Ferrari Craft » 750 Monza

The Shop – March 2010

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:41:57 +0000

Bill took a few pictures from around the shop today that show both the range and the beauty of some of the cars that we are working on. Sometimes I fear that there is too much “range” and not enough beauty! Bill takes outstanding photos that look super pro. Have I written a post on Bill yet? Bill, can you write a post on yourself, introduce yourself?

Upstairs: the Osca, Whitehead Special, and a silver Ferrari

Downstairs: The rare green 330 GTC and a deep inventory of stored classics, projects, and restorations.

Ferrari 750 Monza at Restoration and Performance Motorcars in Vermont

Ferrari Race Team

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:50:22 +0000

Not sure who owns these cars but they are the ones that were transported in the FIAT truck in the Ferrari team livery. The cars are in excellent condition mechanically but they are appropriately rough on the outside, a refreshing change to the glossy perfection that you typically see at the Cavallino. The Daytona that you see here was racing against a Michelotto 308 GTB on Friday for one of the best Vintage Ferrari races I have ever seen.

Ferrari Race cars

FIAT Hauler

admin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:43:33 +0000

This is a super cool truck, a former Ferrari team transporter that is now hauling some vintage cars.. The truck hauled a competition Daytona, a 750 Monza and a 275LM to Palm Beach International Raceway.

FIAT Ferrari truck

KNOCK IT OFF – WHEEL GOING NUTS

admin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:00:04 +0000

Alright, all puns aside, the number of different variations of wheel nuts at RPM is astounding. Here are some examples and some more interesting facts about them. Firstly, Ferrari wheels employ singular nuts to fasten each wheel to each axle or hub. So, in your road car, you have generally 4 or 5 lug bolts or lug nuts that hold each wheel on – trucks have more. Ferraris more than any other make, use large racing style wheel nuts, quite similar to those in use on racetracks all over the world, even here in the US in Nascar. Many other Italian cars and some English cars used this method of fastening as well.

The big difference between the wheel nuts on current race cars and on vintage Ferraris? The method of removal. The current race cars use a large diameter socket, while the vintage cars have 2 or 3 ears extending off the nut. The method of removal is repeated smashing of these tabs by the standard equipment lead hammer found in every Ferrari – it isn’t just for fending off would-be attackers. The lead hammer packs a punch, and the softness of the lead won’t mar the finish of the nuts, just watch out for your fenders on the back swing. At RPM wheels are removed frequenly enough to destroy these hammers, so we have a mold to recast the hammer head.

On to the nuts themselves. The word “smontare” seems to be on nearly every nut. It’s meaning? In Italian, smontare means to dismantle, or slang to “knock-off” which makes great sense, that is how the nuts became known as “knock-offs.

One pictured knock-off has the word “destro” cast into it. The meaning is “right” – it holds a wheel on the right-hand side of the car on. The opposite is “sinistro” of which we have none pictured. The reason for having right and left nuts is because they are self-tightening. You can literally spin a knock-off on gently, go for a drive, and it will be tight enough to require the lead hammer for removal when you return. Not bad.

Check out the gallery below, click to enlarge images.

A Blemish for Heritage

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:31:03 +0000

1956 Ferrari 750 Monza paint detail

A customer asked about a harlequin bit of paintwork on the boot lid of the 1956 Ferrari 750 Monza. A section of paint was masked and carefully sanded to expose the layers of paint the car has worn. The result is a twelve square inch testament to the heritage of the car. It’s a trait more common to European restorations, and generally unseen in the United States. Europeans prefer to celebrate history, while many Americans prefer to erase it with perfection being achieved through a sterile final product, and allowing the owner to forget that anyone was ever there - an oh-so-human reclamation of virginity.

The Monza shows many colors including blue and yellow in addition to more than one shade of red, and a few layers of primer, and the foundation of bare metal clear coated for protection. This badge of visual history is especially rich as the car was born into racing, changing liveries often. We hope to see more cars like this, though few will exhibit as much character.

Ferrari 750 Monza paintwork

Goings On

admin — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 18:01:00 +0000

Here are some fun photos of what has been going on here in the last few weeks.

There is a great photo of Peter Markowski driving a customer’s Monza in the Paddock at Lime Rock Park. We have done lots of work to make this a truly great car.

Eben Markowski built this horse using a Stainless Steel wire form and hand formed 18 gauge copper “skin”. He has also made 2 full sized giraffes using the same method.

I hope to get things together enough to photograph all the Ferrari engines that we have in the process of repair.

On this day, we have two 330 GTC engines apart, a 365 GTC/4 and 412 engines at the machine shop, a 246 engine that is soon to be sent off to the machine shop and a 212 engine going together.

Please don’t ask how we keep it all straight but somehow we make them breathe again!