Carrozzeria Paolo Fontana

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Carrozzeria Paolo Fontana
legal form Sole proprietorship (Italy)
founding 1858 (predecessor company)
resolution 1980s
Reason for dissolution Abandonment
Seat Padua , Italy
management Paolo Fontana
Branch Body shop

The most famous passenger car that Carrozzeria Paolo Fontana has dressed, the Ferrari 166/212 MM Fontana Berlinetta "l'Uovo" with the chassis number 024MB from 1950 based on a design by the sculptor Reggiani

Carrozzeria Paolo Fontana , or Carrozzeria Fontana for short, or just Fontana , is a former Italian coachbuilder from Padua . It is known primarily for his specially made sports car - bodies on Ferrari - Chassis early 1950s.

Company history

The company Carrozzeria Paolo Fontana from Padua has a long family tradition that dates back to the mid-19th century.

In 1858 Antonio Fontana founded a company in Padua for the manufacture of wagons and coach bodies . With his death in 1872, the company passed to his sons Pietro and Francesco; The latter withdrew from the company soon afterwards. Pietro Fontana initiated the transition from vehicles that were pulled by animals to motorized ones . However, the entrepreneur died early; the business was first transferred to his wife and shortly afterwards to his only son Antonio. He focused on the body shop and later changed the company name to Carrozzeria per Automobili A. Fontana . The company survived the difficult economic times during the two world wars . Antonio Fontana's two sons, Paolo and Pietro, also worked in the company. The older one took over the business, renamed it Carrozzeria Paolo Fontana and continued it until the 1980s.

The body shop gained fame shortly after the Second World War . Paolo and Pietro Fontana came into contact with the four racing brothers of the Marzotto entrepreneurial family, who had made their fortune through clothing companies in Italy (today: Marzotto Group ). Close relationships developed particularly with Conte Giannino Marzotto (1928–2012) and Vittorio Marzotto (1922–1999), who temporarily drove as factory drivers for the Ferrari works team Scuderia Ferrari and temporarily maintained their own motorsport team Scuderia Marzotto SpA in Valdagno in the Vicenza province . Between the end of 1949 and August 1952, on behalf of the Marzotto brothers, Carrozzeria Fontana dressed a total of four Ferrari racing cars with various new, mostly open bodies , one of which four times within 17 months.

The Fontana-Ferraris are of special importance in motorsport history from several points of view. They won circuit races as well as several hill climbs and achieved top positions in traditional races such as the Mille Miglia , the Coppa delle Toscana and the Giro delle Calabrie , the Coppa d'Oro delle Dolomiti , the Targa Florio and the Giro di Sicilia ; they also took part in various Grand Prix with international participation, such as those of Rome , Modena , Pescara and Bari , of Paris , Monaco , Portugal and at the AVUS . Individual vehicles also attracted particular attention through the collaboration with the sculptor and designer Franco Reggiani , namely the unusual Ferrari 166/212 MM Berlinetta "l'Uovo" with the chassis number 024MB. Fontana also created the first known Ferrari Shooting Break with a combi-like rear . In detail, Fontana worked on the following Ferrari racing cars:

  • End of 1949: Ferrari 166 Inter (012I), exchange of the Ansaloni Spyder Corsa - for a Barchetta body, modified and restored to this day;
  • 1950 (2nd half of the year): Ferrari 166 MM (024MB), exchange of the Touring Barchetta - for a Berlinetta body designed by Reggiani , restored to this day;
  • March 1951: Ferrari 212 Export (0086E), Spyder body “Carretto Siciliano” (original equipment); not preserved (replaced by a Vignale Spyder body in May 1951 );
  • Fall 1951: Ferrari 212 Export (0086E), conversion of the Vignale Spyder body to a "Shooting Break"; not received;
  • 1951/52: Ferrari 212 Export (0086E), replacement of the Shooting Break body with a Spyder body with retracted flanks; not received;
  • 1951/52: Ferrari 275 S / 340 America (0030MT), exchange of the Touring Barchetta - for a Spider body, not preserved (1954/55 replaced by a Scaglietti Spider body);
  • August 1952: Ferrari 212 Export (0086E), replacement of the Spyder body with retracted flanks for a conventional Spyder body; modified and restored to this day.

The Carrozzeria Paolo Fontana was one of the numerous independent body manufacturers who were included in the manufacturing processes at the beginning of the 1950s when Ferrari expanded the series production of passenger cars. The focus on lightweight, compact bodies for motorsport, which is largely handcrafted, is similar to that of the Carrozzeria Motto by Rocco Motto from Turin, where four Motto Ferraris were produced as individual pieces at around the same time . With the dissolution of their racing team by the Marzotto brothers and the cessation of their motorsport activities in the mid-1950s, the Carrozzeria Paolo Fontana lost its main client. From 1954 onwards, Sergio Scaglietti and his company Carrozzeria Scaglietti from Modena took the place of Motto and Fontana , who from chassis number 0440M onwards became Ferrari's preferred body builder for racing car bodies.

The Carrozzeria Fontana specialized in the further course of the series production of light alloy - hardtops for various contemporary cars with folding concealing such as the Lancia Aurelia B24 Spider and the Fiat 1500 Spider . Most recently, the main focus was on accident - repairs and the restoration of older vehicles.

A connection to the body shop Carrozzeria Baldassarre Fontana (1891-1929) or the successor Fontana e Pietroboni (1929-1939), each in Bassano del Grappa , and to Fontana Pietro (since 1956 in Calolziocorte ) is not known.

All four Ferraris worked on by Fontana have survived to this day in an elaborately restored form, in one case for many decades with a Scaglietti body. Three of the four vehicles achieved sales revenues of around one to almost eight million euros at auctions in the 21st century ; for the fourth, no current sales prices have yet become known.

Paolo Fontana as a motor sportsman

Occasionally Paolo Fontana also appeared as a motor sportsman .

On April 23, 1950, he was the co-driver of the vehicle owner Vittorio Marzotto at the Mille Miglia . It was only the second race that the Ferrari with chassis number 012I had been converted to the 166/195 Inter Fontana Barchetta by Paolo Fontana . With the starting number 722, a reference to the start time at 7:22 a.m., the duo achieved 6th place in the sports car class with a displacement of over 2.0 liters and 9th place in the overall classification.

On April 1, 1951, Paolo Fontana was copilot at the XI. Giro di Sicilia , again in the team with Vittorio Marzotto. It was the first race of the Ferrari 212 Export with the chassis and engine number 0086E, and at the same time the only one with the Fontana Spyder body known as the “Carretto Siciliano”. Both not only achieved class victory in sports cars over 2.0 liters, but also overall victory.

For the period from 1947 to 1953 another six motorsport appearances by Fontana in a Fiat , Ferrari and Lancia are documented.

The individual vehicles bodied by Fontana

Ferrari 166 Inter Fontana Barchetta, 012I

The Ferrari 166 Inter Fontana Barchetta, exhibited in 2012 at the Techno-Classica trade fair in Essen

The first Ferrari to be bodied by Fontana had chassis number 012I. He received the Fontana body at the end of 1949 and it has been modified and restored to this day.

Background : 1948/49 as Ansaloni Spyder Corsa of Scuderia Ferrari and under Bracco

In May 1948 Ferrari had delivered the vehicle with the chassis number 012I as the 166 Inter Ansaloni Spyder Corsa to the in-house racing department Scuderia Ferrari, i.e. as a two-seater racing sports car with free-standing wheels and narrow, motorcycle-like fenders . Between July 1948 and April 1949 he completed six works outings under the drivers Bruno Sterzi , Giovanni Bracco and Umberto Maglioli . The greatest successes were Sterzi's second overall place at the Coppa Acerbo in Pescara in August 1948 and Bracco's class win at the Coppa Gallenga hill climb from Vermicino to the Rocca di Papa in November 1948. In April 1949 Bracco even competed with the two-seater Spyder Prize from San Remo, which was also advertised for Formula 1 racing cars, and was sixth overall; however, Bracco and Maglioli were at IX the month before . Giro di Sicilia eliminated. For the rest of the 1949 season, the racing driver Bracco bought the Spyder Corsa from Scuderia Ferrari and eventually won the Italian championship. Although he and his co-driver Maglioli retired from the Mille Miglia in April , he secured the championship with victories in the hill climbs Varese  - Brinzio , Como  - Lieto , Varese - Campo dei Fiori and Pontedecimo  - Giovi .

Acquisition by Marzotto, conversion by Fontana and races from 1949–52

In 1949 Vittorio Marzotto acquired the vehicle, which had already been modified several times and repaired after a racing accident in the meantime; he let Paolo Fontana with a red-painted two-seater Barchetta bodywork in Ponto style new clothes and 1950 with a new twelve-cylinder - V engine with well 2.3 instead of 2.0 liters of displacement equip. The first race with a Fontana body was the Xth Giro di Sicilia on April 2, 1950 , and also the 34th Targa Florio under Giannino Marzotto and Marco Crosara ; however, they gave up the race to help the driver Fabrizio Serena, who had recently started and had an accident. Two weeks later, he successfully competed in the Mille Miglia under Vittorio Marzotto and Paolo Fontana, as well as victories for Bracco in the Parma – Poggio di Berceto and Susa - Moncenisio mountain races and Vittorio Marzotto at Treponti - Castelnuovo .

For the 1951 season, Vittorio Marzotto had a 2.5 liter engine installed and a light metal hard top fitted. In this configuration, Eugenio Castellotti and a copilot drove the Fontana-Ferrari at the XI. Giro di Sicilia in 5th place in its class. Since the Marzotto team now had the newer Ferrari racing car with chassis number 024MB, the latter received the 2.5-liter engine in August and the Fontana Ferrari 012I one with 2.1-liter displacement. At other races of the season, the brothers Fernando and Alfredo Mancini started, under Bracco an overall victory in the hill climb Fasano - Selva di Fasano and a start at the Grand Prix of Pescara, on September 9, an overall victory under Franco Comotti at the Grenzlandring im Rhineland and under José Froilán González a 6th place in the overall classification of the Grand Prix of Modena. In the 1952 season, which is now the fifth of the racing car, two more starts by Franco Comotti and another, possibly by Carlo Mancini, followed.

The Fontana-Barchetta from 1953 until today

In the following year, the Italian Martino Severi acquired a total of ten Ferrari racing cars from the Marzotto brothers, including the Fontana-Ferrari 012I, as well as racing transporters and spare parts ; while he sold individual vehicles to the racing brothers Mancini from Rome , he kept the Fontana Ferrari and soon had the chassis and body shortened. A start at the XV is scheduled for April 1955 . Giro di Sicilia , now with a four-cylinder in - line engine from an Alfa Romeo 1900 , before the vehicle disappeared from public focus for a long time.

In 1970 it reappeared in Bergamo and received a Ferrari Formula 2 engine with a displacement of 2.0 liters. Later it passed through the hands of several owners in Italy, France and Switzerland , including twice Willy Felber with his company Haute Performance SA in Morges (1975 and 1977/78). Among two Italians, the Fontana-Ferrari 012I took part again in the Mille Miglia in June 1977 and in 1979 with driver Pierre de Siebenthal at the Coupe de l'Age d'Or in Montlhéry, France, and at the AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nürburgring . The racing car was restored for the first time in 1976, a second time in the 1990s, each time in Italy. In 1999, an American collector from San Francisco , California acquired the vehicle and once again had it extensively restored. In March 2012 the auction house RM Auctions exhibited the Fontana-Ferrari at the Techno-Classica trade fair in Essen ; it was thus preparing its auction in Monaco two months later. The estimated price was between 1.1 and 1.8 million euros. After the highest bid was initially insufficient, an agreement was reached in the post-auction sale for 1,010,000 euros. The acquirer, a collector from Ohio , resold the vehicle to Italy in June 2019 at an undisclosed price.

Description and classification of the Fontana-Barchetta

In several ways, the Fontana-Barchetta is similar to the Barchetta versions from Carrozzeria Touring from Milan , especially in the area of ​​the front and rear, but also the bonnet and the metal beading on the side of the upper edge of the wheel arches. Characteristic, independent features, on the other hand, are the short body overhangs at the front and rear and the flanks that are much more drawn in in the lower body area.

Ferrari 166/212 MM Fontana Berlinetta "l'Uovo" (Reggiani), 024MB

The second Ferrari car body by Fontana had the chassis number 024MB. He received the Fontana body in the second half of 1950 and it has been restored to this day.

Background: 1950 as a Touring Barchetta of Scuderia Marzotto

In February 1950 Ferrari had delivered the right-hand drive vehicle with the chassis number 024MB and the engine number 0024M as a 166 MM Touring Barchetta to Scuderia Marzotto SpA in Valdagno. The white racing sports car with touring body had its racing premiere on April 2, 1950 under Umberto Marzotto at the Xth Giro di Sicilia , at the same time the 34th Targa Florio, which, however, failed with a damaged clutch . Two weeks later he took part in the Mille Miglia with Franco Cristaldi ; they had a serious accident, with the open car being torn in two.

Rebuilt as the Berlinetta "l'Uovo" and races from 1951–53

In July 1950, the racing team rebuilt the chassis while retaining the chassis number; On behalf of the Marzotti brothers, the designer Reggiani designed a distinctive, atypical Berlinetta body with two seats, which is officially sometimes referred to as "Jet", but was primarily known as "l'Uovo" ("the egg") then as it is now . While the literature used to assume that Reggiani also built the unusually round body himself, today there is widespread agreement that the construction was largely carried out by Carrozzeria Paolo Fontana .

For the 1951 racing season, the Berlinetta received the twelve-cylinder V-engine of a Ferrari 212 Export with a displacement of a good 2.5 liters, probably from the Ferrari with chassis number 0084E, which is also part of the Scuderia Marzotto. The vehicle had its racing premiere in this new configuration on April 1, 1951 under Giannino Marzotto and Marco Crosara at the XI. Giro di Sicilia , but they retired with damage to the differential gear . Four weeks later, the same pairing competed in the Mille Miglia , but retired with a puncture. The first success, an overall victory, was finally achieved in the same line-up in the III. Coppa della Toscana on June 3rd, followed by a second place in the overall classification of the II. Circuito Internacional do Porto a fortnight later under Vittorio Marzotto. In August, the team replaced the 2.5-liter engine that was reinstalled in the chassis number 0084E with the Ferrari 166 F2 / 50 engine from the chassis number 012I, which went from 2.0 to good 2.3 liter displacement was increased.

The 1952 season was mixed for "l'Uovo": At the Mille Miglia in May, Guido Mancini and Adriano Ercolani retired, as did Fabrizio Serena di Lapigio and Guido Mancini at the 12-hour race in Pescara; on the other hand, Giulio Cabianca won the Trento  - Bondone hill climb in July with the best time of the day and Guido Mancini came 4th overall at the Grand Prix at the AVUS in Berlin in September. The Fontana-Berlinetta then received a 2.5-liter engine from the Ferrari 212 Inter with chassis number 0107ES and was shipped to Mexico in 1953 for a start at the Carrera Panamericana , in which it did not take part.

The Fontana-Berlinetta from 1953 until today

The Scuderia Marzotto sold the vehicle to a Mexican in 1953. He passed the Berlinetta on to the racing driver Ignacio Lozano from Newport Beach , California , who entered it in several races in the United States in 1954 and one in 1956 - ultimately without any significant success. In the following decades the racing car passed through the hands of several Americans; after a first restoration had only begun in 1964, it was carried out in the United Kingdom from 1981 . Since 1986, the vehicle has belonged to a Milanese who remained anonymous, who, with the exception of two years until 1997, had it participated in the Mille Miglia ten times with changing teams . Other events were the Coppa d'Oro delle Dolomiti 1993 and 50 Anni Ferrari 1997. The racing car disappeared from the public eye for around twenty years. Its auction was announced for August 2017 by the auction house RM Sotheby’s in Monterey , California, in the run-up to which numerous press and internet reports were published on the single item. It was sold for 3,840,750 euros to a previously unknown collector.

Description and classification of the Fontana-Berlinetta

The round shape of the Reggiani-Fontana-Berlinetta is very unusual. The round radiator grille dominates the front , followed by a base body with a round cross-section. The front fenders are each shaped like a round pontoon and protrude further forward than the main body. The curved belt line, which rises again above the rear wheels and is further emphasized by a two-tone paintwork, is also striking. The strongly curved windshield is divided into two parts and the roof structure with hatchback is strongly drawn in towards the rear for aerodynamic reasons. According to reports, Enzo Ferrari is said to have displeased the special design of the Berlinetta.

Ferrari 340 Fontana Spider, 0030MT

The Ferrari 340 Spider with the chassis number 0030MT; the Scaglietti body used since 1954/55 replaced the previous Fontana Spider body

The third Ferrari car body by Fontana had the chassis number 0030MT. He received the Fontana body around the turn of the year 1951/52 and kept it until around the end of 1954 / beginning of 1955, when it was replaced by a new one from Scaglietti.

Background: 1950 as the 275S / 340 America Touring Barchetta of Scuderia Ferrari

Ferrari had completed the racing car in the spring of 1950 as the 275S America Touring Barchetta and handed it over to the in-house racing team Scuderia Ferrari . The right-hand drive vehicle was the first Ferrari sports car with the new long-block twelve-cylinder V-engine with a displacement of 3.3 liters , designed by Aurelio Lampredi . After a brief test on public roads around Maranello , the open-top sports car made its racing debut for the works team in April 1950 at the Mille Miglia; the duo Alberto Ascari / Senesio Nicolini dropped out due to an accident. A week later, one of the Marzotto brothers played the Coppa d'Oro di Sicilia in Syracuse for the factory team . Another race in Vila Real under Bracco was followed by a new build with a modified touring body and the conversion to the enlarged 340/01 engine with a displacement of 4.1 liters. In this form, Ferrari presented the racing car in October 1950 as one of the main attractions at the Paris Motor Show ; It is unclear whether the same car was shown at the Turin Motor Show in April 1951 .

Acquisition by Marzotto, conversion by Fontana and racing from 1951–52

Giannino Marzotto had already acquired the sports car at the end of 1950; Under Vittorio Marzotto (with changing co-drivers) as well as Giovanni Bracco and Giannino Marzotto, the Marzotto team used the car with a touring body at ten racing events in the 1951 season : there were failures at the Mille Miglia , the Portuguese Grand Prix , the Coppa d'Oro delle Dolomiti and the 35th Targa Florio ; Successes included class victories in the III. Coppa della Toscana and mountain races. At the end of the season, the Scuderia Marzotto had the Touring Barchetta body replaced with one by Paolo Fontana; Reasons were probably an accident of Giannino Marzotto at the Coppa Adriatica in Senigallia in August and a failure due to a defective shock absorber at the Targa Florio in September.

Despite notification of the XII. Giannino Marzotto had not yet entered the Giro di Sicilia in March 1952 with the newly built sports car. Gianfranco Comotti and Oreste Ronchi retired from the Mille Miglia in May, as did Piero Carini from the Monaco Grand Prix in June, after which the engine had to be repaired in the factory. Three weeks later he reached the finish line for the first time with fifth place at the Portuguese Grand Prix . In July Giannino Marzotto was able to participate in the VI. Coppa d'Oro delle Dolomiti took second place; thereafter, however, the drivers of the Fontana Spider retired four times in a row, including the 12-hour race in Pescara and the Grand Prix of Bari.

The Spider (including modification by Scaglietti) from 1953 until today

In May 1953, Scuderia Marzotto sold the racing car to a Venetian ; despite the report for the Mille Miglia in May 1954, the vehicle did not appear there. Instead, the Italian had it fitted with a new Spider body from Carrozzeria Scaglietti . After that, the racing car had new owners several times in Milan, Rome and Naples . Only the Scuderia Cotrone attempted again in June 1957 to use the now seven-year-old vehicle in a race, but could not qualify for the 500-mile race in Monza. In July 1958, an American from Vermont bought the Ferrari 340 Scaglietti Spider and sold it in 1961 to the Ferrari enthusiast Peter Markowski from Vergennes in Vermont.

He kept the racing car until 1999 and extensively restored it. It was not until 1984 that he presented the vehicle at a Concours d'Elegance , and then again in the 1990s. From 2005 to 2010 the Aachen entrepreneur and Ferrari collector Michael Willms successfully used the Spider in historic motorsport. Since 2010 it has belonged to the Munich entrepreneur and collector Alexander Rittweger ( Loyalty Partner , Payback ), who had it auctioned in August 2015 via RM Auctions in Monterey. With an estimated price of 7.5 to 10 million US dollars , the Spider changed into the ownership of another German, the CEO of Deutsche Vermögensberatung AG Andreas Pohl , who competed in the 2016 Mille Miglia with it. In July 1999 the vehicle had changed hands within the USA for "only" one million dollars.

Description and classification of the Fontana spider

The Fontana Spider body from the first half of the 1950s was not preserved. Stylistically, it is reminiscent of the bodies of Carrozzeria Vignale and the 212 Export Fontana Spider with chassis number 0086E.

Ferrari 212 Export Fontana, 0086E

The Ferrari 212 Export with chassis number 0086E is the only vehicle that was fitted with a body by Carrozzeria Paolo Fontana from the start . It also occupies a special position in that it is the only one that has been redesigned several times by Fontana.

In 1951, the Scuderia Marzotto in Valdagno acquired the right-hand drive car as a roadworthy chassis without a body; the engine with the number 0086E had the sporty design with three carburettors . Ferrari delivered the vehicle on February 2, 1951.

Fontana "Carretto Siciliana" (and Vignale Spyder)

On March 17, 1951, the sports car at Fontana received a two-seater, particularly simple Spyder body, which was known as the "Carretto Siciliano". Formally, with free-standing wheels and offset small fenders, it was reminiscent of the Ferrari 166 Spyder Corsa models of the late 1940s that were clad by Ansaloni . It is unclear why the Marzotto brothers chose this body shape, which is often judged to be outdated and unattractive. Maybe it was the time pressure before the first planned races. On April 1, 1951, Vittoria Marzotto, together with Paolo Fontana as co-driver, achieved overall victory at the XI. Giro di Sicilia .

In May 1951, the Marzotto brothers began redesigning the racing car for the upcoming races: To improve stability, it was temporarily given the 2.5-liter engine with only one carburettor from the Ferrari 212 Export with chassis number 0076E from Carrzzeria Vignale a conventional pontoon style Spyder body similar to that of vehicle 0076E. In this configuration, Vittorio Marzotto achieved 2nd place overall in the Grand Prix of Portugal in Boavista in June , Giovanni Bracco achieved overall victory in Vila Real in July and the Bracco / Cornacchia duo came 2nd overall at the 35th Targa Florio .

Fontana "Shooting Break"

The Marzotto brothers then commissioned Paolo Fontana with the revision of the Vignale Spyder: For the planned participation as a service vehicle for the Carrera Panamericana in Mexico, the sports car received a new, high roof structure with a vertical rear and a large flap in the combi or shooting Break style; it was the first known station wagon ever to build a Ferrari. However, it was not used overseas.

Fontana "Spyder"

At the turn of the year 1951/52 the Ferrari 212 received yet another new body, the fourth in less than twelve months. Paolo Fontana created a Spyder body with unusually strongly recessed flanks. However, Sergio Sighinolfi retired in March 1952 both at the XII. Giro di Sicilia as well as the Coppa d'Oro di Sicilia in Syracuse; At the Mille Miglia in May, Fabrizio Serena di Lapigio and Walter Piccolo also failed to cross the finish line due to a vehicle fire.

The Marzotto brothers sold the vehicle to the racing driver Guido Mancini from Rome, who repaired it. At the Targa Florio in June he left, at the VI. Coppa d'Oro delle Dolomiti , he at least reached the finish with 5th place in his class and 12th place overall.

In August 1952, 15 months after delivery, Mancini had the Ferrari 212 Export redesigned again, again as a two-seater Spyder, but now with more conventional lines. This structure is also mainly attributed to the Carrozzeria Paolo Fontana . This fifth body carries the vehicle in a modified and restored form to this day. The Scuderia Mancini used it until August 1953; the greatest success was the class victory at the IV. Giro delle Calabrie in August 1952 under Guido Mancini and his brother Carlo.

The Ferrari 212 Export Fontana Spyder has been in the United States since 1958 . Mancini sold it to an American racing driver from California, who competed in the 1959 season with the now eight-year-old racing sports car without much success in several races of the SCCA and USAC , especially in Watkins Glen . A Ferrari enthusiast from New Hampshire kept the car from 1965 to 2005 before joining Vermont collector and restorer Peter Markowski. Since 2007 the vehicle - meanwhile extensively restored - has been owned by a collector from Pennsylvania ; In 2010 and 2011 he took part in the Mille Miglia with him and received an award at the prestigious Show XX. Cavallino Classic and presented the vehicle at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in 2012 .

Ferrari 212 Export Barchetta, 0084E

The share of Carrozzeria Fontana in building the Ferrari 212 Export Barchetta with chassis number 0084E was significantly lower. Ferrari delivered the drivable chassis with an engine but without a body to Giannino Marzotto or Scuderia Marzotto in February 1951 . Paolo Fontana dressed it up with an open two-seater body, using the front and rear panels of the Touring Barchetta with chassis number 024MB, which had an accident at the Mille Miglia in April 1950 and suffered severe damage. Scuderia Marzotto used the sports car in motorsport for three years before reselling it in Italy in 1953. From 1957 to 1993 it belonged to several Americans in succession. The vehicle still exists today, has since been extensively restored and is owned by a German owner who occasionally used it in the Mille Miglia and demonstrated it at Concours d'Elegances.

Lancia Aurelia B24 Cupoletta Rigida

A Lancia Aurelia B24 Spider with attached hardtop from Carrozzeria Paolo Fontana

For the Lancia Aurelia B24 Spider , Fontana manufactured removable hardtop attachments from the mid-1950s, depending on the source in around 20 to 25 copies. Today they are among the rarest and most sought-after accessories for this model, which has already achieved prices of over a million dollars among collectors.

literature

  • Peter Braun, Gregor Schulz: The great Ferrari manual - all series and racing vehicles from 1947 to today. Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2006, ISBN 3-89880-501-8 , pp. 20, 26.
  • Matthias Urban: Handbuch der Ferrari Serial Numbers - Ferrari Serial Numbers Manual - The Raab Files - revisited, 1947-2007. Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2007, ISBN 978-3-89880-711-1 , pp. 28 f., 31.
  • Alessandro Sannia: Enciclopedia dei carrozzieri italiani. Il Cammello, Turin 2017, ISBN 978-8-8967-9641-2 , p. 234 (Italian).
  • Bernd Woytal: The power egg. In: Motor Klassik , edition 8/2017, August 2017, pp. 40–43.

Web links

Commons : Carrozzeria Paolo Fontana  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Alessandro Sannia: Enciclopedia dei carrozzieri italiani . Il Cammello, 1st edition, Turin 2017, ISBN 978-8-8967-9641-2 , p. 234 (Italian).
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i The Ferrari 166 Inter Fontana Barchetta with the chassis number 012I on the web portal barchetta.cc , accessed on August 16, 2019 (English).
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h The Ferrari 166/212 MM Fontana Berlinetta "l'Uovo" with the chassis number 024MB on the web portal barchetta.cc , accessed on August 16, 2019 (English).
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h The Ferrari 340 America Fontana Spider with the chassis number 0030MT on the web portal barchetta.cc , accessed on August 16, 2019 (English).
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k The Ferrari 212 Export Fontana with the chassis number 0086E on the web portal barchetta.cc , accessed on August 16, 2019 (English).
  6. ↑ a b c d Peter Braun, Gregor Schulz: The great Ferrari manual - all series and racing vehicles from 1947 to today . Heel Verlag, Königswinter. 1st edition 2006. ISBN 3-89880-501-8 , pp. 20 and 26.
  7. ↑ Paolo Fontana as a racing driver on the web portal racingsportscars.com , accessed on August 16, 2019 (English).
  8. ↑ a b c d e Matthias Urban: Handbuch der Ferrari serial numbers - Ferrari Serial Numbers Manual - The Raab Files - revisited, 1947–2007 . Heel Verlag, Königswinter, 1st edition 2007. ISBN 978-3-89880-711-1 , p. 28 f. and 31.
  9. ↑ a b c d e f g Bernd Woytal: Das Kraft-Ei , in: Motor Klassik , edition 8/2017, August 2017, pp. 40–43.
  10. ↑ a b c The Carrozzeria Paolo Fontana on the web portal oldtimer.400.pl , accessed on August 16, 2019 (Polish).
  11. ↑ The Ferrari 212 Export Barchetta with chassis number 0084E on the web portal barchetta.cc , accessed on August 16, 2019 (English).
  12. ↑ Gooding & Company's auction catalog for the sale of a Lancia Aurelia B24S Spider America in Pebble Beach 2016 (sold for $ 2,007,500) , accessed on August 16, 2019.
  13. ↑ Auction catalog of the auction house RM Sotheby’s for the sale of a Lancia Aurelia B24S Spider America in Monterey 2019 , accessed on August 16, 2019 (English).
  14. ^ Daniel Vaughan: 1955 Lancia Aurelia on the web portal conceptcarz.com , October 2008 , accessed on August 16, 2019 (English).