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Mille Miglia - again


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Race has passed... but in Brescia the MM Museum keeps always the winner of the last Mille Miglia (1957) : Ferrari 375 P ; note, this item has Michelin tyres, not the Englebert which were charged to be the cause of the De Portago tragedy which signed the end of the race.

[ATTACH]258793[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH]258794[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH]258795[/ATTACH]

 

M8 - 35 asph

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  • 3 weeks later...

Beautiful photos of a beautiful car! But I fear that it's neither a 375P nor the winner of the 1957 Mille Miglia. The winner of that race was Piero Taruffi in a Ferrari 335S. The only Ferrari with a designation like 375P was the 1954 375 Plus, but none of these finished the Mille Miglia of that year. This car is definitely not a 375 Plus, nor is it a 335S.

 

I think that the car is actually a 1955 Ferrari 118LM, or perhaps the larger-engined 1955 121LM. The 118LMs finished 3rd and 5th in the 1995 Mille Miglia.

 

It is believed that the cause of De Portago's fatal crash in the 1957 MM was a piece of his 335S's bodywork rubbing against the tyre following a 'bump'. At their final pit stop, a mechanic noticed the threat and attempted to move the bodywork out of harms way, but was waved away by a manic De Portago. The tyre burst at 170mph and the results were catastrophic. The result would have been the same had they been Michelins.

 

Ian

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Ian, you're right... :o... I made much confusion with 375/335... indeed, it ought to be a 121 (found some pics on the net...another pair of lamps in the front mouth... but it's it). The story of De Portago crash is indeed, with reasonable sureness, the one you quote... but it's also true that in the Court prosecution after the tragedy (which missed many important details) the two defendants were Enzo Ferrari, as builder of the car, and Englebert as builder of the tyres... incredibly, the indictment was "to have equipped the car with tyres not able to support the high speeds of the car itself"; the prosecution sent both acquitted, but, in Italy, the Engelbert brand remained for long emotionally tied to that tragic event.

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Thanks Luigi,

 

Above the gearbox, there is a rectangular, vertically slotted, aluminium device. I wondered if it might be a place to store maps or other papers, but I'm not sure. Do you have any idea what it might be?

 

Ian

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Thanks Luigi,

 

Above the gearbox, there is a rectangular, vertically slotted, aluminium device. I wondered if it might be a place to store maps or other papers, but I'm not sure. Do you have any idea what it might be?

 

Ian

 

I think it's what you said... I noticed it, and it has no connections, wires, tubes or so... nothing to do with mechanics... looks simply an "attached" box.

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