1957 Ferrari 410 Superamerica Coupe

By the mid-1950s, Ferrari's roster of affluent clientele was growing almost daily. Enzo's stable had made its reputation by bringing the track to the road, and doing so with flair and finery. He needed to keep offering automobiles with that intoxicating combination in order to keep the roster growing. The Superamerica series encapsulated that approach perfectly.

The beating heart would be the 5.0-liter Colombo V-12 based upon the larger Lampredi block. Producing more than 330bhp at 6,500rpms, the 410 was able to top out at 150mph, making the Superamerica, in its day, the fastest road-going car in the world. Clothed in fine bodywork from Pininfarina, Ferrari continued to offer that rare blend of performance and styling.

Chassis 0717 SA would arrive at Pininfarina in July of 1957 and would be completed by October of that year. Completed in Grigio Metallizzato, or metallic silver, with a red roof and red Connolly leather, the Series II 410 Superamerica Coupe would be striking from every single angle.

Recognized as something special produced through the relationship between Ferrari and Pininfarina, the car would end up the show car in Paris in the latter-part of October of '57. A short time later, the car would serve as Ferrari's show car in Brussels.

The car would attract attention from affluent clientele the world over and would end up being purchased by Shah Reza Pahlevi of Iran right around the turn of the New Year.

The 410 Superamerica would remain in the Shah's possession for a decade until it was sold to none other than Tom Barrett of Scottsdale, Arizona. He would keep the car for only about a year before he too would sell it to Dickson of Phoenix.

Over the span of the next decade the car would continue changing hands until it ended up in the hands of Kim Franceschini of New York. Franceschini would immediately enter the car in the annual Ferrari Club of America meet held at Hershey in July of 1980 and the result would be a Best of Show award to follow up a 1st in class awarded a couple of years earlier at Pebble Beach.

Franceschini would retain the Ferrari for a number of years, but then Greg Garrison would take over ownership around the turn of the new millennium. Wayne Nelson would then buy the car in 2001 and would immediately commission a restoration that would be performed by Gran Turismo based in Glendale, California.

Emerging from restoration, 0717 SA would be immediately hailed winning a number awards including Platinum Awards in 2003 and 2004 at the Cavallino Classic and the FCA Annual National Meet held at Sebring.

Boasting of an intriguing provenance, one of just six short-chassis Series II 410s, fast and beautiful, 0717 SA is certainly a fine representation of that blend Ferrari sought after with every single one of his premier cars.

Striking in appearance, surprising in performance and a multiple award winner, there is very little this 410 Superamerica doesn't offer. It could be argued it has it all.

Offered for sale as part of Gooding & Company's 2015 Pebble Beach auction, 0717 SA would be one of the most intriguing automobiles among a lineup of impressive automobiles. A great deal of excitement and anticipation surrounded the 410 leading up to the auction. Estimates prior to the auction had the final sale price somewhere between $5,000,000 and $6,000,000. The estimates wouldn't be far off when the final sale price, inclusive of the buyers premium, reached $5,087,500.

By Jeremy McMullen