Rare four-cylinder '57 Ferrari Testa Rossa expected to top $4 million at auction

[Haltech]

Filed under: Classics, Auctions, Ferrari

1957 Ferrari 500 TRC Spider - Click above for high-res image gallery

Wait a second, a Ferrari 500 with a four-cylinder engine? Come on, Autoblog - check your facts. Don't we mean a Fiat 500? Maybe that special-edition Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari? Nope. What we have here is a genuine four-cylinder Ferrari. And a highly coveted one at that.

The Ferrari 500 TRC (that's Testa Rossa Type-C) Spider was one of the last models Maranello ever built with an inline-four, the engine originally designed by Aurelio Lampredi for Formula Two, but later adapted for sports racing prototypes after the engineer's departure. Derived from the Monza, this was the first Ferrari to bear the Testa Rossa name for its red valve headers. And though the styling is similar, it's even rarer than the 250 Testa Rossa that followed: only 19 of these cars were built, all during just one year or production, making this rarer than the more powerful 12-cylinder 250 TR and 250 GTO that rake in the big bucks at auction.

This particular example - chassis number 0670 MDTR - was the sixth made, ordered by a customer in Sicily who entered it in numerous races around the world in its heyday. While other 500 TRC Spiders went on to claim class victories at Le Mans and the Targa Florio, this one took its class win at the Monte Pellegrino Hillclimb in Palermo - the same locale where we drove the Ferrari California on its launch several decades later.

The car stands as the latest consignment to RM Auctions' docket for the upcoming Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, where it is expected to fetch €2,600,000 to €3,300,000 (equivalent to $3.6M to $4.6M at current rates). There it will stand alongside such notables recently covered on these pages as the collection of Bertone concept cars, the Talbot and Bugatti art-deco classics and the pair historic Zagato-bodied Kamm-tailed Alfa Romeos in what's shaping up to be an historic event in its own right. Follow the jump for more details on the 500 TRC and take a closer look in the high-res image gallery.Continue reading Rare four-cylinder '57 Ferrari Testa Rossa expected to top $4 million at auction

Rare four-cylinder '57 Ferrari Testa Rossa expected to top $4 million at auction originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 May 2011 19:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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