VIN: the works Ferrari 330 LMB chassis 4381 SA
History of chassis 4381 SA
Chassis 4381 SA was the first of four cars built to 330 LMB specification for the 1963 racing season as successors to the solitary GTO-bodied 330 LM campaigned at the Nurburgring and Le Mans in 1962 (chassis 3765 LM). Another 330-engined GTO-bodied car was also produced in 1963, but this vehicle was based on a 400 Superamerica chassis as opposed to the 330 LMB’s unique Tipo 574 frame.
Allocated to Scuderia Ferrari, chassis 4381 SA made its competition debut at the 1963 Sebring 12 Hours. The Floridian event was round one of the four-race International Trophy for GT Prototypes which played out alongside the longer International Championship for GT Manufacturers as part of that year’s World Sportscar Championship.
4381 SA was part of a three car works team at Sebring that also comprised two examples of the new 250 P. Driven by Mike Parkes and Lorenzo Bandini, the 330 LMB started 19th as grid slots were decided on engine size. By the two hour mark, Parkes had moved 4381 SA into seventh and an hour later, now with Bandini at the wheel, it was sixth.
Parkes then hopped back in for his second stint, but shortly afterwards he span off at the MG bridge and collided with a tree. 4381 SA trundled back to the pits leaking petrol from a split fuel tank and in a generally sad state of disrepair. Upon arrival it was pushed away into retirement having completed 72 laps.
The car next appeared two weeks later at the Le Mans Test held over the weekend of April 6th and 7th. Mike Parkes, Willy Mairesse and Lorenzo Bandini all had stints in 4381 SA with Parkes becoming the first driver to officially break the 300kph barrier down the Mulsanne Straight.
4381 SA ultimately went second quickest, some 4.7 seconds slower than the banzai time set by John Surtees in his works 250 P.
At the Le Mans 24 Hours two months later, 4381 SA appeared alongside the other brace of 330 LMBs which would be campaigned by NART and Maranello Concessionaires. The works car was driven by Pierre Noblet and Jean Guichet. It ran under a Pierre Noblet entry as had been the case at the Le Mans Test back in April.
All three cars arrived with bigger rear spoilers than had been used on 4381 SA during its first two appearances.
For the first time at Le Mans, grid slots were decided by qualifying times. 4381 SA started ninth and, by lap four, Noblet had moved the car into sixth. At the four hour mark, the works 330 LMB was fifth and by 10pm (six hours in) it had moved up to fourth. However, soon afterwards, 4381 SA had to be retired as a result of a broken oil pipe.
In November, Ferrari sold the 330 LMB to the Cronograph film production company in Rome, most likely for the use of a company director.
During 1964, Chronograph commissioned Carrozzeria Fantuzzi in Modena to transform the 330 LMB into a Spyder version of a Coupe design that the firm had recently used to rebody a 330 TRI LM (chassis 0808).
The spectacular creation that emerged was painted gold and trimmed with black upholstery. It went on to play a major role in the 1968 three-part anthology variously known as Histoires Extraordinaires (French market), Tre Passi Nel Delirio (Italian market) and either Spirits of the Dead or Tales of Mystery and Imagination (English-speaking regions).
The French-Italian co-production starred Alain Delon, Brigitte Bardot, Jane Fonda and Terence Stamp with segments directed by Roger Vadim, Louis Malle and Federico Fellini. Fellini’s short followed the story of alcoholic Toby Dammit (played by Terence Stamp) a former Shakespearean actor who visits Rome to make a Spaghetti Western for which he would be given a golden Ferrari (4381 SA) as a bonus.
A drunk Dammit receives his new Ferrari (the latest model) after an appearance at an awards ceremony and proceeds to race around Rome, ultimately crashing and losing his life.
The Ferrari then reputedly disappeared from view until September 1978, at which point it joined the renowned Maranello Rosso collection of Fabrizio Violati in Rome. Soon afterwards, Violati had the car re-acquainted with its original body while the Fantuzzi shell was mounted to a 330 GT (chassis 8733).
Noted British economist David Morrison subsequently purchased 4381 SA in 1994 – he kept it for just six months (owing to the purchase of a 250 GTO), at which point the 330 LMB was sold to Harry Leventis who retained it for around 15 years.
However, in December 2023, a lawyer acting on behalf of Borghese heir Massimo Chiappini filed a case stating that Chiappini, who reputedly acquired 4381 SA from the bankruptcy sale of pharmaceutical company IFI in 1965, is the rightful owner of the car. Chiappini claims it was he that commissioned Fantuzzi to rebody 4381 SA and that he loaned the car to the production company for Tre Passi Nel Delirio.
Afterwards, the 330 LMB was sent to a Ferrari workshop in Rome for repair and forgotten about owing to Chiappini’s international business commitments. 4381 SA was reputedly sold without his permission and an interesting legal dispute will no doubt follow...
Notable History
Scuderia Ferrari
Tipo 574 chassis
Tipo 163/566 engine
23/03/1963 WSC Sebring 12 Hours (M. Parkes / L. Bandini) DNF (#19)
07/04/1963 IND Le Mans Test (M. Parkes / W. Mairesse / L. Bandini) 2nd a, 1st P3.0+ class (#12)
16/06/1963 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (P. Noblet / J. Guichet) DNF oil pipe (#9)
27/11/1963 sold to Cronograph Srl., Rome
Registered Roma 697220
1964 rebodied as a Spyder by Carrozzeria Fantuzzi, Modena
1968 starred in Histoires Extraordinaires / Tre Passi Nel Delirio
20/09/1978 sold to Fabrizio Violati, Rome
Re-fitted with its original body
Fantuzzi Spyder shell transferred to 330 GT chassis 8733
1994 sold to David Morrison, UK
1995 sold to Harry Leventis, UK
Retained until 2011
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: The Henry Ford Museum - https://www.thehenryford.org/ & unattributed
