The Emigrant
(Sometimes, when we are looking for background information, we stumble across stories. And people behind these stories. We want to cultivate this more in the future).
How and when Gaston Andrey, born in 1926, came from Switzerland to the USA, we do not know. In fact, we don’t know much about Gaston’s early years, except that he learned to be a car mechanic, maybe even studied mechanical engineering. After the Second World War, he crossed the pond and got a job as a test driver at Studebaker – we don’t know how and why. His tracks can only be traced more precisely from 1954 onwards. There he drove two SCCA races in Thompson, once on a Jaguar XK120 (4th), once on a Triumph TR2 (dnf). From 1955 onwards the picture becomes clearer, as Gaston, meanwhile called “Gus”, won the SCCA title in category E on a Morgan Plus 4 (in which he installed the engine of a Triumph TR2). As the first European. At the same time, he began to build up a car repair shop in Chestnut Hills, Massachusetts. And got married. And became a father.
After that, things get pretty intense. Andrey also won the SCCA title in the E category in 1957, and in 1958 (he also won the Road America 500, this time on a Ferrari 335S, chassis number 0674, together with Lance Reventlow). And 1959, both on a Ferrari 500 (we’ll come to that in a moment). And then again in 1960, this time in category D, this time on a Maserati Tipo 61, better known as “Birdcage”. In 1966, he also became first champion in the Trans-Am series (for cars with less than 2 litres of engine capacity), now on an Alfa Romeo GTA.
But let’s get back to the Ferraris from 1957 onwards. A year earlier, Andrey had met Mike Garber, a successful businessman. Garber would have liked to race himself, but was apparently anything but talented. Which is exactly what Andrey is said to have told him. Garber asked in return, “If you could wish for a racing car, what would you like?” Andrey is said to have said, “A Ferrari!”. So Garber bought a Ferrari 500 Mondial (chassis number 0430MD) – and made it available to “Gus”. Andrey thanked Garber with victories at Thompson, Montgomery and Watkins Glen and two second places at Lime Rock and Bridgehampton. Which was good enough for him to win his second SCCA title. And because he was so fast, Chevrolet also hired him for the 12-hour race at Sebring. Together with Dr Dick Thompson, he won the class with a five-lap lead in a quasi-standard Corvette. And, incidentally, 12th place overall.
For the 1958 season, Garber bought a new Ferrari, a 500 TRC (chassis number 0706MDTR). At the beginning, the car with which Richie Ginther and François Picard had started (and retired) from the 1957 Le Mans 24 Hours did not run at all. Together with his Swiss mechanics Felix Bosshard and Oskar Feldmann, Andrey fixed the 500 TRC – and subsequently won three SCCA races again as well as the title. In 1959, he was absolutely dominant with this car: 8 victories, two second places, another SCCA title. At the same time, Andrey appeared as a patriot: his cars were preferably white – and bore a Swiss cross on the side, similar in design to the Ferrari emblem.
His Ferrari 500 TRC, with which he was so successful, will be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s on 19/20 August in Monterey (unfortunately neither in light blue, as it had competed at Le Mans, nor in red and white, as Andrey drove). The 500 TRC was the evolution of the Ferrari 500 Mondial, so it had a 2-litre four-cylinder engine developed by Aurelio Lampredi. When Lampredi left Ferrari in 1955, Vittorio Jano took over, developed the engine further, gave it a new cylinder block, which he had painted red – the Testa Rossa were born. The car got the “C” in its designation in 1957, when the Appendix C of the FIA came into force (see also: Maserati 200S/SI).
Andrey raced successfully until the mid-70s, preferring Alfa Romeo in the later years. In the 80s he had his own racing team with which he successfully competed in the IMSA series. Gaston “Gus” Andrey passed away in 2012 at the age of 86.
Photos: Archive gastonandreymotorsports.com – more nice stories can be found in our archive.
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