In the world of exotic cars, there are few names that can compare with Ferrari. The very mention of the word brings to mind blood red cars with shapes and sounds that reach beyond reason and into the soul.
It was through the sweet sound of its motor that I first discovered the Ferrari featured in this story. I was wandering about Pocono International Raceway during a vintage weekend, when I heard the unmistakable music of a Ferrari V-12 at full song. Off in the distance, I saw a red blur on the tri-oval, flying by every car on the track. As it approached, the engine sound grew louder and the shape more distinct. Whoosh. In an instant it was by me, but that fleeting glimpse and that glorious roar was all I needed to confirm that it was a Ferrari. But which Ferrari, what year, which motor? Despite having devoured nearly every Road & Track magazine back to the ’50s, I couldn’t nail down what this car was. More than a little interested, I went looking for my mystery racer in the paddock. When I finally caught up to the car and its owner, I learned the fascinating story of the Parravano Special – the Ferrari 410S
Parravano and Ferrari
Tony Parravano was a California based contractor in the 1950s who had a talent for making money and an enthusiasm for sports car racing. Anxious to encourage the growth of American sports car racing, Paravano freely wrote large checks from his vast bank account to buy fast cars and hire the best drivers to race them.
Parravano’s passion for fast racecars was good news for Enzo Ferrari who went through some very lean financial times in the mid-’50s. Back then, Paravano was one of Commendatore Ferrari’s best customers, literally buying cars in “fleets” for his drivers to campaign. One driver that caught Parravano’s attention was a very young Carroll Shelby. The experience of signing on to drive for Parravano and dealing with his penchant for Italian cars made quite an impression on Shelby. He writes about the first time they met at Parravano’s Inglewood, California garage, in some detail in his wonderful book The Cobra Story. Shelby recalls in the chapter called We Buy Up Modena. “Parravano’s interest in racecars was already something more than a rumor, and this guy was loaded.” Shelby adds, “’I’m going to buy another fifteen Ferraris,’ Parravano said, the way he might have been talking about five-cent cigars ‘and I’d like you to drive them for me. Any of them, I don’t care. Take your pick.’” Naturally, Shelby signed on with Scuderia Parravano right then and there, winning races and building a reputation as an outstanding driver in the process.
As you might have figured, Parravano wasn’t what you would call an easy customer for Ferrari to deal with. Somewhat of an eccentric character, Parravano always insisted that his cars be different from the cars Ferrari was building for his “regular” patrons. Shelby writes, “You know, Parravano was great for not having a car like anyone else. He’d go to Scaglietti (Ferrari’s coachbuilder) and slip him five hundred bucks to make the body different and old man Ferrari would have a fit. But Tony didn’t care; he knew what he wanted and as a result he never owned any Ferrari that looked like the others.”
Parravano’s “have it your way” philosophy went past body shape and style and carried on into the engine compartment. Of course, this American wanted no part of the Lampredi-designed six-cylinder motors being developed by Ferrari for European competition. He placed his orders for something a little more substantial, something with 12 cylinders and nearly 400 hp.
The first V-12 car built to Parravano’s specs was a long wheel-based spider that had lots of unique Parravano-styling accents. The California millionaire couldn’t wait to try out his new car, so he picked it up at the Ferrari factory and immediately took it to a place called Castelfusano for some impromptu testing. With his hired gun, Mario Bornigia, at the wheel, this 4.9-liter V-12 monster was clocked at nearly 190 mph. Convinced that his way of building fast racers was correct, Tony packed up his new car and headed back to America to shake up the embryonic world of SCCA racing. With Carroll Shelby at the wheel for the first time in Parravano’s employ, this early 410 Special came home first in a very difficult rain-soaked race held in Seattle, Washington. Shelby recalls, “The 4.9 was a pig to handle; there’s no other term for it. With all of that power on the wet, you might as well have been on roller skates. I won the race despite all of those shenanigans of the 4.9; Hill was second, Miles third and Pollock fourth, I’m pretty sure.”
With this superb victory under his belt, and with more than a few dollars to spend, Parravano went back to Italy to order more cars like the one Shelby wrestled to victory in Washington State.
A Car Is Born
It is as a result of that trip that Ferrari bolted together Serial Number 0592/CM, the car featured here. The owner, when I saw it, was a Ferrari enthusiast / vintage racer who asked me to keep him anonymous, did exhaustive research proving conclusively that this is one of the mercurial millionaire’s “special order” Ferraris, built to Parravano’s singular specifications and typically 1950s American taste. That’s why we find the very low-slung body, an extra wide oval-shaped grill and the slightly ostentatious polished aluminum side vents staring back at us.
Since Parravano wouldn’t have it any other way, this special received the same 4,962-cc engine found in the earlier car. The only difference was this car received a pure-race dry sump lubrication system.
Sitting on top of the V-12 are three big Weber 46 DCF carbs on tall induction tubes. Because of the very low hood line and tall carb/air cleaner dimensions, Ferrari had to construct an even taller hood scoop to cover everything, something that no doubt pleased Mr. Parravano to no end.
Since they were building a racecar, the chassis was given a tube frame with an extra thin aluminum skin for maximum lightness. But the owner wonders if this was a custom-built chassis or if Ferrari, ever the clever businessman, just took an old car and re-bodied it to make a fast buck. There is some evidence of that because during the restoration process the owner found weld marks and brackets that show where another body could have been attached. In fact, Shelby comments on Ferrari ‘s business practices by saying, “I suspect they sometimes unloaded on Parravano all the junk at the factory.” One other possibility is that this car is the reincarnation of the first Parravano 410 which Shelby totaled in a race late in 1955.
Although the first 410 Special had a more traditional engine/transmission/live axle setup, this new car was fitted with a 5-speed transaxle/de Dion rear suspension with outboard Al-fin drum brakes mounted to a single transverse leaf spring and damped by lever shocks.
Ferrari 0592/CM was first raced in 1956 by Shelby with a high degree of success, taking several firsts for Parravano. The most famous victory being the Palm Springs GP held in February of that year.
Parravano’s World Falls Apart
That, however, was the high water mark for Parravano Racing. Shortly after the Palm Springs event, Shelby left the team to drive for John Edgar, and to open his own sports car agency in Dallas. As if losing your best driver wasn’t bad enough, later that same year Parravano was suspended by the SCCA for not playing by the rules.
Several months later, even worse news came from the Internal Revenue Service who for some odd reason wanted more of Parravano’s money than he was willing to let them have. This prompted Parravano to make a run for the border with all of his toys stuffed in trucks. The first truck, the one containing 0592CM and some other goodies, made it across to Mexico before the U.S. Government caught on and blocked the rest of the convoy. And while that was the end of the line for Mr. Parravano, fortunately, it was not the end of our 410 Special.
After finding sanctuary in Mexico, our featured car spent several years sitting in storage until it made a not-too successful appearance at a re-creation of the historic Carrera Mexicana. During the event, the driver spun off and got hung up in the sand and dirt. While trying to free himself, he failed to notice that the reverse lockout on the shift gate was open and accidentally shifted into reverse at the worst possible time. Ker-blamo! This mistake turned expensive Italian gears into cracked steel and shredded aluminum. Because you can’t go to your local dealer for transmission parts for a Paravano Special, this shunt basically put the car out of commission.
The world of exotic cars is extremely small and our Ferrari collector is as knowledgeable about all things Ferrari as anyone. When he saw a picture of this car in a report on the race in Road & Track, he guessed that this was the missing Parravano 410. Through diligent detective work he found and then contacted the owner with hopes to buy this prize. He told me, “After that race, the car just sat. They must have kept it in a chicken coop because it was covered with droppings. The transmission was just pieces in a box.”
It took some delicate negotiations to get the car legally across the border but eventually the new owner, his family, and the Ferrari were on their way home. However, despite having dotted all of the i’s and crossed all the t’s with the Mexican and U.S. governments, this Parravano Special was still not through with the law. It seems that the Feds couldn’t recognize a classic car when they saw one. After letting the Ferrari into the USA, they followed it all the way to its new home in the north east to find out what was really in that curious hulk. Their faces were as red as the faded paint when they arrived at the car’s last new home looking for contraband and found only dried chicken, ahem, dust.
Because the car was only raced a few times before its exile, it was in surprisingly good shape. The major damage was the exploded transaxle and chewed up rear drums – that due to recent careless handling.
Excited by what they had, the whole family dove right in to work at getting the car ready for the track. They discovered that the central shaft – a critical transmission piece – was impossible to buy or even recreate using the services of local machine shops. The lack of that vital part put the completion of their project on hold.
One day, they found out about a derelict Ferrari Monza for sale in Philadelphia. The owner, fully indoctrinated in all things Ferrari, realized immediately that this car had the same type of gearbox they needed for their 410 S. He told me, “We bought the Monza to get the transmission.” And you would think that was it, but as it turns out, this Monza was an ex-factory team car, with a fantastic history. His wife recalls scraping grease off the underside of the car and finding the serial number on the belly pan. She said, “Guess what this is? And then added, “We better put the transaxle back!”
Stopped again from completing the 410 (and still anxious to get behind the wheel to drive it) the owner was blessed with one final bit of luck. Through a friend of a friend the vital transmission main shaft was hand fabricated by Ford of England’s Advanced Vehicles shop (where they make the Cosworth motors) in exchange for no more than a hand shake and a couple of drinks. The owner laughs, “They probably had to sell a few extra Fords that year to pay for that part.” Maybe it’s out of loyalty to his benefactors that here is a Ford in the family driveway!
That was all done in the early 1970s and the owner enjoyed the car for over three decades, making beautiful Italian opera from the muscular V12 motor wherever it went. True to its racing heritage, he drove it at several vintage races on the east coast from Lime Rock to the Glen.
After 37 years of ownership, the 410S was sold to a new owner in Europe who shipped it to the Factory in Maranello for certification through the Classiche service program. In 2014, it went to auction at Monterey and found a new home back in the United States. But happy memories from driving the car never faded. When I asked the owner, what was it like to drive a piece of Ferrari history with a monster V-12 at racing speeds? He looked back at me and let a small smile cross his face. “It’s pure horsepower,” he said.
I bet Tony Parravano would be proud.
