A Ferrari that was badly damaged, and burned down during a race in the 1960s, sold for US $ 1.8 million. Although the car looked like it had been pulled straight from a dump, a 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider Series I sold for a fantastic sum at RM Sotheby’s Monterey.
The 500 Mondial was built by Ferrari to commemorate Alberto Ascari’s FIA Formula One World Drivers’ Championship in 1952 and 1953 respectively. The car shows a displacement of one cylinder, in this case, 500cc.
It was run as one of Ferrari’s rare customer four-cylinder race cars in Italy throughout the 1950s, before heading to the United States in 1958. Known by its chassis number, 0406 MD, it was originally built in a body by renowned Italian design firm Pinin Farina.
The vehicle once belonged to Franco Cortese, a former Ferrari factory driver who purchased the car in 1954, with the aim of entering the racetrack and the first driver to drive a Ferrari to victory. However, the car caught fire during a race in the 1960s.
The last recorded transfer of ownership occurred in 1978 and it was then maintained in a race-broken state for 45 years. There were no wheels or inner parts, and the body had suffered terrible fire damage. However, the Ferrari still has the original chassis plates, gearbox, rear axle angles and the Tipo 119 Lampredi 3.0-liter inline four-cylinder engine.
