Ferrari’s four-cylinder sports racing cars of the mid-1950s were a direct and deliberate extension of the company’s contemporary Grand Prix program, representing a parallel path of technical development that proved highly successful in international sports car competition. In 1954, Ferrari introduced its first four-cylinder production sports racing model, the 500 Mondial, named to honor Alberto Ascari’s consecutive Formula One World Championships. Power was supplied by the two-liter tipo 110 engine, a close descendant of the unit that propelled Ferrari’s championship-winning 500 F2 Grand Prix cars. Designed by Aurelio Lampredi, this advanced four-cylinder featured twin overhead camshafts, hemispherical combustion chambers, gear-driven cams, dry sump lubrication, and screw-in cylinder liners.

The 500 Mondial proved immediately competitive, and Ferrari refined the concept for 1955 with the introduction of the Series II Mondial. This updated variant employed the more robust Tipo 510 chassis, incorporating numerous mechanical improvements, including oval-section frame tubing, increased fuel capacity, revised coil-spring front suspension, and a five-speed transaxle. The Series II Mondial was powered by the tipo 111 engine, derived from the 553 F2 car, featuring a wide-angle cylinder head and producing approximately 170 hp.

Introduced alongside the Series II Mondial, the 750 Monza represented the first application of the Lampredi four-cylinder architecture in large-displacement sports racing form. Effectively a Series II Mondial fitted with a three-liter tipo 119 engine producing approximately 255 hp, the Monza retained the same fundamental engineering philosophy while delivering a dramatic increase in torque and power, without the penalty of added weight. The result was a formidable sports racer capable of challenging – and often defeating – larger multi-cylinder rivals.

The model’s name commemorated Scuderia Ferrari’s victory in the 1954 Supercortemaggiore race at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza – a result that firmly established the competitiveness of Ferrari’s three-liter, four-cylinder sports cars on the international stage. In competition, the 750 Monza laid the foundation for a new generation of big-bore, four-cylinder Ferraris, leading directly to the factory-run 857 Sport and 860 Monza, while parallel development of the two-liter, four-cylinder line continued with the 500 TR and TRC. Together, these models illustrate the breadth, flexibility, and effectiveness of Ferrari’s Lampredi four-cylinder sports car program during a formative period in the company’s history.

In total, Ferrari built approximately 35 examples of the 750 Monza, nearly all bodied as open Spiders by Carrozzeria Scaglietti, with styling attributed to Enzo Ferrari’s son, Alfredo “Dino” Ferrari. Light, purposeful, and unmistakably aggressive in appearance, these cars epitomize Ferrari’s mid-1950s sports racing ethos.

The 750 Monza offered here, chassis 0522 M, is an exceptional example of this rare and important model.

As documented by Ferrari historian Marcel Massini, chassis 0522 M was completed in early 1955 and delivered new in March of that year to one of the most influential figures in early Ferrari history: Franco Cornacchia. Born in Brescia in 1907, Cornacchia was among Ferrari’s most important early customers, combining the roles of dealer, team owner, and accomplished driver in the immediate postwar years. He founded Milan’s first official Ferrari dealership and established Scuderia Guastalla, through which he campaigned Ferraris with notable success across Europe and the Americas.

Cornacchia entered Ferraris in many of the most demanding competitions of the era, including multiple editions of the 1000 Miglia, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Carrera Panamericana, and countless hill climbs, where his skill and bravery as a driver were particularly evident. With 0522 M, Cornacchia entered two Italian hill climbs in 1955 – Corsa Sulle Torricelle in March and Parma-Poggio di Berceto in June – as well as the Gran Premio di Bari, where it was driven by Brazilian ace Chico Landi to a 9th place finish.

Following these appearances, Cornacchia sold 0522 M, and the Monza was exported to the US, where it soon entered the glamorous Southern California sports car scene. The Ferrari passed into the hands of Los Angeles car dealer and racer Ernie McAfee, one of the central figures of West Coast sports car racing in the 1950s. An early hot-rodder turned importer and dealer, McAfee operated a prominent showroom on Sunset Boulevard and became the go-to source for affluent Angelenos seeking the latest Italian exotica. His dealership represented marques including Alfa Romeo, Siata, Moretti, OSCA, and Ferrari, and McAfee himself was among the leading drivers until his tragic death at the 1956 Del Monte Trophy at Pebble Beach.

Like many Ferraris sold through McAfee, 0522 M enjoyed an active competition career in Southern California. Between October 1956 and May 1957, the Monza was campaigned as a D-Modified entry in SCCA National events at Palm Springs and in California Sports Car Club (CSCC) races at Pomona and Santa Barbara. During this period, it was driven by Robert Path of Santa Monica for its owner, the successful novelist and screenwriter Alan Brown Le May, best known for his classic Western novels The Searchers (1954) and The Unforgiven (1957).

As noted in Tony Adriaensens’s book Weekend Heroes, Le May “loved the tremendous power and acceleration, but never felt that he mastered the Italian thoroughbred; Alan had never driven a race car before he was 50, and was the oldest driver by a large margin in any race he entered. Luckily, Alan came to the conclusion that he was not ready for this level of car and entered it with other drivers in a number of races… Le May got rid of the Ferrari before anyone got hurt and the car ended up in Ernie McAfee’s showroom, where a young man from Pasadena picked it up: Jack Bates.”

Jack Bates, best known for campaigning a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing, was President of Frank Monise’s foreign car dealership in Pasadena and an enthusiastic competitor in local sports car races. Bates refinished 0522 M in a striking metallic silver-blue with white stripes to match his Gullwing, and entered the Ferrari in CSCC events at Pomona, Santa Barbara, and Riverside between July and September 1957. His best result came at Riverside, where he placed 5th Overall in the main race.

At the conclusion of the 1957 season, the Monza was sold to Dr. R.P. McGuire of Fort Worth, Texas. During his brief ownership, the car was repainted dark blue and entered in a single event: the SCCA Frost Bite races held at Eagle Mountain National Guard Base in January 1958, where it was reportedly driven by a young Jim Hall.

Following its active racing career, 0522 M was eventually acquired by Otto Zipper and returned to Los Angeles. In the 1960s, Zipper sold the Ferrari to his friend and fellow racer, the legendary American sportsman and collector Briggs S. Cunningham. Registered in California as “NSV 919,” the Monza was displayed in the renowned Cunningham Automotive Museum in Costa Mesa and appeared in the museum’s series of postcards.

The Ferrari remained with Cunningham until 1985, when it was sold to another towering figure in American motorsport history: Augie Pabst of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, heir to the Pabst brewing fortune. Pabst raced the Monza once, at the Chicago International Historic Races at Road America in July 1985, before selling it to fellow Wisconsin-based collector Bill Schley. From Schley, the Ferrari passed to Mark J. Smith of Pennsylvania, from whom the current owner acquired it in 1987.

Largely unseen for nearly four decades, 0522 M appears today much as it did during its time on display in the Cunningham Automotive Museum. A remarkable survivor, it stands out as one of the only 750 Monzas known to remain in largely unrestored condition and is believed to retain its original chassis, Scaglietti coachwork, engine (internal no. 8 MZ), and transaxle (internal no. S 23). The car presents with decades-old paint and wonderfully patinated red vinyl upholstery which may well be original.

Particularly appealing is the Monza’s former metallic blue livery from Jack Bates’ ownership, which endowed the car with a distinctive, period-correct appearance. Should its next caretaker wish, chassis 0522 M would be an ideal candidate for a concours-quality restoration to this striking and historically appropriate color scheme.

Between 1954 and 1957, Ferrari built an extraordinary array of four-cylinder sports racing cars, including the 500 Mondial, 750 Monza, 857 Sport, and 500 TRC – machines that achieved remarkable success in period through a combination of exotic engineering and robust construction. Following their racing careers, many suffered heavy attrition, modification, or loss. As such, a well-preserved, unrestored example like 0522 M is all the more extraordinary.

Successfully raced in period in both Europe and the US, and owned by some of the most famous names in car collecting – Otto Zipper, Briggs Cunningham, and Augie Pabst – this magnificent Ferrari has been preserved for nearly 40 years in one of the most significant private collections in the US. Offered publicly for the first time in a generation, its appearance at auction represents a rare and compelling opportunity that should not be overlooked.