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Ferrari Profile
Ferrari | Profile 28
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1952 Ferrari 340 Mexico coupe
Its impeccable provenance following La Carrera and its impressive ownership
chain makes it a plum piece for a collector who appreciates quality over flash
By Steve Ahlgrim
Photos: Shooter.biz
details
Year produced: 1952
Number produced: 4
Original list price: $21,000
SCM Valuation: $2.5m-$3.5m
Tune-up cost: $3,000
Distributor caps: $500
Chassis #: Left frame rail at third header
Engine #: Right rear near magneto drive
Club: Ferrari Club of America, P.O. Box
720597, Atlanta, GA, 30358
More: www.ferrariclubofamerica.org
Alternatives: La Carrera cars vary from
reasonable to outrageous. Try a 1951
Chrysler Saratoga, 1951 flat-head
Mercurys, 1952 Mercedes Benz 300SL,
1950 Oldsmobile 88—as well as
Lincolns and Cadillacs of the period.
SCM Investment Grade: A
comps
Chassis number: 0224AT
documented life. Assembled in September 1952,
this Ferrari, 0224AT, has had a busy and well-
it was test-driven just one month later. Official
photos were taken, with temporary Italian license
plates BO 16722. It was then sold to Franco Cornacchia's
Scuderia Guastalla in Milan and leased to Santiago
Ontanon– in Mexico City– for Luigi Chinetti to drive in
the 1952 La Carrera Panamericana.
Chinetti ran the La Carrera, placing 3rd overall.
Following the race, he purchased the car for his New York
showroom. He then prepared the car for the Mille Miglia,
where driven by Eugenio Castellotti and Ivo Regosa, it
failed to finish.
In 1954, the car passed through San Francisco and
was advertised for sale in Road & Track by Kjell Qvale.
Robert Rice subsequently bought 0224AT and showed it
at the 5th Pebble Beach Concours d' Elegance.
0224AT passed through several more hands, and in
1965 Carl Bross purchased the car. Bross, a cornerstone
of U.S. Ferrari history, was the owner of Orange Blossom
Diamond Ring Company and owned a number of signifi-
cant Ferraris in the 1950s. The car appeared on the cover
of Road & Track in May 1969. In 1971, early hot rodder,
Bonneville Salt Flat racer, and automotive historian Dean
Batchelor purchased the car.
0224AT's travels ended in 1979, when Larry Nicklin
purchased the car from an adventurer who sold it to fi-
nance an around-the-world sailboat cruise. Mr. Nicklin
was no stranger to 340 Mexico ownership, having pre-
viously purchased Mexico 0226AT after spotting the
distinctive fenders of the car poking out of a garage in
Detroit.
One of many interesting Nicklin stories occurred
when he was pulled over by a state trooper, who clocked
him at 85 mph. As his daughter Jennie Anne Nicklin
wrote years later for Prancing Horse magazine, ™Larry
had been on a test-drive with Dave Palmeter, the goal of
which was to reach 100 mph. Fortunately Mr. Nicklin
only received a written warning, even though the car was
devoid of tags and the necessary documentation wasn't
in the car!
The car has been displayed in the Auburn Cord
Duesenberg Automobile Museum in Auburn, IN. It has
also been featured in Cavallino magazine in July, 1989;
it was featured in Lee Beck's book Ferrarissima in
1990; and it was displayed in Ken Behring's Blackhawk
Museum in Danville, California.
As presented, 0224AT is an extraordinary car, care-
fully preserved and still retaining its original engine.
For racing and Ferrari enthusiasts, it has all the desirable
requirements– successful period racing history, eligibil-
ity for the world's most desirable events (Mille Miglia
included), well-known provenance, rarity and a light,
attractive body combined with a Lampredi-designed V12
that is capable of stunning performance.
Perhaps Mr. Nicklin said it best: ™It is as much fun as
I've ever had in the car collecting world.
1951 Ferrari 340 America
Lot 19, s/n 0140A
Condition 1
Sold at $2,530,000
Gooding & Co., Pebble Beach, CA, 8/14/10
SCM# 165675
1953 Ferrari 340 MM
Lot 222, s/n 0268M
Condition 2+
Sold at $3,118,500
RM Auctions, Maranello, IT, 5/20/07
SCM# 45297
1952 Ferrari 340 Mexico
Lot 54, s/n 0226AT
Condition 1-
Sold at $1,377,500
Christie’s, Pebble Beach, CA, 8/28/99
SCM# 13256
44 Sports Car Market