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| Sergio Scaglietti |
To
the North East of Modena, on the way to Lamborghini’s Sant’Agata base, is a
hamlet, Tre Olmi. It was in the early 20th
Century the home of Ernesto Scaglietti, his wife, Gentilina and their six
children. The youngest was named Sergio
who was born in January ’20. Perhaps
Sergio in his early years thought he might like to take after his father and
grow up to be a bricklayer. But the poor
boy was still too young for that when Ernesto died in ’33. Even though he really should have had a year
or two more at school, the family finances dictated that he should become a
wage earner right away, and this was achieved when he was taken on as general
dogs body at the Carrozzeria of Dante Bertani in Modena. Young Sergio must have shown initiative and
interest as before long Bertani began to instruct him in the craft – and art –
of reshaping and finessing damaged car panels and then, progressively, in
creating new, replacement ones from sheet metal. Within a few years Sergio had become highly
skilled and his brother, Gino, persuaded him to come and join him in creating a
new business in Modena in partnership with Renato Torricelli. Carrozzeria Torcelli & Scaglietti was
located on Viale Trento e Trieste, as was the premises of Scuderia
Ferrari. In some accounts it’s said that
as a matter of simple expediency, the proximity led to the establishment of a
relationship whereby Ferrari regularly looked to the carrozzeria to carry out
repairs to the Alfa Romeo racing cars which Ferrari ran on behalf of the
Portello factory. However, there are
varying versions of how Ferrari and Scaglietti became acquainted, some of these
I’d guess as being the product of imaginative thinking by writers who liked the
idea of some mythology as much as the recording of actual events. In one narrative, Enzo simply strolled
‘across the road’ in ’39 to say ‘ciao,’ having heard that Sergio was a dab hand
when it came to aluminium shaping and fabrication. In another, it was not until ’53 that
Scaglietti came to Ferrari’s attention because of a particularly skilful repair
of a race 166 MM Barchetta. In amongst
such accounts, the uncertainty of research undertaken is notably demonstrated
by some authors referring to the Scaglietti premises being ‘across the road in
Maranello from Ferrari.’ This indicates
considerable misunderstanding, since Ferrari moved from Modena to Maranello in
‘43, whereas the Scaglietti works remained in Modena.
Whether or not he’d
recently become friendly with Ferrari, Scaglietti in ’40 enlisted for service
and spent World War II in the Regio Esercito as a mechanic/driver. Once hostilities had ceased and things began
to get back to normal, Scaglietti determined to carry on with automotive work
but as a business proprietor rather than an employee. Both his technical and commercial skills
developed as did his reputation, enough by ’51 for a workshop on Viale Trento
to named, ‘Carrozzeria Scaglietti,’ and, yes, it was ‘just across the road’
from the former Ferrari premises. In the
summary below of ‘landmark’ Scaglietti-bodied Ferraris the focus is on their
aesthetic aspects rather than on their mechanical details or competition
histories.
In
’47 the very first machines bearing the maker’s name, Ferrari, were a pair of
model 125 S open sports cars powered by a Columbo-designed 1.5 litre V12
engine. The following year, the design
was evolved to create a GT, the 166 Inter, and this was also made available in
competition form as, 1) a Spyder Corsa - the 166 S; 2) with designation MM (Mille Miglia) in
either berlinetta or barchetta form.
Most of the 166s were bodied at Touring or Vignale, though two had
coachwork by Allemano. There were also
one-offs by Zagato and Pinin Farina and (in ’53) conversion of a 166 MM in
collaboration with Abarth. It had a
further re-body in ’54, this time at the Scaglietti workshop. The most significant interaction of
Scaglietti with a 166 was however his repair of a competition model owned by an
amateur driver. This suffered serious
damage in ’53 and was referred to Scaglietti for re-bodying – it has been
written that Ferrari was impressed not only by the body’s basic quality, but
also Scaglietti’s detail innovative features, and that this was what prompted
him to ‘cross the road’ and have an introductory conversation with the
Carrozzeria’s proprietor. It is likely
that the two men hit it off especially because they recognised themselves as
two of a type – possessing supreme self-confidence, in particular to envisage
engineering solutions and to direct subordinates to implement these. Scaglietti, most notably had great intuitive
capacity to perceive and design such solutions ‘on the hoof,’ avoiding the time-sapping
conventional approach involving preparation at a desk or board of drawings and
plans. And there arose an additional,
emotive aspect to Enzo and Sergio’s bonding when Alfredo, Ferrari’s cherished
son started regularly to go into Modena and spend time with Scaglietti. Just in his twenties, ‘Dino’ was interested
in engineering and was keen to develop ideas for the enhancement of his
father’s products. But it’s not hard to
imagine that Enzo’s presence might have been quite intimidating and tending to
inhibit his son’s expression of concepts and confidence. In contrast, Scaglietti’s personality allowed
for a peer-type relationship in which the younger man could relax and devise design proposals
whilst still benefitting from sympathetic mentoring from Scaglietti. Eventually, the Sergio/Dino collaboration
found expression in their presentation to Enzo of a design for a racing model,
the ‘54 750 Monza Scaglietti.
Symbolic of Dino’s desire and ability to plan on a basis not constrained
by his father’s principles, the car had innovative features, though not all
were successful as the model proved a handful for most drivers by dint of its
aerodynamics; (indeed, it is likely that lift was the underlying cause of
Alberto Ascari’s fatal crash at Monza). For
his part, Scaglietti incorporated a headrest, faired on the rear deck behind
the cockpit. Apparently, Enzo did not
care for this feature despite its advocation by his son. According to Karl Ludvisgen, thirty one 750
Monzas were made, (another source suggests thirty five), most of which were
Scaglietti-bodied.
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Left: 750 Monza #0522 M
Courtesy Gooding & Co; Right:
750 Monza prototype Courtesy Sports Car Digest |
The 750 Monza was followed
up by the 410 S, a model developed specifically, initially at least, to
run in the ’55 Carrera Panamericana, only for that event to be cancelled. Thus, the car’s race debut occurred in
Argentina for the Buenos Aires 1000 Km where the two works examples were fast
but non-finishers. Of the three 410 S Spiders built, two were mostly raced in the Americas with mixed success –
certainly fast enough to win, but also prone to driveline failures and thus,
retirement. There were, however, no
question marks as regards the aesthetics – Scaglietti designed and constructed
a very attractive and characterful body as is evident in the photographs below
(courtesy of Theo Pieper/RM Sotheby’s) of #0592 CM. Note that this is an example of the
application of Carrozzeria Scaglietti badging – as seen on the front
wing, below the Cavallino Rampante shield.
RM Sotheby’s sold the car for $12,985,000 USD in 2024. In addition to the Spiders, Scaglietti also
made a 410S Berlinetta as a special favour for an ex-Ferrari executive. This car, #0594 CM, sold in 2012 for $8,250,000
USD, (again by RM Sotheby’s) is shown below the Scaglietti badge.
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410 S #0592 CM
Courtesy Theo Pieper/RM Sotheby’s |
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410 S Berlinetta #0594 CM Courtesy RM Sotheby’s |
The 410 S utilised the new
Ferrari 5.0 litre V12 engine designed by Aurelio Lampredi. The next significant Scaglietti Ferrari, the 250
GT California Spyder, was powered by the earlier, Gioacchino Colombo-designed,
tipo 168, 3.0 litre V12. It was a model specified and styled to appeal in the American market. Based on the Pinin Farina-styled 250 GT,
initially in long wheelbase form, and, later, with the shorter, 2,400 mm
wheelbase. It was in production from ’57
until ’63, with a total of around 105 built.
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| 250
GT California Spyder Courtesy Fiskens/RM
Sotheby’s |
The bodies of the stradale
cars were partially of aluminium construction while racing versions used the
material throughout. The engine was good
for 237 bhp and with a kerb weight of 1100 Kg, the Spyder had plenty of go
as well as show - 0-60 mph in 7.2 secs and a top speed of 145 mph. Examples were seen in long distance race
events, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and it was shown to be competitive
and reliable.
Also originating in ’57
(November), the 250 Testa Rossa, emerged as a new competition model
powered by the Colombo 3.0 litre V12, bodied by Scaglietti with a Pinin Farina
‘pontoon’ design. But this was really a
creation by ‘all the talents’: in addition to the Farina styling and Scaglietti
craftsmanship, the 250 TR benefitted from design contributions by Fantuzzi,
Bizzarrini and Chiti. 14 were built and
raced as works cars and 19 examples were supplied to racing teams, including Luigi
Chinetti (NART), Ecurie Francorchamps, John
von Neumann, Piero Drogo, Scuderia Askolin, Gotfrid Köchert, (Österreicher
Automobil-Sport-Club) and Jaroslav Juhan (Equipe Los Amigos).
The prototype was chassis #0666
TR, a car that was sold in recent times (2011) by Gooding’s for $16,390,000. A detailed history – including a large number
of photographs – can be seen at http://www.barchetta.cc/english/all.ferraris/detail/0666.250tr.htm
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Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa
prototype Courtesy Ultimatecarpage.com
|
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Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa #0728, ’58 Le Mans winner
(Olivier Gendebien and Phil Hill) |
It would not have been
unreasonable to expect that the next high profile Ferrari/Scaglietti
collaboration would be something of an anti-climax. Far from it.
The ‘62 250 GTO is surely one of the very most iconic automobiles
of all time. Although financial value is
not necessarily the defining metric, that #3765LM was sold by RM Sotheby’s for $51,705,000
in ’23 is a good indication that use of the term ‘iconic’ is not overdoing it!
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Left:250 GTO Prototype;
Centre: 250 GTO Series1; Right:
250 GTO Series 2, (‘1964’) |
As expected, given the type
of car and the era, there are some uncertainties about prototypes. Mostly, the first, (with ‘T’ on the bonnet and
doors), was #2643. Also cited as a
prototype is #0523GT, a Boano car which was initially used as Enzo Ferrari’s
personal car. A further suggestion is
#2053GT, said originally to have been a ’60-built SWB which was subsequently
rebodied as a 250 GT SWB Competizione.
However, one wonders if this is a confusion stemming from ‘numeric
dyslexia’ – 0523-2053? The original
prototype was apparently tested at Monza by Moss and Mairesse. However, #2053GT is the chassis number said
in some sources to be that car.
Regarding the subsequent
series cars, notable differentiating points are:
Series 1: Very first few had a riveted-on rear spoiler,
then with bolt fasteners; Slotted C pillar;
Elliptical front aperture; 3 cooling intake openings, with integrated covers,
near the leading edge of the bonnet; Two vertical cooling exit slots to the
rear of both front wings.
Series 2: Lower/flatter body line, (similar to the
250LM); Windscreen rake increased; Longer/more integrated rear spoiler; Wider
wheels; Wider rectangular front aperture/no bonnet leading edge intake
openings; Three vertical cooling exit slots to the rear of both front wings.
At another level of detail,
there were numerous variations by individual car. The excellent Barchetta.cc website lists
details and images of GTOs in the chassis number range #3223GT – #5575GT. Most cars were painted in Rosso Cina.
With the success of Ferrari
products such as the GTO, Scaglietti need expanded production facilities. In March ’62, in collaboration with Domenico
Rabino the premises were redesigned and effectively doubled in capacity on
completion in ’64. But this was not
enough: four years later a frontal administrative building was added, this
being the most visible element from the road. By the mid-Seventies, the ever
growing scale of the business dictated a reorganization and thus Scaglietti
became a division of Ferrari, and, eventually so under the ownership of Fiat.
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Ferrari/Scaglietti premises in Modena |
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Ferrari 365 GTB4s in production at Scaglietti Courtesy Neill Bruce |
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Dino 246GT production at Scaglietti, 1973 Courtesy Neill Bruce |
Enzo was loyal in
consistently looking out for Sergio’s best interests, particularly in taking
care that as he negotiated the sale of Ferrari to Fiat, he agreed to no terms
or conditions which would have disadvantaged Scaglietti. Moreover, in ’73, once the Fiat acquisition
had settled down, Scaglietti’s business was bought out and became an integral
part of Ferrari. The two men’s
friendship was not, however, without conditions. Having discovered in ‘61 that Scaglietti was
working on the rebodying of Chevrolet Corvettes for Carrol Shelby, Gary
Laughlin and Jim Hall, Ferrari is said to have asked how many were to be made –
‘three’ was Scaglietti’s answer. This
prompted the valedictory warning from Enzo, ‘If you do one more you’ll never do
another car for me.’
Sergio himself continued in
an active role up to his late 60s. By
then Enzo had become infirm and died in’87.
At that time, Piero Ferrari generously found it appropriate to pay
tribute to Scaglietti’s loyalty and friendship towards his father: 'Scaglietti
was one of my father’s best friends. He was next to me with Marco Piccinini
also the day my father died and stayed with me the whole night until the
funeral.’ The Marenello company went
a stage further in terms of a tribute by naming its ’04 model F137 ‘612
Scaglietti.’
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Ferrari F137 ‘612 Scaglietti.’ |
Sergio Scaglietti died in November 2011.
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Not only for the photographs of the Scaglietti works, I'd highly recomment Neill Bruce's book,'50 Years with Ferraris.' If you like - who dooesn't? - the Maranello products of the 70s/80s/90s you will find both the huge number of photographs and the narrative completely engrossing. Published in 2023 by Evro Publishing, ISBN 978-1-910505-82-3.
