Peter Greenfield's 8C 35 won the Benny Caiola Memorial Award for Outstanding Competition Car.
NART Ferrari BOS
Story and Photos by Werner Pfister
A Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spyder won Best of Show at the inaugural concours in Tuckahoe, NY! In fact, the most famous of all 10 NART Spyders showed up at the Westchester Italian Cultural Center’s all Italian car show and walked away with the top award.
Although this event was a first for the community, it was successful in attracting more than 60 Italian cars spanning over 80 years of production.
Ex-McCluggage 275 GTB/4 NART Spyder won Best of Show.
This 275 GTB/4 would be a very significant Ferrari if only for the fact that it was the first built at Luigi Chinetti’s request and one of only 2 of the expertly executed spyders by Scaglietti with an Alloy body. But it gets even better, as in 1967, Denise McCluggage and Marianne “Pinkie” Rollo drove this yellow NART Spyder to a 2nd place class finish in the 12 hour Sebring race. If that was not enough, this very same car (painted red) took a lead role in the Steve McQueen/Faye Dunaway movie, “The Thomas Crown Affair”. Now part of a great East Coast Italian car collection and once again in its original yellow paint, the recently “Ferrari Classiche” certified spyder is making the rounds on the show car circuit and doing well.
1926 Fiat 509 won Oldest Car Award. Fiats were built at Poughkeepsie NY until the early 1920s.
The Italian Cultural Center also showcased several very early Italian cars. It was a treat to see a 1926 FIAT model 509 and although not a sports or competition car, it attracted both the young and older spectators. Its 4 cylinder, 990 cc engine was capable of only 22 horsepower but it was a very successful model for Fiat and at the show it won the “Oldest Italian car” award.
The hit of the concorso was the 1935 Alfa Tipo C 8C 35 which won the Benny Caiola Memorial Award for Outstanding Competition car. Owned by Peter Greenfield, this twin supercharged, twin cam 3.8 liter straight eight still proudly wears the Prancing Horse on its hood attesting to the fact that it was part of the Scuderia Ferrari managed by Enzo 12 years before he began his eponymous company.
Incidentally, the award won by this ALFA honors the late Ferrari collector, Benny Caiola. Benny was a man who loved life, enjoyed all things Italian and had a particular fondness for Italian cars. Benny’s extensive Ferrari collection spanned from the Boxer (he eventually owned three– one in each of the “tri-colore” of the Italian flag) to his track-only favorites, the 333 SP and FXX. Benny was always very generous with his time at Ferrari track events and was more than willing to show a young enthusiast his latest acquisition. He frequently gave rides in his cars and if he really liked you it was not unusual that you might be allowed a turn behind the wheel. It was fitting that a Scuderia Ferrari Alfa won this memorial award.
OSCA MT4 1169 made an appearance at Westchester. Originally raced by Ernie McAfee of LA.
The Journalist’s Award was given to a 1955 OSCA MT4 TN Spider owned by Elad Shraga. Built by the Maserati brothers from 1948 to 1957, these 1.5 liter, 4 cylinder, twin cam and twin spark powered cars achieved a tremendous amount of success on the track. The most famous result for an MT4 was an overall win at the 1954 Sebring 12 hour race with none other than Stirling Moss giving a driving lesson to several much larger engined racers including Ferraris and Aston Martins. This particular MT4 is said to have been fitted with one of the Simpson Special racing engines which established several records at the Bonneville Salt Flats. For a comprehensive history of these very desirable collector cars, see https://velocetoday.com/cars/cars_99.php
The Westchester Italian Cultural Center held the show as a fund raiser to support their efforts to introduce Italian culture to the community. Their motto is, “Where Italy Comes Alive for Everyone” and they certainly accomplished their goal by presenting this great range of Italian automobiles.