1957 Ferrari 500 TRC Spider

This Ferrari 500 TRC by Scaglietti is generally considered to be one of the most beautiful Ferrari sports racing cars ever built. It runs a 1,985cc inline DOHC four-cylinder engine with two Weber carburetors, producing 190 horsepower. This is the sixth of 17 500 TRCs produced and one of the last four-cylinder Ferrari sports racers. Built for racing, its first two owners, Sicilians Bernardo Cammarata and Francesco Tagliavia, campaigned the car relentlessly in period, with five Targa Florio entries and an outright victory at the Monte Pellegrino Hillclimb. Of the 16 period races on record, this 500 TRC finished all but two races. In its latter years, the 500 TRC raced at the Monterey Historic Automobile Races, where it finished 12th, and in 2011, it was invited to the Ferrari 70th Anniversary Celebration in Maranello.

The 1957 Ferrari 500 TRC Spider with coachwork by Scaglietti finished in yellow and red was offered for sale at the 2006 RM Auction in Monterey, Ca. It was estimated to sell between $2,200,000-$2,500,000. Its chassis number is 0670 MDTR and engine number 0670 MDTR. It is the sixth of nineteen cars produced. 17 were 500 TRCs and two were 625 TRCs. On auction day the lot was sold for $2,282,500.

In 2008, this vehicle returned to Pebble Beach, CA - this time up for sale at the Gooding & Company Auction. This is the only factory-certified Ferrari TRC in existence and is a remarkable automobile. This time, it failed to find an interested buyer willing to satisfy its reserve. The lot was left unsold.

By Daniel Vaughan | Mar 2009

After a disagreement in 1940, Enzo Ferrari left Alfa Romeo. Having sold the rights of his Scuderia Ferrari team to Alfa, Enzo was unable to place his name on a car for four years. With engineers Massimino and Bellentani, Ferrari started a company called Auto Avio Construzione. They produced a model called the 815, of which only two were ever produced. They both were powered by a 1.5-liter eight-cylinder engine and were entered in the 1950 Mille Miglia. One of the cars had been sold to Alberto Ascari and the other to Marquesa Lottario di Rangoni. Both cars performed exceptionally well at the Mille Miglia before being forced to retire prematurely.

World War II slowed the racing efforts for Enzo Ferrari; in 1945 he hired Gioacchino Colombo, a brilliant engineer who Ferrari had worked with at Alfa. Colombo began working on a 1.5-liter twelve-cylinder engine which proved difficult due to a shortage of materials in the post-WWII era. Despite this, the engine was ready for testing by 1946. The resulting vehicles wore the name Ferrari.

In 1947 Aurelio Lampredi was brought in to assist Columbo with engine building. Lampredi soon became convinced that a large engine that was naturally aspirated would have better fuel economy and provide more power. Colombo was of the belief that a smaller engine compiled with a supercharger would produce better results. Ferrari tested Lambredi's idea and proved it to be successful. Lampredi was promoted to chief design engineer and Colombo returned to Alfa Romeo.

Ever since the inception of the Ferrari cars, they proved to be highly competitive and quickly amassed many victories. To improve cash-flow, Ferrari eventually began building road-going cars. The designs and mechanics of many of his vehicles were unmatched, produced by some of the greatest coachbuilders and engineers of all time.

Aurelio Lampredi left Ferrari in 1955 and Vittorio Jano was brought in to take his place. Assisting him was Alberto Massimino, Luigi Bellentani and Adrea Fraschetti. They began working on a two-liter sports car which was dubbed the 500 TR. The 'TR' stood for 'Testa Rossa' mean 'red head'. Since the cylinder heads of the engine were read, the name was appropriate. The four-cylinder engine type 500 TR was debuted in 1956 and became replacements for the 500 Mondial. The first batch of cars were bodied by Carrozzeria Touring. This would be the last time Touring was commissioned by Ferrari to build bodies for his cars. Scaglietti and Pinin Farina were later tasked with providing bodies; in total, 17 examples were created. They carried chassis numbers designated Type 518 and engines Type 131.

The cars were successfully campaigned by privateers around the world. New regulations by the FIA meant the racers were soon obsolete. The Appendix C for modified sports cars read that changes were to be implemented for the 1957 season. The new rules stated that the windscreen had to be symmetrical over the axis of the car, a soft-top was required, and the fuel capacity was to be 120 liters. The width was set to 100 centimeters while the height had to be at least 15 centimeters.

Ferrari set to work in making his cars legal for competition. After many late nights, the 500 TRC was introduced and was in compliance with the new FIA regulations. The 'C' on the TRC represented the compliance of the Appendix C regulations.

The gearbox, transmission, and engine were identical to the 500 TR. Most of the changes had been done to the bodies, though the De Dion rear suspension was replaced with a rigid axle and coil springs. The chassis had been reworked, resulting in increased rigidity. The engine had been lowered by moving the tubular frame members further apart. The 500 TRC was given chassis Type 518 C and engine Type 131 C.

Scaglietti was commissioned to produce bodies for the vehicles. In total, 19 were produced with most receiving two-tone paint jobs instead of the typical Ferrari red. There were actually 17 500 TRC's and two 625 TRCs. After just one year, the 500 TRC's were replaced by the new 250 Test Rossa which were powered by three-liter twelve-cylinder engines.

The 500 TRC cars proved their abilities as a four-cylinder machine and often challenged competitors with larger, more powerful engines. This was also the final time Ferrari would outfit their sports cars with a four-cylinder engine.

Ferrari 500 TRC with chassis number 0670MDTR has coachwork by Scaglietti and is powered by a four-cylinder double overhead cam engine. Dual Weber 40 DCO/A3 twin-choke downdraft carburetors, a 9.75:1 compression and roller tappet followers helps the 121 cubic-inch engine produce 190 horsepower. A four-speed all-synchromesh manual gearbox sends power to the rear wheels. The body is suspended in place by an independent front suspension with unequal-length A-arms and coil springs. The rear suspension is comprised of a live rear axle, coil springs, and single trailing arms. Braking power is by hydraulic four-wheel drum brakes.

It is the 6th car produced in the series of 19. It was sold on April 4th, 1957 to Bernardo Cammarata, the first of five owners (to date). It was raced on May 11th, 1958 at the Targa Florio by Cammarata and co-driver Domenico Tramontana. It finished seventh in its class and tenth overall. A year later it returned to Targa Florio where it finished 2nd in class and eighth overall. A third visit in 1962 to Targa Florio resulted in a DNS.

In June of 1963, it was raced at Monte Pellegrino Hillclimb where it finished third overall. A second visit in 1964 earned it a first-place overall and first in class.

Its fourth visit to Targa Florio in 1965, this time driven by Francesco Tagliavia and co-driver Silvestre Semilia, resulted in a DNF. Tagliavia raced the car in August of 1965 at the Trapani-Monte Erice Hillclimb where he finished seventh overall and second in class.

At the close of May in 1966, Francesco Tagliavia and co-driver DiLiberto raced the 500 TRC to a fourth-in-class finish at the Trofeo Automobilistico Internazional.

The car was later sold to its second owner, Cammarata. In 1966, Giulio Dubbini became the car's third owner and raced the car over twenty years in historic races. In 1998 it was sold to Corrado Cupellini who campaigned the car in the European Shell Ferrari Maserati Challenge. It was sold in 2003. The car underwent a restoration.

By Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2013