VIN: the works / Allen Guiberson Ferrari 340 Mexico chassis 0222 AT
History of chassis 0222 AT
Chassis 0222 AT was one of four 340 Mexicos built to contest the 1952 Carrera Panamericana.
Three were Berlinettas and one was a Spyder. All received Vignale bodies with the latest avant garde styling.
The trio of 340 Mexico Berlinettas (along with a unique 250 Sport) were works entries for the ‘52 Carrera. Backing came from Santiago Ontanon’s Industrias 1-2-3 corporation and Sinclair Oil.
0222 AT was allocated to Luigi Villoresi and Piero Cassani.
However, the event got off to a bad start. During the opening stage (329 miles from Tuxtla Gutierrez to Oaxaca), Villoresi lost a considerable amount of time with gearbox trouble.
On day two, he made up for it by winning the second and third stages (256 miles from Oaxaca to Puebla and then 81 miles from Puebla to Mexico City).
Following a rest day, Villoresi put in another big effort on stage four (267 miles from Mexico City to Leon). He won his third stage in a row and moved up to sixth in the overall standings.
Unfortunately, a recurrence of gearbox problems on stage five (333 miles from Leon to Durango) put 0222 AT out of the race.
Prior to the 1952 Carrera, Enzo Ferrari (via Luigi Chinetti) had agreed to sell two of his 340 Mexico Berlinettas to Texan oil man, Allen Guiberson III. The price was for $14,500 apiece. The third car was purchased by Chinetti himself.
Guiberson was a renowned engineer that developed oil field tooling and also created the first diesel radial engine.
A serial Ferrari owner, Guiberson retained 0222 AT for an attack on the 1953 Carrera Panamericana. He sold his other Mexico (0226 AT) to Oklahoma-based industrialist, AV Dayton.
0222 AT was prepared for Guiberson by Ernie McAfee’s Ferrari dealership on Sunset Boulevard. It appeared at the 1953 Carrera Panamericana in a red livery with white roof and boot lid. Phil Hill was brought in to drive with Richie Ginther on hand principally as a riding mechanic.
Hill finished tenth on the opening 329 mile stage from Tuxtla Gutierrez to Oaxaco.
Stage two (256 miles from Oaxaca to Puebla) was marred by the death of six spectators plus Ferrari drivers Antonio Stagnoli and Giuseppe Scotuzzi in a separate accident.
Hill then crashed out of the race on stage three (81 miles from Puebla to Mexico City). 0222 AT went down a gentle five metre embankment and, while damage was limited, the Ferrari was stranded.
Following its repair, the 340 Mexico was entered for one more race in period: the 1954 Buenos Aires 1000km.
For this event, Hill was co-driven by Dave Sykes but clutch problems forced their retirement after just 13 laps.
Later in 1954, Guiberson sold 0222 AT to dealer, Charles Rezzaghi of Rezzaghi Motors in San Francisco.
It quickly went through the hands of several US owners to include Ernie McAfee and Luigi Chinetti but was never raced again in period.
Notable History
Scuderia Ferrari
Red Industrias 1-2-3 livery
23/11/1952 IND Carrera Panamericana (L. Villoresi / P. Cassani) DNF (#16)
Sold to Allen Guiberson, Dallas
Red & White livery
23/11/1953 WSC Carrera Panamericana (P. Hill / R. Ginther) DNF (#4)
24/01/1954 WSC Buenos Aires 1000km (P. Hill / D. Sykes) DNF (#16)
Sold to Rezzaghi Motors, San Francisco
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Phil Hill
