New at Old Irish Racing

Thanks Tom!  From an era where top-end GT cars were not only fast, but beautiful!

I was as well Julio, having a 3500 GT already, but a good deal and the Sebring helps back fill the Maserati road car collection.  You wont be able to resist forever! 

I am fact checking the "always correct" claim Martin with Mrs Alfaholic.    I will agree with you, they are indeed proper GT cars!

Thank you kind sir!

I happen to know where you can get some Andy.  
Indeed that is very nice Ian and agree that price wise, at the time the Bang was lower costs.  Given what I paid for the Matrix and what those Bang are selling for now (if you can find one) I think it was a wash cost wise.  Your statement that you would buy the Maserati got me thinking.  What did a new Maserati Sebring (even though not introduced until 1962) cost compared to a Ferrari 250 GTE?   A quick, non-conclusive search shows that the Ferrari MSRP was slightly lower at $11,500 USD compared to the Maserati at $12,300 USD.  So all things considered, cost would not have likely been the determining factor.  Which was better to drive?  That I can't answer since I haven't driven either and know of no direct contemporary comparison reports.  Styling wise, I prefer the single headlamp look of the 3500 GT over the twin-headlamp Sebring and think the Pinin Farina design of the 250 GTE is cleaner.  However, if a 3500 and a GTE were both available for the same money, I'm not sure on which side of the fence I would fall.  
I will have to keep an eye out.  I am not sure how much of a completist I want to be with the GTE variations.  However, this would be a very nice one to have!

I thought that model might speak to you Jeff.


Not Red - If this model gives you a sense of Deja vu, its because I recently posted the model of when the car was painted dark blue.  Originally it was silver, the color it wears to this day.  I liked the blue color best, but when I read up on the history of the car, I decided I needed to add the siver one to my collection as well and in its racing livery from 1960.

1955 Ferrari Europa GT S2 Pinin Farina Coupe - Kess



Like many Ferrari's from the 1950's, it has a distinguished first owner and even was given customized coachwork by Pinin Farina.  However, as is often the case, the owner grew tired and sold the car for a new automotive interest.  Traveling across the Atlantic in 1957, it began life with new owners in the USA.  By 1960, the car had ended up in the hands of Luigi Chinetti who likely had taken the car in trade for something else.  A five year old Ferrari, with a series of owners, it likely was getting a little tired.  If physically, perhaps mechanically.  This is where its next owner Hal Rudlow of Seattle enters the picture.  Hal, a gentleman racer from the Pacific Northwest, saw the Ferrari as a chance to race something a bit more exotic than his old Jaguar XK120.  Read on the the rest of the story.

The 250 Europa GT was modified by Ferrari in 1954 to accept the new 3.0L Colombo V-12 (Tipo 112) engine. This gave the cars now called the S2 more horsepower and a faster top-end speed. The V-12 engine produced 220 BHP and a top speed of 135 MPH (218 KPH). The 250 Europa GT S2 was built until 1956. A total of 35 cars were made, 27 of which like this one is a Pinin Farina bodied coupe. This is designated a “Speciale” due to its revised coachwork from the other cars. The car was purchased in 1960 by Hal Rudow and it raced like this at Shelton (Washington State) to a class win.





Hal Rudow was a gentleman racer from Seattle, Washington, who bought a used football helmet and entered his first hill climb in 1956. He soon began racing his Jaguar XK-120 in SCCA and club events on the airport circuits that made up the racecourses in the Pacific Northwest USA. In 1960 he went to New York to buy this car from Luigi Chinetti, who had bought it from its European owner. Rudow drove the car home across the USA. He raced the car in 1960 and won his class at races at Shelton and Arlington, but otherwise the car was too slow and unreliable, and he sold it on in 1961.

Researching the history of this car (Ch. #0407GT) was when I first learned that the car had been raced at one time.  The fact that its racing history was close to home interested me very much.  The name of the owner/driver Rudow rang some bells.  Further research revealed that Hal Rudlow is the father of a guy we used to vintage race against in the late 80's Martin Rudow.  In fact, Martin has authored a couple books about the early days of Pacific Northwest racing in the 1950's and 60's, which reside in my library.  Sure enough, in the reference section of "Long Straights and Hairpin Turns" is a picture of the car and a brief history of when it raced sixty-three years ago.