Gio's transporter collection

I think this one is closer to 1:55 rather than 1:43, and not a "serious" model in terms of the overall collection, but subconsciously this is probably where the fascination with transporters began. Needless to say these aren't my original Matchbox models - they had far too many collisions with the skirting boards back in the day!



But this is what it led to - 1963 Team Lotus Bedford transporter (Spark) and 1962/early 1963, late 1963, and 1964 versions of Jim Clark's Lotus 25 and his 1965 Lotus 33 (all Brumm) together with a 1964 Lotus Elan 26R (Kyosho):



And the 1967 Team Lotus AEC Swift Transporter (Spark) - the first incarnation of "HMS Hethel" - with the Lotus 49s (all Quartzo) of Jim Clark and Graham Hill as featured at the Dutch Grand Prix, Zandvoort, 1967 (first outing of the Type 49 and first win for the Ford Cosworth DFV engine) and the South African Grand Prix, Kyalami, 1968 (Jim Clark's last GP and last victory).

Amazing!

That old Matchbox model brought back lots of memories!

"Scuderia Serenissima / SSS Republica di Venezia at the 24 Heures du Mans 1962"

Scuderia SSS Republica di Venezia fielded three different Ferraris at the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hours, each of them an absolute classic of the marque - a thoroughbred 250 TRI/61 prototype straight from Il Commendatore’s own stable, one of his latest 250 GTO sports racers, and a bastard son designed to attack the old man himself, a car that became known simply as “The Breadvan”. Here's a period photo of the GTO (#58) and TRI/61 (no number) being transported to Le Mans on the Serenissima OM Leoncino truck:



And here's my collection - transporter and TRI/61 by IV-Model, Breadvan by Looksmart and GTO by Redline.







Scuderia SSS was founded in 1960 as Scuderia Serenissima by Count Giovanni Volpi di Misurata. Aged only 24, he’d inherited a significant fortune and set about indulging his love of motorsport, becoming a close friend and very good customer of Enzo Ferrari. Scuderia Serenissima raced a number of Ferrari 250 GT SWBs through 1960 and 1961 and Enzo further favoured the team by selling Volpi one of the few Scuderia Ferrari Testa Rossa sports prototypes at the end of the season, but the relationship was soon to turn sour.

In the winter of 1961 there was massive turmoil at Ferrari. A number of senior staff, including chief engineer, Carlo Chiti, and experimental sports car development chief, Giotto Bizzarrini, questioned the involvement of Enzo’s wife Laura in company business. Enzo was never going to have his authority tested and he summoned them all to a meeting and sacked them on the spot. Chiti and Bizzarrini immediately set up a new company, Automobili Turismo e Sport (ATS), and turned to Count Volpi for funding. Volpi agreed and renamed his racing team Scuderia SSS Republica di Venezia on the assumption that ATS would be re-branded as Serenissima (SSS = SereniSSima). Unfortunately Chiti and Bizzarrini couldn’t agree on the direction in which to take the company and ATS soon collapsed, but Volpi had already incurred Ferrari’s wrath. The two men wouldn’t speak again for over twenty years and Enzo’s parting shot was to cancel Volpi’s order for two of the latest 250 GTO racers. However, Volpi was holding two aces - he had one of the latest and most potent 250 GT SWBs and he still had Bizzarrini, lead designer for the 250 GTO before he left Maranello. Volpi tasked Bizzarrini with producing a car "better than the GTO” and hence the Breadvan was born and took its place in the remarkable Scuderia SSS line-up at Le Mans.

Car #15, a Ferrari 250 TRI/61 Testa Rossa (chassis #0792TR), was one of two 315bhp TRI/61 cars built to compete for Scuderia Ferrari in the 1961 World Sportscar Championship. #0792TR won the first race of the year, the Sebring 12 Hours, and helped Ferrari secure a 7th championship title in 9 years before being sold to Count Volpi at the end of the season. The car quickly won two more non-championship events in Scuderia SSS colours in the Nassau Trophy and the Brands Hatch Boxing Day event, both times driven by Graham Hill. Back at Sebring for the first race of the 1962 season, #0792TR scored a second successive victory and delivered a first ever world championship race win for Scuderia SSS piloted by Jo Bonnier and Lucien Bianchi. Bonnier was back in the seat again for the Le Mans 24 Hours alongside Dan Gurney. The car was running well in the early part of the race, keeping good pace with Scuderia Ferrari’s newer sports prototypes, but had to retire with gearbox failure after only 4 hours (30 laps).

Car #16, the Ferrari 250 GT Drogo “Breadvan” (chassis #2819GT), started life as a 250 GT SWB Berlinetta, one of twenty Competizione/61 variants, the so-called “SEFAC Hot Rods”. These cars had a lighter Tipo 539/61 chassis, a Tipo 168B/61 engine with a Testa Rossa cylinder head, high lift tipo 130 camshafts, larger intake tracts and six twin-choke Weber 46 DCF/3 carburettors, delivering 286 bhp in race trim. Count Volpi acquired the car late in 1961 and it raced for Scuderia SSS at the Paris 1000 km in the last event of the season and again at the Daytona 3 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours in early 1962. It was at this point that it underwent the dramatic makeover as a GTO-killer. Bizzarini modified the chassis to move the engine 12cm aft, effectively creating a front/mid-engined car, and fitted a dry sump to allow it to sit lower. He also designed a new aerodynamically advanced body with a pronounced Kamm tail that gave it the distinctive shooting brake appearance. Mechanical modifications were undertaken by carrozzeria Giorgio Neri and Lucciano Bonacini (NEMBO) and the bodywork by fellow carrozzeria Pierre Drogo with all the work completed in an amazingly short 14 day period to deliver the car just in time for the Le Mans 24 Hours (which is presumably why it was transported separately to the TRI/61 and GTO). The result was a car that, despite the disadvantage of a four speed gearbox compared to the GTO's five speed, was 70-100kg lighter, handled better and was up to 7 mph faster on the Mulsanne Straight during practice. The French press nicknamed it "La Camionnette" (little truck), while the English-speaking journalists called it the "Breadvan”. Driven by Carlo Abate and Colin Davis, the Breadvan easily outstripped the standard GTOs and was running in 7th just behind the sports prototypes before succumbing to drivetrain failure on the same lap as the SSS TRI/61. The driveshaft has been shortened as part of the modifications to move the engine aft and in the rush to get the car ready the unit had not been re-balanced.

Car #58, Ferrari 250 GTO (chassis #3445GT) - Volpi had wanted to run two GTOs at Le Mans and so he persuaded Luciano Conti to sell his brand new car (presumably at a premium over the price he would have paid Enzo Ferrari had he been allowed to fulfil his original order). It's amazing to think of a three car line-up where the GTO was the least impressive vehicle! The car was driven by Nino Vaccarella and Giorgio Scarlatti and lasted longer than both its more illustrious stablemates before an engine failure ended its race after 15 hours (172 laps). 

Wonderful sets! ❣️❣️❣️

Congratulations, the Serenissima set is very impressive. Imagine the value of those cars in 1:1 today!