wound up in the United Kingdom in the collection of Eric Heerema. As the sale was private and not at auction, price details are lacking. Heerema allegedly sold the car to collector car dealer Tom Hartley Jr. for an undisclosed price. Though Hartley admits later selling the  Testa Rossa, again no details were reported. Instead, the Daily Mail cited “well-placed sources” who stated that the selling price was “in excess of £24.1 million.” which is close to  $39.8 million USD.

I heard the HF Museum didn’t sell it outright but traded it for a historic Locomobile, (defunct American marque) and maybe two other cars and a million in cash, all to Jerry Helck, the son of the famous automotive artist of the ‘30s through the ‘50s Peter Helck. I was wondering what Ferrari fans think of the trade, and if there’s any good stories on how Helck got such a good deal, maybe one of the greatest trades in history.



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#2 RA Historian

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Posted 11 February 2014 - 14:51

The Locomobile was not just any car. It was "Old 16", which had quite a history in early U.S., racing. The Ford Museum felt that the Loco with its history was a better fit in its collection than the Ferrari. It made sense to them at that time, which was the early 1990s when the market was different.

 

Also, Phil Hill and Peter Collins did not drive 0704 to fourth at the 1957 Venezuelan GP. They won the race outright in a Ferrari 335-S.

 

Tom



#3 Tim Murray

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Posted 11 February 2014 - 17:36

'0704' was driven in the Venezuelan race by Maurice Trintignant and Olivier Gendebien. Here's the car's racing record according to the Racing Sports Cars site:

 

http://www.racingspo...TR [250TR].html