Rare and Charred: The Story of the Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider from 1954

This may apply, for example, to the remarkable Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider from 1954, which will be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s auction house in August. Yes, the car itself is very rare, so a high price would normally be perfectly natural, but in this case, only a charred wreck is headed to the auction. Nevertheless, it is expected that what remains of the Ferrari could be auctioned for more than 40 million crowns.

The offered Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider comes from the first series and is said to be the second of only thirteen examples produced. The car was built in March 1954 by the company of the famous coachbuilder Pinino Farina. The Spider originally had a Rosso Corsa red body and a Similpelle Beige vinyl-trimmed interior.

Already in April 1954, the car took part in the Coppa della Toscana race, Franco Cortese drove it to the finish line in 19th place overall and 2nd in its class. The mention of a driver named Cortese is quite important, because this racer is responsible for the very first triumph of a Ferrari racing car. He won the Rome Grand Prix in May 1947 in a Ferrari 125 S. In the same season, he won three more victories.

Ferrari documentation even suggests that the Spider offered at the auction was created specifically for Franco Cortese to race in. It is also interesting that in May 1954, after participating in the famous Mille Miglia race, the car was given a new body by Scaglietti.

A year later, Ferrari changed hands for the first time, but still participated in various races. In 1958, the car headed to the United States of America, where it also lost its original engine (a two-liter “Lampredi” inline-four) in 1963, which was replaced by an American fork eight-cylinder. And sometime in the next two years, the Spider was significantly damaged in an accident during an unspecified race. It was after this crash that the Ferrari caught fire.

In the following years, the wreck changed owners until it came to Walter Medlin, with whom it has remained until now in the condition in which it ended up after the accident. It’s just without an engine. Of course, the auction will also include a period-appropriate four-cylinder from another Mondial, and the offer also includes other spare parts.

Foto: RM Sotheby’s

Considering the condition, it is clear that the renovation will not only require a lot of skilled hands and a lot of time, but above all, it will swallow a lot of money. A rare Mondial Spider with an interesting life story would certainly deserve it.

And by the way, RM Sotheby’s quite recently auctioned another Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider from 1954. The machine in excellent condition sold at auction in 2019 for more than 3.7 million euros, which is about 87.7 million crowns according to the current exchange rate.

2023-07-04 15:05:30
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