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Ferrari Profile
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1955 Ferrari 121 LM Spyder by Scaglietti
A thundering veteran of the 1955 Mille Miglia and Le Mans sells for big
bucks — but not as big as hoped
by Steve Ahlgrim
Darin Schnabel, courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Details
Year produced: 1955
Number produced: Four
Original list price: About $8,250
Current SCM Median Valuation:
$4,285,000
Tune-up cost: $3,000
Distributor caps: $900 each (two caps)
Chassis # location: Center of front cross
member
Engine # location: Right side of block,
roughly center
Club: Ferrari Club of America
Web: www.FerrariClubofAmerica.org
Alternatives: 1955 Jaguar D-type, 1955
Mercedes-Benz 300SL Alloy Gullwing,
1955 Ferrari 250 Tour de France
SCM Investment Grade: A
comps
1956 Ferrari 250 GT TdF Competizione
coupe
Lot 232, s/n 0507GT
Condition 2+
Sold at $5,720,000
RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, CA, 8/19/16
SCM# 6804215
Chassis number: 0546LM
Engine number: 0546LM
engines, Ferrari’s straight-six project eventually
evolving from one of Ferrari’s earliest 4-cylinder
led to the potent 121 LM.
The rather hefty displacement of 4,412 cc
provided much more horsepower and torque than its
predecessors. Fitted with three side-draft Weber car-
buretors, the engine produced a hearty 360 bhp. These
were not numbers to scoff at, as this engine was over a
liter larger in displacement and produced over 100 more
horsepower than a Jaguar D-type.
According to noted Ferrari historian Marcel Massini,
the car presented here, chassis number 0546LM, was
originally built as a 118 LM and later converted at the
factory to 121 LM specification, the specification in
which it is presented today.
The concluding sentence of the article on 121 LMs in
the fourth issue of Cavallino best sums up the ethos of the
model: “Wind and noise are what you’ve paid for. Use it.”
ScM Analysis This car, Lot 140, sold for $5,720,000,
including buyer’s premium, at RM
Sotheby’s auction in Monterey, CA, on August 18, 2017.
“It was a topsy-turvy weekend in more than one
respect, June 23–24, 1956, at Road America. Carroll
Shelby had taken an unreliable, virtually undrivable car
and set such a blistering pace that three Cunningham
D-type Jaguars rolled trying to catch him.”
So opens Carl Goodwin’s analysis of Ferrari’s 121
LM in Issue 96 of Cavallino magazine.
The 121 LM was one of a dizzying array of racers pro-
duced in an era when Ferrari was experimenting with
displacement, cylinder numbers, cylinder configuration
and general engine design.
The consensus among Ferrari historians is that only
four 121 LMs were produced. Remarkably, all four sur-
vived the era.
The engine is modeled after the 4-cylinder 750 Monza
with two additional cylinders.
Like most Ferraris, the 121 LM is named after its
engine, which is a Lampredi-designed straight six.
However, rather than following the tradition of naming
the model after its engine displacement, the 121 LM’s
designation comes from Ferrari’s engine type number
— Type 121. The Type 121 displaced 735 cc per cylinder,
giving it a roughly 4.4-liter displacement.
The 121’s displacement dwarfed the contemporary
Jaguar D-type engines, which ranged from 3.0 to 3.8
liters. It also outclassed the Mercedes-Benz 300SL’s
3-liter engine. Big displacement produces big power,
and the 121’s 360 hp was so superior to the competition’s
260 hp to 300 hp, there was no chance they could keep
up with the Ferraris on the straights.
1955 Ferrari 750 Monza Spyder
Lot 127, s/n 0510M
Condition 2+
Sold at $5,225,000
RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, CA, 8/19/16
SCM# 6804234
1955 Ferrari 121 LM racer
Lot 118, s/n 0532LM
Condition 1-
Not sold at $2,850,000
Sotheby’s, Sotheby’s at Ferrari, 6/28/05
SCM# 38637
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