VIN: the Jan De Vroom Ferrari 410 Superfast chassis 0719 SA
History of chassis 0719 SA
Ferrari replaced the original 410 Superamerica in the summer of 1957. The Series 2 version was equipped with a new short wheelbase chassis and six of these flagship road cars were built.
One Series 2 received coachwork by Scaglietti while the other five came with bodies by Pinin Farina. Of the five Pinin Farina examples, four were standard Coupes while the fifth, chassis 0719 SA, was finished in the latest Superfast style.
0719 SA was the second of Pinin Farina’s Superfast Ferraris after the original (0483 SA) had been presented at the Paris Motor Show in October 1956.
Two additional Superfasts were built in 1957 (0725 GT and 0751 GT), but these were completed with three-litre Colombo short-block ‘250’ engines whereas 0719 SA came with the 4.9-litre Lampredi big-block motor.
Painted Blu Genziana with an Avorio roof and Naturale interior, 0719 SA was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in October 1957. A couple of weeks later, it was presented at the Turin Motor Show.
The car was sold to mysterious American-domiciled Dutchman, Jan De Vroom.
De Vroom was a close friend of Margaret de Cuevas who set him up in business as an importer of Italian glass and lamps. Margaret de Cuevas was the only child of Bessie Rockefeller, the eldest of John D. Rockefeller’s five children.
One of the world’s richest women, Margaret de Cuevas funded De Vroom’s acquisition of a sailing boat, a collection of rare watches, a Rolls Royce and a fleet of Ferraris.
De Vroom was an enthusiastic amateur racing driver and 0719 SA frequently appeared in the paddock at US circuits. Along with George Arents and Luigi Chinetti, De Vroom co-founded the North American Racing Team (NART).
It was this connection with Chinetti that enabled De Vroom to acquire 0719 SA. The other two 1957 Superfasts both went to European royals (0725 GT to Prince Bernhard of Holland and 0751 GT to Princess Lilian of Belgium).
After it was exported to the USA, 0719 SA featured in the September 1958 edition of Sports Car Illustrated. With a 0-60mph time of 5.6 seconds, it became the fastest accelerating road car they had ever tested. The Superfast in fact proved so quick that Sports Car Illustrated’s normal test site proved inadequate for a top speed run.
De Vroom went on to retain 0719 SA for several years. The Dutchman had long since sold the car when he was stabbed to death at his East 67th Street apartment in New York in November 1975. The murder was reputedly part of a plot to embezzle money.
0719 SA passed through the hands of several US owners before it ended up as part of TV producer Greg Garrison’s collection in Thousand Oaks, California.
Garrison had the colour changed to a handsome shade of metallic green, but retained the ivory roof. At the time, he also owned the other special bodied Series 2 410 Superamerica (0671 SA) that uniquely received coachwork by Scaglietti.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Ferrari - https://www.ferrari.com & Car & Driver - https://www.caranddriver.com/
