VIN: the works / Luigi Chinetti Ferrari 340 Mexico chassis 0224 AT
History of chassis 0224 AT
Having won the 1951 Carrera Panamericana with a 212 Inter, Ferrari returned for 1952 with a trio of 340 Mexicos built specially for the event.
The three Vignale Berlinettas that attended wore state of the art streamlined bodywork; a fourth 340 Mexico (a Spyder) was also assembled but did not make it to the race.
Chassis 0224 AT was temporarily registered BO 16722 and contested the ‘52 Carrera Panamericana in the hands of Luigi Chinetti / Jean Lucas.
Scuderia Ferrari’s four-car attack comprised the 340 Mexicos and their unique 250 Sport which had won the Mille Miglia and Pescara 12 Hours earlier in the year.
The 1952 Carrera Panamericana consisted of eight stages over five days and took place from November 19th to the 23rd.
Things got off to a bad start when Alberto Ascari crashed out on the opening day. Team-mate Luigi Villoresi’s gearbox gave up on stage five.
Chinetti / Lucas in 0224 AT had thus far driven more circumspectly. They moved into fourth at the end of stage five in the sole-surviving 340 Mexico while the hard-charging 250 Sport of Giovanni Bracco held a near ten minute lead over the chasing Mercedes-Benz 300 SLs of Karl Kling and Herrmann Lang.
By stage seven, mountains had given way to vast prairie lands and the long straight roads permitted the fastest cars to exceed 150mph. Unfortunately, the high speeds led to transmission trouble for race leader Bracco which put his 250 Sport out of the event.
Chinetti was thus left to uphold Ferrari’s honour and gave the Mexico its full head over the remainder of the race in an attempt to try and catch the 300 SLs which now occupied first and second positions.
0224 AT eventually finished third some 41 minutes behind winner Karl Kling and six minutes behind Herrmann Lang.
Before the 340 Mexico programme had been undertaken, Luigi Chinetti had made an agreement with Enzo Ferrari to purchase the car he used in the ‘52 Carrera. Chinetti had also arranged for the other two Berlinettas to be sold to Texan oil magnate, Allen Guiberson, for the sum of $14,500 each.
Prior to handover, all three cars were shipped back to Italy and refreshed at the factory.
Chinetti subsequently entered 0224 AT for three major European road races during the 1953 season, but the car failed to finish any of these outings.
Eugenio Castellotti and Ivo Regosa retired from the Mille Miglia with clutch problems.
Phil Hill and Chinetti then abandoned the Reims 12 Hours owing to brake trouble.
0224 AT’s final outing saw Giovanni Bracco and Roberto Bonomi post a DNF at the Pescara 12 Hours for reasons unknown.
Early in 1954, Luigi Chinetti sold 0224 AT to Charles Rezzaghi of Rezzaghi Motors in San Francisco.
Robert Rice of Hanford, California, bought the car that spring.
Rice displayed 0224 AT at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in April and then at the Mount Diablo Country Club Concours in May.
In March 1955, 0224 AT failed to start a race at Stockton with its new owner, George Sawyer, of Lafayette, California.
The car then returned to Chinetti who sold it to Bill Gavin of Washington DC.
0224 AT later went through the hands of several more US owners including Tom Stewart, Carl Bross, Cal Gleason, Dean Batchelor, Harley Cluxton and John Robertson before it ended up in the long-term care of Larry Nicklin who retained it from 1979 to 2011.
Notable History
Scuderia Ferrari
Registered BO 16722
Red Industrias 1-2-3 livery (Scuderia Guastalla entry)
23/11/1952 IND Carrera Panamericana (L. Chinetti / J. Lucas) 3rd oa, 3rd S class (#20)
Sold to Luigi Chinetti, New York
26/04/1953 WSC Mille Miglia (E. Castellotti / I. Regosa) DNF (#637)
05/07/1953 IND Reims 12 Hours (P. Hill / L. Chinetti) DNF (#5)
15/08/1953 IND Pescara 12 Hours (G. Bracco / R. Bonomi) DNF (#22)
1954 sold to Rezzaghi Motors, San Francisco
Sold to Robert Rice, Hanford, California
10/04/1954 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
16/05/1954 Mount Diablo Concours d’Elegance
Sold to George Sawyer, Lafayette, California
20/03/1955 IND Stockton (G. Sawyer) DNS (#106)
Sold via Luigi Chinetti ti Bill Galvin, Washington DC
1961 sold to Tom Stewart, Virginia
1965 sold via Dick Merritt to Carl Bross, Detroit
1967 sold to Cal Gleason, Michigan
Later owned by Dean Batchelor, Harley Cluxton and John Robertson
1979 sold to Larry Nicklin, Leo, Indiana
Retained until 2011
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Ferrari - https://www.ferrari.com
