1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spyder

This is the 12th of 22 Series 1 Pinin Farina 500 Mondials and was sold new to Porfirio Rubirosa in July 1954. Rubi shipped the car to California and raced it at Santa Barbara, accompanied by the recently divorced Zsa Zsa Gabor. Shortly afterwards he sold the car to John von Neumann, who campaigned the car in numerous California races. During a race at Torrey Pines, a broken connecting rod destroyed the engine. With a 3-liter Monza engine installed, he entered the car, nicknamed the 'Monzetta,' at the 1956 Pebble Beach Road Races, finishing 10th in the Del Monte Trophy, the last-ever race on the Pebble Beach road circuit. One interesting note is that the car was photographed with James Dean at the wheel in Santa Barbara in May 1955, four months before his untimely crash near Paso Robles.