Der Exklusive
Mit dem 340 America hatte sich Ferrari einen guten Namen machen können in den USA. Doch es gab insbesondere in Amerika auch Kunden, die wollten keinen Rennwagen kaufen, aber trotzdem einigermassen sportlich unterwegs sein. Wer die Idee für den Ferrari 342 America hatte, ist nicht mehr nachvollziehbar, aber die Wahrscheinlichkeit dürfte gross sein, dass Luigi Chinetti, Ferrari-Importeur an der Ostküste, Enzo Ferrari relativ einfach von diesem Modell überzeugen konnte – die beiden Herren einte unter anderem ihre Geschäftstüchtigkeit.
In den USA muss ja alles ein bisschen grösser sein, auch luxuriöser. Der Ferrari 340 America war noch ein echter Rennwagen (auch wenn einige wenige Exemplare einigermassen komfortabel ausgestattet wurden), auch eng, für den 342 America wurde der Radstand deshalb um 23 Zentimeter auf 2,65 Meter verlängert. Doch sonst blieb eigentlich alles gleich, Kastenrahmen, die vorderen Räder sind einzeln an Doppelquerlenkern aufgehängt, hinten gab es eine Starrachse mit Blattfedern.
Bei den Motoren nun wird es etwas komplizierter. Vier (#0232AL, #0240AL, #0242AL, #0246AL) der sechs 342 America verfügten über den 4,1-Liter-Lampredi-V12 vom Tipo 102, wir er auch im 340 America verbaut war. Für den amerikanischen Markt nahm man aber die Leistung leicht zurück, es blieben noch 200 PS bei 5000/min. Zwei Fahrzeuge, die beiden Pininfarina Cabriolet (#0234AL, #0248AL), erhielten den überarbeiteten Tipo 104 mit 4,5 Liter Hubraum und 300 PS, wie er später auch in den Ferrari 375 America eingebaut wurde.
Es entstanden sechs Exemplare, wie schon erwähnt. Das Fahrzeug, das wir hier oben zeigen, war ein Vignale-Cabriolet (#0232AL), das aber erstaunlicherweise nicht zuerst nach Amerika ging, sondern vom Schweizer Odofranco Wild gekauft wurde. Dazu gab es, wie auch schon erwähnt, zwei Cabriolets von Pininfarina, und schliesslich noch drei Coupé, von denen eines (Bild unten), #0246AL, auch einen Schweizer Bezug hat, denn es wurde 1953 auf dem Genfer Salon ausgestellt.
Chassis-Nummer: 0232 AL
Motoren-Nummer: 0232 AL
Auktion: RM Sotheby’s, Monterey 2017, verkauft für 2’255’000 Dollar, angeboten mit folgendem Text: «Records indicate that 0232 AL was the very first 342 America built, and the first of three completed with cabriolet coachwork, in this case by Vignale, with the unique feature of slotted taillights recessed into the fenders. It was test-driven by the factory on 27 October 1952, and delivered to its first owner on 14 January 1953. Odofranco “Otto” Wild of Muri, Switzerland, was an early good customer of Ferrari, as well as an avid purchaser of other unusual coachbuilt European cars in this period. It is interesting to note that the car’s radiator bears a tag from a Zurich supplier, indicating that it may have been installed during this original ownership. The car was subsequently exported to the United States in the late 1950s or early 1960s, and acquired by T. Dan Smith of Los Angeles. In 1971, Smith sold the 342 America to longtime enthusiast Norman Snart of Hayward, California, for which it was registered in California as ‘NMB 316.’ By this time the car had been refinished in metallic silver and its bumpers had been removed. While Mr. Snart would own the car for the next two decades, it was very infrequently shown or displayed. One of the rarest exceptions was the FCA Pacific Region Ferrari Concours d’Elegance at Quail Lodge in 1992. He finally parted with the Ferrari in 2004, selling the car to Paul Forbes. The car was purchased later in 2007 by its current owners, and was restored in California in the current color scheme of metallic green and white, with a complementary white and green leather interior».
Chassis-Nummer: 0246 AL
Motoren-Nummer: 0246 AL
Auktion: RM Sotheby’s, Arizona 2012, verkauft für 632’500 Dollar, angeboten mit folgendem Text: «Chassis 0246AL, a Pinin Farina-bodied coupe, was displayed at the March 1953 Geneva Motor Show, before being sold by Scuderia Ferrari in Modena to James Gerard Murray from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the time of the sale, Mr. Murray was a temporary resident, in care of the Automobile Club of Italy at Corso Canalgrande in Modena. Later that year, s/n 0246AL was driven by Franco Fassio of Genoa in the Rallye Soleil-Cannes in the South of France. Before 1953 ended, the coupe was returned to Pinin Farina where its ‘wraparound’ rear window was replaced with rectangular rear glass. In the Spring of 1954, New York City Ferrari dealer/importer Hofmann sold s/n 0246AL to Steve Briggs of Lake Forest, Illinois. He showed the car at the Wilmot Hills, Wisconsin Concours where it placed first in the Sports Car Class. From 1956 to 1989, s/n 0246AL was the property of William R. Peters of White Bear Lake, Minnesota—a remarkable period of over 30 years. It then passed to Brad Hallock of San Francisco. At that time, the odometer registered 43,168 kilometers. In 1990, after extensive refurbishing by Tom Valerio, it was eventually sold to a client of Wilfried De Buck. De Buck displayed the coupe at several Belgian events. The car changed ownership once more in 2004, during which time it was displayed at Concorso Italiano in Monterey and the Winter Park Concours in Florida where it won the Judges’ Choice and Best Vintage Ferrari awards. After an engine overhaul it was displayed in 2007 at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. Armando Ivan Flores became the owner in 2010. In August 2011, it was shown at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The consignor, a noted California collector, purchased the car after its Pebble Beach appearance and elected to bring it up to an even higher standard. He has $100,000US in receipts for work that included ensuring every detail on the car was correct, repainting the top black (it had previously been painted silver), re-plating some gold interior trim (which was correct and original to this car), replacing the seatbelts with the proper ones and sourcing a set of original taillight lenses (for $1,700!)».
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Also, wir schrieben: sechs Exemplare. Es sind aber wohl: sieben. Denn auch Das Fahrzeug mit der deutlich früheren Chassis-Nummer #0130AL muss zu den 342 America gezählt werden.
Chassis-Nummer: 0130 AL
Motoren-Nummer: 0130 AL
Auktion: Gooding Christie’s, Amelia Island 2026, Schätzpreis 900’000 bis 1’200’000 Dollar, mit diesen Angaben: (siehe Kommentare)
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Mehr (klassische) Ferrari haben wir in unserem Archiv.
Interessant wären auch die damaligen Verkaufspreise, vielleicht könnt ihr die auch angeben sofern bekannt.
Haben wir jetzt in diesem Fall nicht, aber ja, wir werden uns zukünftig darum bemühen.
Ferrari 342 America Ghia Coupé, Chassis-Nummer #0130AL: The very first 342 America constructed was chassis 0130 AL, the car offered here. Ferrari entrusted this chassis to Carrozzeria Ghia, a firm that bodied just 36 cars for the marque. Of the six remaining 342 Americas, the second example received cabriolet coachwork by Vignale, while the final five cars were bodied by Pinin Farina – two as cabriolets and three as coupes.
According to Ferrari historian Marcel Massini, the story of 0130 AL begins in March 1951, when its chassis components were fabricated at Maranello. Officially completed that August, the rolling chassis was dispatched to Ghia in Torino, where it received its striking one-off coupe body. While Ghia had previously bodied three 340 Americas, the design executed for 0130 AL differed in virtually every respect, resulting in a sober, elegant, and distinctly understated expression of Ferrari’s flagship gran turismo.
The Ghia Coupe was configured as a two-plus-two and finished in an elegant two-tone livery, believed to be dark blue with a silver-gray roof. The restrained color scheme continued inside, where the upper dashboard was finished in blue and the lower section in gray, complemented by blue and gray leather upholstery. The dashboard is a brilliant example of Ghia craftsmanship, featuring a band of polished trim and an unusual single-instrument binnacle housing a solitary Jaeger gauge containing the tachometer, speedometer, and odometer, as well as fuel level, water temperature, and oil pressure readings.
Upon completion, 0130 AL was selected by Ferrari to debut the new 342 America model on the world stage. Between October 4 and October 10, 1951, it was displayed on Ferrari’s stand at the prestigious Salon de l’Automobile at the Grand Palais in Paris, alongside a 212 Export Touring Barchetta and a 212 Inter Vignale Coupe. One week after the Paris salon closed, the car was shipped to London, where it appeared at the 36th International Motor Show at Earls Court from October 17–27.
At Earls Court, 0130 AL was exhibited on the stand of Brooklands of Bond Street, the Mayfair-based firm that served as London distributors for leading prestige marques including Alvis, Aston Martin, and Lagonda, and which had recently become Ferrari’s official British concessionaire. The car made a strong impression on the motoring press, with Autosport journalist John Bolster remarking that it was “another beautiful car” and noting that he had persuaded Stirling Moss to sit in it, with Moss agreeing that “the driving position, and all the controls, are ideally situated.” Bolster further observed that “the pedals are properly placed for ‘heel and toe’, and the small, wood-rimmed wheel feels delightful in the hands,” before wryly concluding that, while the asking price of £9,700 was formidable, “unfortunately Stirling and I had both forgotten our cheque books.”
Following its motor show duties, the Ferrari returned to Maranello for final preparation and road testing on February 22, 1952. The car was then delivered back to Brooklands of Bond Street and sold to its first private owner: David Brown, the famed British industrialist and owner of Aston Martin Lagonda. It is widely believed that 0130 AL was the first Ferrari road car sold in the UK.
Brown registered the Ferrari as “XMY 124,” though the length of his ownership remains unclear. Period photographs show the car in the paddock at Oulton Park in 1955 and at other British meetings, wearing race no. 87, a British Racing Drivers’ Club badge affixed to the front bumper, and a Tulip Rallye sticker in the windscreen. By the mid-1950s, the Ferrari had been sold to G.M. Focquet of Oxfordshire, repainted in traditional Italian racing red, and re-registered as “MJJ 765.”
Subsequent English owners included Michael Ward, exotic car dealer Colin Crabbe, and noted Ferrari collector Stephen Pilkington. In late 1966 or early 1967, chassis 0130 AL was sold to Edwin K. Niles, a Los Angeles-based enthusiast responsible for importing many significant early Ferraris into the US. Whether the car ever reached California is unknown, as by May 1967 it was sold to Robert Chevako of New Woodstock, New York. Chevako is known to have driven the Ferrari to the Watkins Glen Sports Car Grand Prix in June 1967, after which the car disappeared from public view for decades.
Recently acquired from Mr. Chevako’s estate by the consignor and carefully extracted from long-term storage, 0130 AL survives today in remarkable as-found condition. While it will require a comprehensive, ground-up restoration, the car remains largely intact, still wearing its UK registration plates and retaining elements of its original two-tone interior upholstery. Importantly, copies of Ferrari factory build sheets confirm that the car retains its matching-numbers engine (internal no. 16A).