11 replies to this topic

[teegeefla]

I have been looking into the infamous 1958 Cuban Grand Prix where Fangio was kidnapped by Castro sympathizers, and my curiosity centers on the Ferrari 335 chassis #0700 that Phil Hill drove wearing the number 8. The car had changed its color since its previous race at Nassau several months earlier from a dark color (blue?) to a white paint scheme with a three-colored stripe. So far I have failed miserably to find a color photo of the car to determine the colors of the stripe, which also seems to widen to cover the entire nose (see photos below of the car with copyright Getty Images).

https://www.gettyima...photo/514976654

https://www.gettyima...photo/861202644

I don't have a copy of Joel Finn's Caribbean Capers to refer to and my TNF, FChat and other internet searches have come up empty. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Tom

[marksixman]

Hi Tom,

 

Have you tried the Klemantaski Collection ? I had the opposite problem a while back - a good photograph (from 1938 !), but an unidentifiable location. The print had a Klemantaski copyright stamp so I tried them. Peter Sachs there was really helpful and came up trumps within 24 hours.

 

Their website is 'klemcoll.com' or you can email them at 'info@klemcoll.com' .

 

Good luck !

[teegeefla]

Hi Tom,

 

Have you tried the Klemantaski Collection ? I had the opposite problem a while back - a good photograph (from 1938 !), but an unidentifiable location. The print had a Klemantaski copyright stamp so I tried them. Peter Sachs there was really helpful and came up trumps within 24 hours.

 

Their website is 'klemcoll.com' or you can email them at 'info@klemcoll.com' .

 

Good luck !

Thanks for the suggestion, but because of the holiday I was going to contact them on Monday.  I also looked in their venue database for the 1958 Cuba  race and they only have a limited number of black and white photos and nothing in color.  But you never know what can help.

[Doug Nye]

Phil's Ferrari in that Havana race was painted white overall, with three longitudinal centre stripes - mid-blue, red in the middle, then mid-blue again.  The number disc areas on the doors were outlined in stripe--matching mid-blue with the race number '8' in red, matching the red of the centreline lengthwise stripe.  The top of the dash panel was also red, standing out distinctly against the white-painted metalwork of the scuttle area.  

 

DCN

[Porsche718]

Doug, what an exact description in answering the question the poster asked. I almost expected you to continue with the colour codes, tint mix and thickness of the stripes!

[teegeefla]

Phil's Ferrari in that Havana race was painted white overall, with three longitudinal centre stripes - mid-blue, red in the middle, then mid-blue again. The number disc areas on the doors were outlined in stripe--matching mid-blue with the race number '8' in red, matching the red of the centreline lengthwise stripe. The top of the dash panel was also red, standing out distinctly against the white-painted metalwork of the scuttle area.

DCN

Doug-

many thanks for clarifying this.

Am I correct then that the blue outer portions of the central tri-colored stripe encircle the front (red) number and then widen out down and around the nose? Or would it have been red? From the photo

https://www.gettyima...photo/514976654

you can see that there is an something there and the blue seems more logical.

Regards, Tom

P.S.- I tried to include the photos in these posts but all I could manage was to attach the links. Computer operator limitations...

[teegeefla]

An update on this curious quest of mine.  A facebook contact told me that there are two color photos of the Havana #8 in Phil Hill's career retrospective trilogy of books called "Inside Track- Collector's Edition."  Unfortunately these books are not in any library that I know and the price of purchase is far beyond my meager budget.  So if anyone has these books and can share a scan it would be most welcome.  Thanks again.

[Doug Nye]

Yes - nose treatment was blue, matching the outboard longitudinal stripes.

 

Re Phil Hill book(s).   Ahem - Yerrrrsssss.  I am guilty of producing them, and they are high-priced to cover print, paper and binding costs. But they should not disappoint.  Due to copyright reasons I could not post a photograph from them.  What others here might feel free to do is up to them but remember, please, the photos if posted should be marked 'Copyright - The Hill Family Collection'.

 

Incidentally - we have just found we have a number of unbound 'book blocks' of the Phil Hill 'Inside Track' biography edition.  They are identical to the bound volumes - just need a binding which any buyer could provide or have done by a craft binder to his own taste and design.  

 

If anyone might be interested in acquiring such a customised version of this very well-received and now virtually sold out book these unbound copies could be available for £100 each - plus P&P.  Great value for money - hours of harmless fun.  Just a thought, and apologies for this shameless advertisement...  E-mail me if interested...

 

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 10 April 2023 - 07:23.

[Myhinpaa]

Photo posted on the thread started on Ferrarichat on the subject.

 

https://www.ferraric...osts/149087606/

 

[teegeefla]

Doug-

 

I wondered if you had some inside knowledge based on the specific nature of you description of the car.  I figured you either had some photos at hand or you possess an otherworldly memory for details from 65 years ago...

 

Sadly, as a retiree in Florida living on a fixed income, I would not be able to acquire the book blocks of Inside Track...but this has inspired me to take a long-delayed road trip to the Collier Collection/Revs Institute in Naples and check out their research materials.  I used to visit the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen whenever I could, and Bill Green (now retired) and the staff were always extremely helpful.  

 

Once again thank you for your help.

 

Regards,

 

Tom Gee

[Doug Nye]

No problem Tom - happy to help.  I work constantly with my friends at Revs and I am sure you will find some great stuff there with help from the library staff and the Institute's fine volunteer force.

 

DCN. 

[rl1856]

An outside of the box suggestion- the race was reported by at least 2 US publications: Road & Track, and Sports Cars Illustrated.  Both would have included photographs from the event, and likely included photos of Hill's car...because he was an American competing at the top level, and a friend of both publications.

 

The issues should be easy to find, and not very expensive.   Caveat is the photos are likely in B&W.  However, the photos can be scanned, and then colorized to generate a very good approximation of the actual color scheme.