Vehicle Description
1960 Austin Healey 100-6 Roadster
After winning the 1958 World Sports Car Championship, Ferrari had
to update the Testa Rossa to maintain their prominent position.
Throughout 1958, pontoon bodied 250 Testa Rossas were delivered and
raced by customers. These supported four specially developed team
cars, known as the TR58, that were largely responsible for the
Championship-winning points. Before the start of the 1959 season,
Ferrari sold off the TR58s and chief designer Carlo Chiti prepared
an even more radical car for the year ahead - the TR59. Complicated
craftsmanship and expensive materials meant these cars were no
longer viable as customer cars and were instead produced in limited
numbers for factory use only. Five newly engineered TR59's appeared
over season with striking Pininfarina-designed bodies that were
executed by ex-Maserati craftsman Medardo Fantuzzi. The result was
a lower and smaller Testa Rossa.
Back in 1959 our consigner made a trip to the Nurburgring where he
first laid eyes on the newest Ferrari, the Testa Rossa 250 coming
off the truck. He watched in amazement as the car leapt over bumps
on the road course and was enamored by the design, all the while
knowing full well he would never be able to afford an original.
Under tutelage of his father, and an accomplished tin and
blacksmith as a hobby, along with some scale drawings of the actual
car he stumbled upon in a magazine, he set out on a 20 year journey
to fashion his own car. Using plywood profiles and Cheerios boxes
as his guides, the car you see today took form from molded
fiberglass, and an Austin Healy frame and wheelbase which is the
exact wheelbase needed for the 250. A meeting with the designer
Sergio Scaglietti sealed the deal and gave him the final clues he
needed to make his dream reality which sits before you in our main
showroom here in our Hallowed Halls.
Exterior
Hand built fiberglass molds, custom fashioned headlight surrounds
and casings, exact copies of the vents in the side the curvaceous
windscreen, head rest that extends to the trunkline and those
wonderful curved fenders and rounded rear, all bathed in Ferrari
Racing Red, (Rossa), and all custom molded fiberglass. A nearly
exact copy of the 1960 version of the TR-250. 15-inch Borrani wire
wheels with chromed knockoff hubs are wrapped with 165HR15 rubber
from 2017. Just a fabulous replica available for the fraction of
the cost of a million dollar vin plate, the well heeled can grab
from piles of former race cars stacked in a field in Modena, and
then you can have a conversation with the factory to actually build
you one as they still have all the forms and English wheels to
pound one out. I'd go with this one!
Interior
Swinging the curved doors which involved hours of noodling out just
the hinges we see full racing garb in the form of simplicity, just
black painted panels of vinyl. Sitting inside on the blue
broadcloth bomber style buckets which are nicely padded and have
plenty of comfort, you can gaze forward to the all aluminum
fabricated interior. A wood rimmed steering wheel fronts the bump
up for the instruments which are all sweep gauges and round. A
lineup of pulls, toggles, and the ignition are in the center of the
rounded over dash front. An aluminum hump houses the shifter and
races rearward between the buckets. All aluminum toe kicks and
floor boards are highly polished and complete the wonderful
utilitarian but artful interior which is all business....racing
business. Lest we forget the trunk which has a hand made all
aluminum fuel tank and some framing to show the craftsmanship that
went into the making of this wonderful machine.
Drivetrain
Austin Healy provides the 2.6 liter inline 6 cylinder red topped
valve covered engine. It is fed by 2 Su H6 carburetors and there is
a 4-speed manual transmission on the back. A stock style single to
dual exhaust is on for the exhale. All beautifully fashioned and
expertly world with all new components looking the part under this
hood.
Undercarriage
An Austin frame and exact matching wheelbase to the original 250's
is painted red and has aero panels, independent coil spring
suspension in front, and leaf springs in black. Drum brakes are all
around. All a beautiful performance of craftsmanship and
design.
Drive-Ability
I've sat behind the wheel of many an impressive car, but I'd have
to say this one takes the cake. Not the most expensive car, but
totally impressive, a very nice driver with great handling and
solid braking, easy steering and totally driving a work of art.
Talk about turning heads!
Just a lovely hand made in a garage representation of the Ferrari
TR 250 from 1960. Perfect fiberglass, wonderful aluminum
throughout, and a true labor of love and it shows. All from a
consignor who I had the pleasure of talking to and he's definitely
the kind of guy that falls in love with something or someone and
keeps it with him for life. Passion is just great.
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 850 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display. This vehicle is located in our
showroom in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, conveniently located just
1-hour west of Philadelphia on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The
website is www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888)
227-0914. Please contact us anytime for more information or to come
see the vehicle in person.
