Solved - NEH 1251: Drogo-bodied 1958 Ferrari 250TR

[Carnut]

What's this and what happened to it?
For 1 point.

[Carnut]

Time to move up..

[Delorean]

Arista GT Coupé ...

[Carnut]

Arista GT Coupé ...

Not that..

[Oswald]

Australian?

[Carnut]

Australian?

No.

[Carnut]

Pro's?

[Allemano]

It has some resemblance to the Duopower Afghan and Meade's Thomassima, but think it's certainly a different one... I can't find which one though..

[Carnut]

It has some resemblance to the Duopower Afghan and Meade's Thomassima, but think it's certainly a different one... I can't find which one though..

It's not related to either of those..

[jotage21]

It´s a Ferrari 250 GT Drogo that was owned by Brazilian Carlos Monteverde

[Carnut]

It´s a Ferrari 250 GT Drogo that was owned by Brazilian Carlos Monteverde

It is a Ferrari, yes, but it's not a 250GT.  It is at least partially a Drogo body, and it did belong to Carlos Monteverde.

So it's a good start but not the whole story.  I'll lock it for you for 48 hours to see if you can find out more.

[jotage21]

Ferrari 250 Testarossa chassi 0738TR. It was delivered in 1958 to Jean-Louis Lacerda Soares, Brazil. The 250 TR was raced by raced by Jean Louis Lacerda and Luciano Della Porta and finished 1st in Barra da Tijuca. In 1961 it was sold to Giorgio Moroni, in 1963 it was rebodied on behalf of Moroni by Drogo as a 250 GTO look-a-like, in 1965 Camillo Christofaro won the Rio de Janeiro GP. In 1989 Paul Vestey became the new owner he commisioned DK to rebdoy the 250 to original specifications, in 1996 the TR was sold for $2.6mio to Chris Cox, a couple of month later Carlos Monteverde enjyoed to race the TR as the new owner. 

[Carnut]

Yes again to all that!
But its appearance in the puzzle is not how Drogo built it (it doesn't look like a 250 GTO!) so how did it get that front?

Chassis #0738TR once more has a Testa Rossa body, but what happened to the Drogo body you see on the puzzle car?

This is the body that adorns the puzzle car's chassis 0738TR today:

[João]

It's open?

[Carnut]

It's open?

Not until 1430 hrs UK time today, since I gave jotage 48 hours so he still has a little time to come up with the rest of the information.

After that you may comment.

[João]

Ok thanks 

Quote from conceptcarz :

"Chassis number 0738/TR was raced extensively in Brazil from 1958-67 and in Europe since 1997. It was ordered new by the Official Central and South American Ferrari Concessionaire Carlos Kauffman in Caracas, Venezuela, for Brazilian Jean-Louis Lacerda Soares, who lived in São Paulo. After receiving the vehicle, Mr. Soares went racing. He had a three-man racing team called Scuderia Lagartixa, and was comprised of Chico Landi and Luciano Della Porta. They would race the car fourteen times over the next two-and-a-half years.

On June 22nd of 1958, Landi took the starting flag at the Cinquentenário da Imigração Japonesa at Interlagos, Brazil and took 7th place. The next outing was in Rio on September 28th at the Festival do Desporto at Barra da Tijuca, when Jose Gimenez Lopes finished 2nd. The car was driven again by Lopes on November 30th at Interlagos to a fourth place finish.

Just a short ten days later, on December 10th, the car raced at Barra da Tijuca, this time driven by Jean Louis Lacerda, who finished 7th. The car would score its first victory with Lacerda at the wheel at the Circuito de Pirajui on April 5th of 1959.

On May 31st, the car scored a DNF at Interlagos. On July 27th of 1959, at the Rio circuit of Barra da Tijuca, the car scored another 1st.It finished 9th at Interlagos on January 10th of 1960 being driven by Luciano Della Porta. A week later, he finished 7th at Rio. The next race saw him finishing 3rd at Piracicaba on March 13th, then 2nd at Brasilia on April 23rd. On June 12th at Interlagos, he finished 5th. Della Porta and Chico Landi teamed up on September 9th to race in the 500-km race at Interlagos where they finished 2nd. The team's last race with the car was at Barra da Tijuca in Rio on November 5th of 1960. They would finish off their career with the car with a DNF.

The car was sold in 1961 to Giorgio Moroni who had it shipped to Modena, Italy. It was re-bodied, with the help of Piero Drogo, as a GTO-style coupe and then sent back to Rio.

The first outing for the Coupe-bodied 0738/TR was at Interlagos on October 11th, 1964 where he managed a 16th overall. After that, the car had nine months off before it was driven by Camillo Christofaro at Barra Tijuca on September 19th, 1965. The car would emerge victorious at the Gran Premio IV Centenario. After this, the car was sold to Claudio Klabin. The following year, in 1966, it was traded to Paulo Cesar Newlands for an Alfa Romeo 2000 Berlina.

While in its new owners care, it returned to the race track where it placed 16th at Jacarepagua on June 4th, 1967. A first overall was claimed on July 30th at Petrópolis. The car was then sold to an unnamed American in Rio in 1969. In 1975, it was sold to Camillo Christofaro, who had won his first race in the car in Rio a decade earlier.

For over 10 years, Christofaro stored and preserved this vehicle, still wearing its replacement Berlinetta bodywork. In 1986, Colin Crabbe purchased the car and brought it back to England. It changed hands in 1988 to American Bob Rubin. A year later, it was sold to Sir Paul Vestey in England. While in its new owner's care, he commisioned DK to rebody the 250 to original specifications. It was then painted yellow with a green nose band, in honor of its Brazilian heritage."

[João]

Now, answering the question :

so how did it get that front?

According to Paulo Cesar Newlands,who raced the Drogo GTO styled Ferrari,after an accident at Jacarepaguá,the car had to undergo a considerable reform to improve its aerodynamics.All these changes were made ​​in Petrópolis.

Leveling of the rear and front fenders,chopped roof,new lanterns etc...

This is the original Drogo body :

[Carnut]

Great info so far!
But just to finish off the story - what happened to that Drogo body?  Where is it now?

[João]

The body is reputed being on 2493GT today :

[Carnut]

That's not quite what I have, but since I'm unable to verify my info I can't really argue with any certainty!  I hoped you'd give the same answer I have..

The info I have is that the original Drogo body is now on a 1961-or so 250 GTE and is pictured below.

So what I will do is give Jotage21 a point for finding the right car and Joao a point for filling in all the gaps!

[João]

I think your car it's the one.

Chassis #2493GT came from a 1960s 250GTE.

Thank you for a great puzzle!

[Carnut]

Glad it made it through to the Pro's and you got the chance to post lots of great Professional information!