VIN: Lord Brocket's Ferrari 340 America chassis 0138 A
History of chassis 0138 A
Chassis 0138 A was one of ten 340 Americas coachbuilt by Vignale.
Of these, it was the only example completed as a Cabriolet.
Vignale used a broadly similar design for a small number of 212 Inters and Exports. Compared to these Colombo-engined models, the big-block Lampredi-powered 340 America was much faster and a whole lot more expensive.
Little is known of 0138 A’s early history.
Built in 1951, it was reportedly painted a two-tone colour scheme and delivered to a ‘Mr Lindner’ in either Detroit or Chicago.
By the mid 1980s, it was in the hands of Chicago Ferrari collector, Joe Marchetti, who acquired the car after an extended period of storage.
In 1987, Marchetti sold 0138 A to Ron Spangler who owned the Prancing Horse Farm in Baltimore.
Spangler then entered the car for Christie’s Monaco auction in May 1988, but it failed to meet the reserve.
Before the end of the year, 0138 A had joined the fast-growing collection of Charles Nall-Cain, better known as Lord Brocket.
With a loan from American Express, Lord Brocket had converted his family’s once dilapidated 25-bedroom Georgian mansion set in 1400 acres of prime Hertfordshire real estate into one of Europe’s top conference centres.
By the late 1980s, the conference business was booming and Brocket Hall was being hired for £25,000 per day.
In early 1989, Brocket’s bank noted that some of his old Ferraris listed on the accounts had tripled in value and loaned him £5m to turn it into a proper business. This rose to £7m shortly afterwards and then a £3m overdraft was added to the account.
Lord Brocket eventually accumulated over 50 Italian exotics valued at around £20m.
Like many of his cars, Brocket tried to give 0138 A a racier appearance. He added an intake on the hood and one on the shoulder of each rear fender. Cooling vents were carved out from the hood and behind all four wheels.
In its newly modified state, 0138 A appeared in the 1991 Brian Laban book ‘Ferrari, the Legend on the Road’ which showcased several of Brocket’s cars at his country estate.
However, by the time of publication, things were beginning to unravel. The conference business was depressed, interest rates were soaring and buyers had deserted the free-falling collector car market.
Having used the family seat as security, Brocket was struggling to finance debts of over £10m and needed £4.5m to get out of the hole.
With his cars insured for far more than they were worth, Brocket colluded with his wife and two estate workers to pull an insurance scam that would result in four cars being cut up and then reported as stolen.
Over the course of three nights in May 1991, Brocket and the two estate workers dismantled 0138 A along with a Ferrari 195 Inter, a 250 Europa and a Maserati Birdcage. Many of the parts were burned in a vast furnace used for heating Brocket’s garage complex. Some other parts were stored in a lock up outside of London.
Brocket waited a few weeks before making the ‘discovery’ that the cars were missing. He then lodged an insurance claim for £4.5m.
Police were suspicious from the outset as were Brocket’s insurers, General Accident, who refused to pay up.
Brocket initially took the case to court but withdrew the claim when his bank stepped in with a £15m rescue package for Brocket Hall.
That was that until late 1994, when his by-now estranged wife, Lady Isabell Lorenzo, spilled the beans to police after being arrested for forging a number of prescriptions.
Lord Brocket was subsequently charged with fraud.
His court case began in December 1995 and lasted until February 1996 when he was jailed for seven years.
Meanwhile, 0138 A’s chassis and engine were recovered and, in 1996, the car was rebuilt by DK Engineering.
In the absence of the original body (which had been cut into small pieces and discarded), a new competition-style Vignale Spyder shell was fitted.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: unattributed
