Ferrari Dino 246 F1 (Chassis 0004), United States Grand Prix, Sebring, Florida, December 12, 1959, jeff-allison
Story and photos by Jeff Allison
VeloceToday continues the series inviting readers to send in their photos to share with the readers. Jeff Allison continues his photographic journey – this time with part 2 of a two-part look at Ferraris photographed in 1959.
USAC/FIA 1000KM race at Daytona International Speedway on April 4-5, 1959
1955 Ferrari 121 LM Scaglietti Spyder(Chassis 0532LM), 1000 Kilometer USAC-FIA International Sports Car Race, Daytona, Daytona International Speedway, February 5, 1959-jeff-allison.
This was the first professional and international sports car race at Daytona. A rather eclectic entry of big and small cars with few international drivers raced on the eight-turn, 3.81-mile circuit – a 2.5-mile asphalt tri-oval track and a 1.31-mile infield road racing course. American Loyal Katskee (pictured), driving his in-line, six-cylinder, 4413cc, 330hp 121 LM, scurries along in the Daytona outback ahead of one of the two bellowing Holman & Moody-entered, aluminum-bodied, 5100cc V8-powered Ford Thunderbirds. The Ferrari was raced by the factory in 1955 at the Mille Miglia, Le Mans and Sweden, followed by Americans Jim Kimberly and Katskee. Driving without a co-driver, Katskee finished an excellent fourth overall – albeit five laps behind the winning Porsche RSK.
1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa Scaglietti Spyder (Chassis 0722TR), 1000 Kilometer USAC-FIA International Sports Car Race, Daytona International Speedway, February 5, 1959-jeff-allison.
Lucky Casner guides J. C. “Jim” Hunt’s 2953cc, 300hp V12 Ferrari 250 TR into a sweeping curve in Daytona’s infield. Note the photographer standing unprotected on the inside of the corner. Hunt purchased the 250 TR from Luigi Chinetti in late 1958 after the original owner, Cuban Alfonso Gomez-Mena, raced it, including the 1958 Le Mans. Casner and co-driver Lee Lilley retired the car after 137 laps with a broken distributor or broken rear axle depending on the source but was classified as sixth overall when the race was halted – ten laps behind the winning Porsche RSK.
Sports Car Club of America Regional Race at the Dunnellon Airport and Park, Florida on July 18-19, 1959
1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa Scaglietti Spyder (Chassis 0722TR), Dunnellon Airport and Park, Florida, July 18-19, 1959-jeff-allison.
Dr. David C. Lane, a neurosurgeon from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, had difficulty keeping his Prancing Horse between the lines in his 2953cc V12 250 TR. You can see some of the dings on the nose, inside the pontoon fender and on the rear fender. According to the race report in the July 19, 1959 Orlando Sentinel, “Lane’s Ferrari spun out on three different turns [in the 30-lap feature race], and he was disqualified for leaving the track on the third spin.” He had purchased the car from Lucky Casner.
1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa Scaglietti spyder (Chassis 0722TR), Inaugural Southeast Vintage Racing Association Race, Road Atlanta, September 6-7, 1980-jeff-allison
As an aside, I saw 250 TR 0722TR race at the Cocoa-Titusville Airport, Daytona International Speedway, Dunnellon Airport and Park and again at Daytona in 1959. In my teenage fantasies, I called it my Testa Rossa. Over twenty years later, I saw it again, but now in pristine condition, when owned by Jim Rogers at Road Atlanta. Wow! No wonder the 250 TRs are one of my favorites!
SCCA National Championship Sports Car Races at the Daytona International Speedway on November 13-15, 1959
Ferrari 335 Sport (Chassis 0764), SCCA National Championship Sports Car Races, Daytona International Speedway, November 13-15, 1959-jeff-allison
Infrequently the photo gods come together and a photo hits the spot. Here, the metallic blue paint and the setting sun combine for an iridescent glow. Texas oil, cattle and banking man Alan Connell had already won the 1959 SCCA D Modified championship. Looking for more, he bought this four-cam, 4023cc, 390hp V12 335 S from Luigi Chinetti and raced it in the C Modified class in the four remaining SCCA Nationals, including this season-ending race at Daytona. It featured a battle for the SCCA C Modified national championship between Walt Hansgen and George Constantine, but Connell stole the spotlight with overall and C Modified class wins in a race cut short because of delays resulting from E. D. Martin’s accident in a Maserati T61.
United States Grand Prix at the Sebring, Florida Airport on December 11-12, 1959
Sebring High School Marching Band, United States Grand Prix, Sebring, Florida December 12, 1959, jeff-allison
Promoter Alec Ulmann had organized the international 12-hour race for sports cars on Sebring’s airport road racing course, and he also wanted to bring Formula 1 to the US. He did and the world’s best gathered near the sleepy, orange grove-surrounded, out-of-the-way town of Sebring, Florida, where shuffleboard was the major sport, to complete the unfinished Formula 1 business that began seven months earlier at Monaco. The pre-race ceremonies included the Sebring High School band, marching up and down the pits providing music to grid cars by! Only in America!
Ferrari Dino 246 F1, (Chassis 0002), United States Grand Prix, Sebring, Florida, December 12, 1959, jeff-allison
Ferrari entered 2451cc V6 Dino 246 F1 cars for German Wolfgang von Trips and Englishmen Cliff Allison and Tony Brooks. Von Trips (pictured) qualified sixth – 6.2 seconds off the pole. The nose of the car shows his contretemps with teammate and title contender Tony Brooks on the first lap and a later unplanned visit to the hay bales. Later, his engine blew, and he positioned his car at the finish line and pushed it across the line when the flag fell, drawing a penalty of one lap, putting him in sixth place with 38 laps.
Ferrari Dino 246 F1, (Chassis 0004), United States Grand Prix, Sebring, Florida, December 12, 1959, jeff-allison
The European press, enamored with the traditional tracks and settings in Europe, wasn’t impressed with the flat, featureless 5.2-mile, 12-turn Sebring airport road racing circuit defined by rubber cones and hay bales. Tony Brooks, Jack Brabham and Stirling Moss were still contenders for the 1959 drivers’ title at this, the last race of the season. Brooks and Ferrari teammate Wolfgang von Trips came together as they braked for the third corner on the first lap. In an interview with me in 1989, Brooks said, “…he [von Trips] hit me half way around the lap. This put me up the escape road, and I had the tremendous dilemma as to whether I should have the car checked over or not…I came in and instantly threw away my hopes for the title.” When I showed him this photo, he remarked, “Yes, that’s the moment I gave away my chances at the world championship!”
Ferrari Dino 246 F1 (Chassis 0003), United States Grand Prix, Sebring, Florida, December 12, 1959, jeff-allison
Englishman Cliff Allison, who had never driven at Sebring before, qualified seventh on the grid – 6.8 seconds behind the pole-sitter. Despite contact with a hay bale and course marker damaging the nose, Allison aggressively carried Ferrari’s flag while Brooks was trying to catch up after his unscheduled pit stop. Allison was closing on the leading Coopers of Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren, but around lap 20, corner workers reported Allison’s engine sounded rough, and he retired after 23 laps.
Tony Brooks had to quickly move through the field to stay in contention for the Formula 1 title after his unplanned first lap pit stop. However, when his clutch began slipping on lap five while in fifth place, it became academic. Later, he was feeling sick from exhaust fumes and the physical beating from the rough Sebring track. Jack Brabham won the championship over Brooks by four points. The race sounded the death knell for what one pundit called the outgunned, outmoded and outdated front-engine cars as the rear-engine cars proved their mettle in 1959 and have dominated Formula 1 ever since.
The author attended these races and photographed these and many more cars. His personal knowledge and memory of the events was greatly assisted and reinforced by historian and VeloceToday.com contributor Willem Oosthoek’s seminal SPORTS CAR RACING IN THE SOUTH – TEXAS TO FLORIDA 1959-1960 (2013).
Dunellen entrant Josef “Jo” Hoppen went on to become head of Porsche motorsports in America during the 1970s.
I was 15 years old but remember the race and the challenge of getting to the race track and back. Most everyone was hoping for Stirling Moss to win the championship in 59, having lost it by a narow margin in 58 to Hawthorne. Unfortunately, he would continue being the “uncrowned champion” This race was significant because it was the first F-1 win by Bruce Mc Laren and by the fact that Brabham won the title by pushing his car to the finish line and taking 4th place in the race. Must mention Rodger Ward in his Midget..
I grew up in Ft. Lauderdale but missed many of these late ’50s Florida races simply because I did not know they were taking place. This was corrected when I joined the SCCA. I first attended the Sebring 12 Hour in 1961 and immediately fell in love with the Ferrari Testa Rossa V12 megaphone exhaust sounds and the distinct guttural beat of the Porsche Spyders. My mother and dad were acquainted with Dr. David Lane, who I saw daily-driving his Red Porsche 904. It had a street exhaust similar to that of a 911, with two exhaust pipes. I told them about the car and they mentioned to him that I loved car racing and wanted to be a race driver. They reported back to me that Lane thought that was a bad idea! I was deeply disappointed, but years later I began doubting that he actually said that.
I also saw a Pontoon-Fender Testa Rossa on the street in town, driven by Bob Publicker. My friends and I attended an SCCA race at Sebring in which Publicker drove that Ferrari, then drove it back to Ft. Lauderdale. We followed him until we entered the Florida Turnpike and he drove off into the distance. We could hear the wail of his exhaust even after he disappeared from sight.
I became a corner worker as soon as I turned 21 and flagged the first-ever event at Palm Beach International Raceway. Saw Publicker and Charlie Kolb (Porsche RSK) among others. An interesting note: I attended the last-ever event at PBIR about three years ago. I was there with Don Garlits, who was trying to go 200 MPH in his electric dragster. He wasn’t successful due to battery problems.
I also attended races at airport courses and saw David Lane in his red 904, Chuck Cassel in his race-prepared 904 and John Cannon in a work-in-progress Cooper Monaco powered by a Ford V8.
I have pictures of some of this, and a few 8mm movie reels of the 1962 or 1963 Sebring 12 Hours, featuring front and rear-engine Ferraris and a blue GTO among other contemporary sports cars
I visited Dunnellon recently to see if I could discover any remains of that golden age of sports car racing. Surprisingly I found little. It was a Sunday and the airport area was locked up behind 8’ tall chain link fences. Before I left I walked up closer and swore I heard the sound of an engine running in the distance. I did take a few photos and stooped down and grabbed a handful of dirt. I still have that dirt in a mason jar sitting on my desk. Funny what people do in their spare time. Thanks Jeff for the memories.
Thank you all for your interest and compliments. You guys probably have as interesting photos and stories as I so let’s see them in VeloceToday. Roger Meiners, you mentioned you had photos so please submit them to VT with your comments. BTW, are you the same Roger Meiners, who drove a Ferrari SWB and Brabham BT33 in vintage and historic racing? If so, we chatted more than once at a vintage events as the BT33 is one of my personal all-time favorites!
Great to hear from Roger Meiners. Between 1978 and 1990 he owned a Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta (s/n 4051 GT) when he lived in Michigan. It was a beautiful car then and still is today, last known to have been with the late Tom Mittler in Indiana.