Phil Hill's Ferrari Testa Rossa 330 TRI/LM Auctions for $6.5 million
Racer Phil Hill's Ferrari Testa Rossa 330 TRI/LM race car fetched $5,900,000 on the block at the Monterey Sports Car Auction held August 16-17, 2002. The car was sold late Saturday to an undisclosed bidder as the seller was also undisclosed. A 10 percent buyer's premium pushed the final price of the car to $6,490,000.
"The price was extremely high," said Soon Nguyen, a spokeswoman for RM Auctions.
The bidding started at $2 million and rose in $50,000 increments as the audience cheered and applauded each new bid, often chanting the names of the bidders, Nguyen said.
The auction at the Doubletree Hotel in Monterey was being held in tandem with the annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and following the 2002 Concorso Italiano.
The international interest surrounding this vehicle was very intense. "The heightened auction attention focused on the Phil Hill Ferrari is a prime example of investors shifting their focus and collectors reaffirming their eagerness to invest in truly important vehicles," RM Auctions Inc. president David Gooding said the following Monday.
"This was the first time it has been offered for public sale since it was purchased by a famed French automotive collection more than 25 years ago," remarked Gooding.
It was remarked that this Ferrari was the last front-engine car to win the fabled 24 hours of Le Mans, and is the only remaining 4.0-liter version of the classic series. It was expected by some to have fetched as much as $8 million at auction.
Coachwork by Fantuzzi - Chassis No. 0808 - Engine No. 0808. The Ferrari is powered by a 390hp 3,967cc single overhead camshaft V12 engine, 5-speed manual [gearbox], 4-wheel disc brakes. Wheelbase 2,420mm (95.3").
Phil Hill steered the Ferrari race car to win at Le Mans in 1962. The Fantuzzi-bodied racer was the last front-engine car to win the fabled 24 hours of Le Mans, and is the only remaining 4.0-liter version of the classic series.
It also is two cars in one. It started as the Scuderia SEFAC Ferrari 250 TRI60/61 Spider s/n 0780 TR in 1960 with history and racing successes. But the 0780 TR was utilized by Ferrari at the end of the 1961 season to form the basis for 0808, merging their histories of races and drivers into one, building success upon success.
The 330 TRI/LM began with the double wishbone independent rear suspension chassis from TRI60/61 s/n 0780. It received extensive modification to accept a Tipo 163 Superamerica V12 4-liter with 3,967cc. Given special Testa Rossa-style cylinder heads, big valves and six 2-barrel Weber 42 DCN carbs, the V12 was tuned to give 390 horsepower for the race, at least 50 more horsepower than the best of the earlier Scuderia Ferrari Testa Rossas had ever had. The 4-liter V12 was some 4" longer than the 3-liter engines for which the original Testa Rossa chassis was designed so the frame was lengthened by two-and-three-quarters inches to retain the cars balance. At the same time it was strengthened to handle the extra power and torque of the larger engine. The standard TRI61 5-speed gearbox was also augmented with stronger gears.
Fantuzzi created the longer body which Phil Hill described in his October 1982 Salon feature on this car in Road & Track magazine as, "... a combination of the old Testa Rossa shape, but with the double nostril nose and the cutoff tail-with-a-spoiler that were used on the mid-engine cars. Behind the cockpit was an airfoil, while ahead of us was a full wraparound windscreen that blended into side windows.... With the perspective of years its shape seems almost perfect."
Continuing, Phil said, "... Testa Rossas were the reason Ferrari was able to dominate sports car racing in much of the world, and produce some of the most beautiful sports racing cars of the postwar era. In 1962 ... the TR lineage was about to end and the 330 [TRI/LM] became the last Testa Rossa. Seen from that view, the big caręs lines look even better, flowing yet tough, the graceful shape only interrupted when necessary by an air scoop, a bonnet handle or a leather strap ... the rounded looks-good-to-the-eye shape of the Fifties ending at the scientific cutoff Kamm tail of the Sixties."
The 330 TRI/LM's success was expressed in the article as:
"Although the 330 was something of a brute in concept, it was not a brutish car to drive. It was also a damn fast car and with it I was able to break Mike Hawthornęs Le Mans lap record.... The independent two A-arm suspension front and rear made this a very decent-handling, well balanced car. The 330 [TRI/LM] suffered none of the earlier aerodynamic problems of some Ferraris, which caused them to lift so badly we lost much of the steering control at very high speeds. And it didnęt exhibit that schizophrenic nature of other Ferraris, when they would be nice on the tight, slow parts of the track and yet get nasty on the fast parts, like the section before the old White House turn. Without these strange nose or tail liftings the 330 was a nice, almost pleasant car to drive.
"We did have one major problem. Right from the first practice session the clutch would slip when we really got the engine near the point of greatest torque. As weęd accelerate away from White House, holding the power at that critical rpm while turning the car (which was adding to the load on the engine), the slippage began. We knew the only answer was to treat the car as gently as possible and that the moment the revs would start to mount out of proportion to the degree that the car was accelerating, we would have to sense it and shift. That oftentimes meant we were a gear higher than we cared to be at certain places on the track, but we could live with that. The unspoken thought between us, however, was that the car just couldn't last." -Phil Hill
The 330 TRI/LM kept the Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien driver's team in the lead through virtually the entire Le Mans race (despite nursing the clutch) with a five full lap lead at the finish.
By Phil Hill's own evaluation the 330 TRI/LM is a well-balanced and predictable race car under the most demanding conditions. It is absolutely unique, historic, and the last front-engined car to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the final expression of the golden age of front-engined sports-racers, the ultimate Ferrari Testa Rossa.
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