New at Old Irish Racing

Just Super!  - It didn't take much thought to pull the trigger on adding this Ferrari model to my collection when it came on sale over our long holiday weekend.  While I already had a Ferrari Superfast in my collection in the form of Prince Bernard of the Netherlands car, that car was a special order with a faux hood scoop I think spoils the looks of what I believe to be Ferrari's most beautiful production car.  So, a nice red "plain" version is now parked next to it.  

1965 Ferrari 500 Superfast - Matrix



The 500 Superfast was the flagship of Ferraris touring cars. In total, only 37 were made between 1964 and 1967, with 25 series one cars like this one and the additional cars produced in 1967. Bare chassis and drivetrains were assembled at Ferrari then shipped to Pininfarina for steel bodies and interiors. Powered by a 5.0L Colombo designed V12, the big and somewhat heavy cars were able to make the most of their 400 bhp and could propel the car to a top-speed of 174 mph (280 kph). The car carried the Aerodynamica shape which would influence future Ferrari production cars. The long rear-end with Kamm tail gives it a fastback look. Undeniably one of the most rare and elusive Ferraris to own, it is also arguably the most beautiful of the production cars to come from Maranello.



Here seen next to Prince Bernard's special bodied car.



Here with its spiritual predecessor, the 1956 410 Superamerrica Superfast started the Aerodynamica shape at Ferrari.

Simply stunning, I doff my hat to you Jerry.

Gorgeous Ferrari

Nice looking Tail Dragger.

Golden Boy - Mike Hawthorn, the 1958 F1 World Champion needs little in the way of introduction to race fans. Even though he tragically died in a road accident in early 1959, which sixty odd years later is just as stunning and perhaps mysterious as it was then. He is revered as a hero by many, as his allegiance to and success with, gave the Coventry marque and its fans plenty to cheer about. He in many ways was a surrogate son to Sir William Lyons, Jaguar’s founder who tragically lost his own son Michael in a road accident on the way to Le Mans in 1955. One only needs to know a smattering of race history to realize the irony in that.

Jaguar 3.4 Saloon - Silverstone 1958 - Mike Hawthorn - Matrix



The 3.4 Saloon was introduced in 1957 and Mike Hawthorn was given an early production car by Jaguar for his personal use. In Hawthorns case, that also meant an occasional race or two. Besides being a racing driver, Hawthorn owned the Tourist Trophy Garage which was a dealer for Jaguar, Triumph, and Ferrari. Hawthorns garage made several modifications to the 3.4 saloon, which included a competition clutch, converting the car to wire wheels, a special exhaust system, higher compression pistons and larger C-Type carburetors. The suspension was also modified and wider wire wheels in the rear increased the rear track. The car was shod with early Dunlop radials. In revised trim, the Hawthorn 3.4 was capable of a top speed of 140 mph.



Hawthorn raced the 3.4 twice at Silverstone in 1957 and again in 1958, winning the Daily Express International Trophy both years. As a prelude to the Formula One race, the saloon car event featured some of the best drivers of the day, as well as some very good privateers. One such privateer in 1958 was Tommy Sopwith, who had his own specially tuned 3.4 Jaguar, racing under his Equipe Endeavor banner. Sopwith and Hawthorn went at each other hammer and tongs for twenty laps, lapping most of the thirty-three-car field twice. It was a 1-2-3 finish for Jaguar with Hawthorn leading Sopwith across the finish line, followed by Ron Flockhart in John Coombes 3.4 saloon. Sadly, Hawthorn would lose his life in this car on a bleak, rainy January morning less than eight months later.





Hawthorns wrecked 3.4 was returned to Jaguar where it was dutifully cut up the engine torn down and its bits returned to parts. There have been several recreations of Hawthorns 3.4 over the years. Neo chose to model this one (I managed to break off one of the mirrors before taking the picture) several years back. Matrix have done a super job of modeling the original Hawthorn 3.4, complete down to his badge bar and wider rear end.



Deja Vu (again) - Some may recall that I posted almost a carbon copy of this model recently.  While externally the two cars were twins, internally they were significantly different Jaguars with an Italian flare.  Both cars were made for the same customer by Bertone.  Like many Italian cars, their history can be confusing and I had to combine information from several sources to get what I believe is the correct data.  Perhaps only a Jaguar wonk like me would care about these two concept cars and I am thankful that Matrix modeled both (although I'm not sure they knew which car was which).

Jaguar FT Bertone (420) Coupe - Matrix



There is a degree of confusion and misinformation about the 3.8S and 420 based cars made by Bertone for Tarchini, the Jaguar importer for Northern Italy. The 3.8S based car (Chassis #1B 78923) was shipped to Tarchini as a complete knock down (CKD) chassis in late 1965, after which he sent the CKD to Bertone to make the coupe body and interior. That car was subsequently shown at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show on the Bertone stand. It shared the unfortunate distinction of sharing the Bertone stand with the new Lamborghini Miura which garnered the lions share of attention on Bertone’s stand. However, sufficient interest existed in the FT Coupe (named for the company founder Ferucchio Tarchini who ordered the car), that Tarchini decided to go ahead with his plans to build a limited production run of these cars. The 3.8S based car was evaluated by Jaguar and was eventually road certified in 1969, remaining under long-term ownership of the Tarchini family. It was also repainted dark blue with its tan interior from the gold metallic paint job it wore in Geneva.  




With Tarchini keen to make a limited production run of FT Bertone Coupes he contacted Jaguar about buying more CKD chassis. With the 3.8S nearing the end of its production life, six or seven CKD chassis of the new 420 were sent to Italy instead (some sources say as many as thirteen). It is unclear why only one car was built if indeed he did receive that number of chassis, but that one 420 based car (Ch. #1A 25417 DN) was the only car Bertone completed. What happened to the other chassis is not known. What is known, is that the 420 based car was sold to a Spanish aristocrat in Madrid. After twenty years in storage at a Madrid Jaguar dealer, the cars was sold by its second owner in 2012.  In 2015 it was given a minor restoration and repainted black from its original emerald green by its then 3rd owner. Its original black leather interior was retained. While underneath they are quite different, externally (other than the mirrors, color of the bodywork and the interiors, steel wheels on the 3.8S based car, wire wheels on the 420 based car), they look the same.




Matrix must gauge the interest in these models to be moderate, as only 408 examples of each were made.  The fact that they were not modeled in their original paint schemes is a minor mystery, especially in light of the fact that Matrix is set to launch a model of the Frua bodied S-Type (which also was shown at Geneva in 1966) in two color variations.  It makes me wonder that perhaps Matrix think the two above were the same car?  

#33 is super!

Really enjoyed your show-car story of the Italianate Jaguars Jerry! I love that area of coachbuilt weirdness and the plot really does seem to thicken when the base is NOT an Italian marque. Other examples of this include coachbuilt Mopar & AMC products which are mesmerizingly bizarre. Gosh, imagine being the follow-up to the Miura's debut? That's like being Tiny Tim as the opening act to the Beatles or Stones or The Who in their prime