What does it take to win an award at the legendary Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance? The right car? The right history? The right documentation? The right restoration? The right detailer? The right owner? Yes, to all of those things. The process literally requires years, but what happens once the car finally arrives on the Monterey Peninsula a few days before the show?
On the Thursday morning before the show (which is always on Sunday), there is a drive, which requires the car to cover several dozen miles under its own power on public roads. Cars which successfully complete the Tour (as it's called), receive credit when judged on the field Sunday, but for many of the cars, for which the preceding months have been a frenzied rush, completing the Tour is no small feat. The particularly late breaking restorations may have seen very little or no use on public roads prior to the tour, making it a harrowing experience for owners and restorers alike. And in many cases, the cars are race cars, making them ill-suited to road use even when in top form. Come Sunday, the cars are judged on the field for authenticity, presentation, and functionality, another harrowing moment for all involved.
In 2021, ISSIMI Meccanica, ISSIMI's service and restoration branch, was retained by one of its clients to provide support during the days leading up to the Concours this extraordinary 1951 Ferrari 340 for both the Tour and during the Concours itself.
The earliest Ferraris built have a brutal, serious character that made even the cars with the diminutive 2 and 2.5 liter Colombo-designed V12s feel like industrial grade equipment. The suspension is extremely firm, the brakes require a hefty shove, the gearbox requires equal parts brute force and finesse, and the overall experience has a brashness that largely disappeared even by the 250. The thought of driving one of these cars near the limit for 24 hours in racing conditions seems positively heroic yet that’s exactly what Ferrari’s racing drivers did at Le Mans in the early 50s.
To take advantage of the 4.5 liter displacement limit for sports cars, Ferrari took the Lampredi-designed “big block” engine from their Formula 1 racers and created a 4.1 liter version that was intended to be durable enough to last 24 hours of punishment. Named 340 for the displacement in ccs of each cylinder, only a few dozen of these cars were built, intended primarily for competition. Most frequently, they received bodywork by Touring or Vignale, either open or closed, although Ghia and Pinin Farina also bodied a few examples.
Most 340s have illustrious histories and this example is among the most illustrious of all. Wearing iconic Touring Barchetta bodywork, this car raced at Le Mans in both 1951 and 1952. The car then lived a charmed life in Europe before being acquired by an American collector who commissioned a painstaking years-long restoration in Italy to the car’s exact 1951 Le Mans racing configuration.
After half a decade of work, the result is stunning, and ISSIMI Meccanica was delighted to provide mechanical support for the car during its American debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance during Monterey Car Week in 2021. In the incredibly tough Ferrari Competition class, the car placed second behind an exquisitely restored Series II 250 GTO, a testament to the authenticity of the restoration as well as the passion and expertise of everyone who contributed to it.
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