VIN: the Pierre Louis-Dreyfus Ferrari 340 America chassis 0116 A
History of chassis 0116 A
Chassis 0116 A was one of 25 Ferrari 340 Americas built, the first two of which started life as 275 Sports that were raced in 1950.
Eight of these 25 cars, to include chassis 0116 A, were built with Carrozzeria Touring’s popular Spyder bodywork.
Chassis 0116 A was ordered by French industrialist, amateur racing driver and former World War 2 resistance fighter, Pierre Louis-Dreyfus.
Louis-Dreyfus’ grandfather, Leopold, founded the Louis Dreyfus Group in 1851. He made a fortune initially trading cereals from Alsace across the border to Basel in Switzerland. Leopold later moved into merchant shipping, weapons manufacturing, agriculture, oil and banking. By the early 1900s, the Louis-Dreyfus family was one of the five wealthiest in France.
Pierre Louis-Dreyfus served in the French military during 1928-1929 and then again from 1939 until France’s capitulation. As Jews, many of his family’s assets were confiscated by the Vichy government during World War 2.
In 1941, Louis-Dreyfus joined the French Resistance and as a result of his military experience he was assigned responsibility for coordinating groups across the south of France.
Louis-Dreyfus was forced to flee France in December 1942 and, having travelled to England, ultimately went on to fly 81 bombing missions on the Western Front in Belgium, Holland and Germany.
After the cessation of hostilities, Louis-Dreyfus returned to the family firm where he had worked between 1929 and 1939.
Prior to 1940, Louis-Dreyfus had been a regular competitor at the Le Mans 24 Hours where he variously raced a Bugatti Type 43, an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza and a Talbot-Lago T26. During that period, his best result at la Sarthe had been second in 1935.
Louis-Dreyfus raced under the pseudonym “Helde” (derived from L-D – Louis Dreyfus).
In 1949 and 1950, Louis-Dreyfus attended Le Mans with a Luigi Chinetti-owned Ferrari 166 Mille Miglia and then a works 195 Sport, but he failed to finish on either occasion.
Louis-Dreyfus ordered his 4.1-litre 340 America, the fastest Ferrari available at the time, to compete at Le Mans in 1951. The car was completed on June 9th of that year and the little red Spyder appeared at la Sarthe wearing French licence plate 6 AK 75.
The 1951 Le Mans 24 Hours took place over the weekend of June 23rd and 24th. Chassis 0116 A was entered for the race by Luigi Chinetti and Louis-Dreyfus was co-driven by Louis Chiron. Grid slots were decided on engine size and Louis-Dreyfus / Chiron lined up 15th.
Chiron did the first stint behind the wheel, but having been engrossed in a battle with the similar car of Eddie Hall, he missed the pit signal to come in for fuel and ran dry out on the circuit. A mechanic drove out to top the car up with fuel and Chiron returned to the pits at which point Louis-Dreyfus took over. However, on its 29th lap, chassis 0016 A was disqualified for having been re-fuelled outside of the pit lane.
The car next appeared at the 1952 Le Mans 24 Hours which took place over June 14th and 15th. On this occasion, Louis-Dreyfus shared 0016 A with Rene Dreyfus. They again started from 15th on the grid but clutch problems hampered progress. The 340 America was eventually retired during the fifth hour.
Chassis 0116 A’s final outing was at the 100km Montlhery Coupes du Salon on October 5th 1952 where Louis-Dreyfus arranged for Rene Marchand to drive. Marchand initially ran a strong second behind Robert Manzon's 2.3-litre Gordini T15S, but the Ferrari dropped to third on lap six and two laps later Marchand coasted into the pits where the Ferrari was retired with an unspecified problem.
Pierre Louis-Dreyfus did file an entry for the 1953 Le Mans with 0116 A, but he went on to race an OSCA MT4 instead.
In October 1958, the 340 America was offered for sale at Automobiles Charles Pozzi in Paris. It was sold to timber merchant, Maurice Teissernc of Landes, and re-registered 921 CA 40 that November.
In November 1960, the 340 America was sold to Jacques Alexander Lenglet of Romainville who part-exchanged his Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante to buy the Ferrari. At this point, the car was re-registered 9360 KM 75.
In 1964, chassis 0116 A made its way into the renowned collection of Pierre Bardinon of Aubusson. Bardinon retained the car until the early 1970s when it was sold to Giuseppe Medici of Reggio Emilia who kept the car until 2001.
Notable History
Red
Sold to Pierre Louis-Dreyfus, Paris
Registered 6 AK 75
23/06/1951 IND Le Mans 24 Hours (L. Chiron / P. Louis-Dreyfus) DNF (#16)
15/06/1952 IND Le Mans 24 Hours (P. Louis-Dreyfus / R. Dreyfus) DNF (#16)
05/10/1952 IND Montlhery Coupes du Salon (R. Marchand) DNF (#??)
11/1958 sold to Maurice Teissernc, Landes (registered 921 CA 40)
11/1960 sold to Jacques Alexander Lenglet, Romainville (registered 9360 KM 75)
1964 sold to Pierre Bardinon, Aubusson
Early 1970s sold to Giuseppe Medici, Reggio Emilia
Retained until 2001
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Washington Photo
