1958 Ferrari 250 TR Spyder

This car (chassis number 0738TR) is a standard LHD, pontoon-fendered customer 250 Testa Rossa with a liver rear axle and gearbox in unit with the engine. It was originally delivered to the Ferrari importer Carlos Kauffman in Venezuela. In 1962 new owner Giorgio Moroni of Brazil had the car re-bodied by SAS Motors in Modena in the style of a 250 GTO. After several owners in England and North America, the car was re-bodied back to its original pontoon-fendered configuration by Ferrari expert David Cottingham.

Chassis number 0738/TR was raced extensively in Brazil from 1958-67 and in Europe since 1997. It was ordered new by the Official Central and South American Ferrari Concessionaire Carlos Kauffman in Caracas, Venezuela, for Brazilian Jean-Louis Soares, who lived in Sao Paolo. After receiving the vehicle, Mr. Soares went racing. He had a three-man racing team called Scuderia Lagartixa, and was comprised of Chico Landi and Luciano Della Porta. They would race the car fourteen times over the next two-and-a-half years.

On June 22nd of 1958, Landi took the starting flag at the Cinquentenario da Imigracao Japonesa at Interlagos, Brazil and took 7th place. The next outing was in Rio on September 28th at the Festival do Desporto at Barra da Tijuca, when Jose Gimenez Lopes finished 2nd. The car was driven again by Lopes on November 30th at Interlagos to a fourth place finish.

Just a short ten days later, on December 10th, the car raced at Barra da Tijuca, this time driven by Jean Louis Lacerda, who finished 7th. The car would score its first victory with Lacerda at the wheel at the Circuit de Pirajui on April 5th of 1959.

On May 31st, the car scored a DNF at Interlagos. On July 27th of 1959, at the Rio circuit of Barra da Tiguca, the car scored another 1st.It finished 9th at Interlagos on January 10th of 1960 being driven by Luciano Della Porta. A week later, he finished 7th at Rio. The next race saw him finishing 3rd at Piracicaba on March 13th, then 2nd at Brasilia on April 23rd. On June 12th at Interlagos, he finished 5th. Della Porta and Chico Landi teamed up on September 9th to race in the 500-km race at Interlagos where they finished 2nd. The team's last race with the car was at Barra da Tiguca in Rio on November 5th of 1960. They would finish off their career with the car with a DNF.

The car was sold in 1961 to Giorgio Moroni who had it shipped to Modena, Italy. It was re-bodied, with the help of Piero Drogo, as a GTO-style coupe and then sent back to Rio.

The first outing for the Coupe-bodied 0738/TR was at Interlagos on October 11th, 1964 where he managed a 16th overall. After that, the car had nine months off before it was driven by Camillo Christofaro at Barra Tijuca on September 19th, 1965. The car would emerge victorious at the Gran Premio IV Centenario. After this, the car was sold to Claudio Klabin. The following year, in 1966, it was traded to Paulo Cesar Newlands for an Alfa Romeo 2000 Berlina.

While in its new owners care, it returned to the race track where it placed 16th at Jacarepagua on June 4th, 1967. A first overall was claimed on July 30th at Petropolis, then a 16th on August 6th at Jacarepagua. The car was then sold to an unnamed American in Rio in 1969. In 1975, it was sold to Camillo Christofaro, who had won his first race in the car in Rio a decade earlier.

For over 10 years, Christofaro stored and preserved this vehicle, still wearing its replacement Berlinetta bodywork. In 1986, Colin Crabbe purchased the car and brought it back to England. It changed hands in 1988 to American Bob Rubin. A year later, it was sold to Sir Paul Vestey in England. While in its new owner's care, the car was returned to its original configuration and given a professional restoration. It was then painted yellow with a green nose band, in honor of its Brazilian heritage.

In 1990, Sir Paul Vestey drove the car in the 1990 Mille Miglia. In 1994, the car was driven at Goodwood's Festival of Speed and then in the Italian Classic meeting in Italy in 1995.

In October of 1995, the car was traded to Symbolic Motor Company of La Jolla, California for a Ferrari 330/P4.

In 1995, the car was put on display at the London Motor Show, then to the 1996 Retromobile even in Paris and finally to Techno Classica in Essen, Germany. In 1996, the car entered its current ownership. It was then driven in that years' Colorado Grand.

Since 1996, the car has been actively campaigned in many historic racing events around the world. In May of 1997, it raced in Monte Carlo before appearing at the 50th anniversary of Ferrari in Rome and racing at the Historic races at Silverstone in July. In 1998, it was driven at Ferrari days at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, at the Shell Historic Ferrari races at Dijon-Prenois in France in June, and at the Historic races in Silverstone in July, when it was damaged in a crash.

The repairs were carried out in England, and after its completion it went back to the track, competing at the Goodwood Revival event in September of 1999. It raced at Spa in May of 2000 and then at the Shell Ferrari challenge at LeMans in June. In June, it returned to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, then the Goodwood Revival in September and the Shell Ferrari races that year in Hockenheim, Germany where it was 1st in the drum brake class. It finished the year in October at the Ferrari/Maserati challenge at Mugello, Italy.

In 2001, it raced at Brands Hatch in the Ferrari/Maserati race in July. It was involved in an accident in Tunis, and repairs soon followed. It was completed in time for Spa Ferrari days in April of 2002, followed by another Ferrari/Maserati race at Brands Hatch, then one at the Nürburgring in Germany in September and the finals in Misano Adriatico in Italy in October.

It finished 7th at the 2003 Ferrari/Maserati race at Spa, then a 6th at Monza in May. Donington Park yielded 5th and 3rd place finishes in June, and in Mugello in October, it was 3rd twice. In 2004, it finished 3rd and 4th in Donington Park in September with a final appearance at the finals in Monza in October.

In 2005, 0738/TR raced at Moroso in Florida and then at Pau, France in May where it won its class. At Spa, if finished 2nd in class.


In 2010, this vehicle was offered for sale at the Sports & Classics of Monterey presented by RM Auctions. As bidding came to a close, the car had been sold for the sum of $10,700 inclusive of buyer's premium.

By Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2010