Before I got all 'Corvetted.

I LOVED this story about one of the '55 Ferrari 750 Monzas.  Hoping T3
has some interesting stories too maybe perhaps?  Sounds like this car
went through hell.

A couple great pictures with the story, I'm just not sure if the link
will work:

http://www.autoweek.com/article.cms?articleId=102510

1955 Ferrari 750 Monza Spyder Scaglietti
Pride of the Brutes
GEORGE P. BLUMBERG
Published Date: 6/13/05

Hard-charging Ernie McAfee could never have imagined the car he
campaigned brilliantly in 1956 against Phil Hill and Masten Gregory
would be the object of canapé-chomping, champagne-sipping oglers at
concours events almost half a century later. And Californian William
Doheny—who bought the Ferrari new for McAfee to race—would have been
stymied by a $680,000 bid that was too low to snare the restored race
car at a 2001 Brooks auction in Palm Beach.

These are the fortunes of early Ferrari comp cars. What were once
clapped-out old racers cost a fortune now, and they are being restored
as works of art. That’s a good thing, since it gives us regular blokes a
chance to see them.

Car owner Bruce Perrone of Pittsburgh has a documented history of this
Monza, moving through several owners and from successful race car to
hulk to restored symbol of greatness. At one time the car had a
Chevrolet engine.

Chassis No. 0502M is the only 750 Monza of 37 made sans the headrest.
Doheny envisioned driving on California streets, and felt the headrest
would attract undue police interest. Touché. How anyone could have
ignored the car, in its white with blue stripes original livery, is
baffling, as it is certainly among the loveliest of Ferraris, its taut
aluminum skin stretching over a welded tubular steel chassis on an
88-inch wheelbase.

The cockpit is tight for a driver taller than five-foot-seven, with an
upright wooden wheel and fixed bucket seats. There is no passenger door.
Veglia instruments include an 8000-rpm tach and fuel-pressure gauge.
Check fuel quantity by flipping open the huge alloy filler cap to peer
within.

To start the Lampredi-designed, 3.0-liter dohc engine (rated at 260 hp
at 6000 rpm), push in the flat key and turn a click to activate the fuel
pump. Then reach down and pull the handle on the transmission tunnel,
engaging the starter. Two Weber 58 DCO/A3 twin-choke sidedraft carbs
start to suck, but that sound is eclipsed by the raucous exhaust throb
behind the cockpit. The aroma of 110-octane Avgas permeates the air.

While the Ferrari appears delicate, it is brutish around town. The
sudden clutch is an in-or-out affair. “There’s no middle ground,” said
Wayne Carini, proprietor of F40 Motorsports in Connecticut, who
maintains and shows the old racer for Perrone. “The car has to be
muscled, not cruised.”

Push the crashbox’s gated shifter into first (down and to the left), let
out the clutch feeding plenty of gas, and off we go. Torque is strong,
even shifting at just 3000 rpm. “The pistons are the size of coffee
cans,” said Carini, “and the flywheel is very heavy.” It’s stiffly
suspended, but the choppy ride smooths out with speed.

The suspension—independent, unequal-length A-arm and transverse
leaf-spring front, and de Dion axle-beam, transverse leaf and parallel
trailing-arms rear—offers secure cornering, even on the
so-narrow-appearing 16-inch Dunlop racing tires. The brakes, aluminum
drums with iron liners, haul the car down from speed with no drama after
a good push. The steering, four turns lock to lock, is surprisingly
light, with no play, but there is a big turning radius.

The Ferrari was successfully raced through 1960, driven in succession by
McAfee, Dabney Collins, Gregory, Lou Brero, Jack Bates and Harry
Washburn. Then it fell on hard times.

Perrone found the car on display in a Tokyo hotel in 1997 but was
unimpressed with its restoration. He commissioned a complete restoration
by Sport Auto Modena in Italy, which was finished in 2003.

The canapé/champagne circuit has bestowed many awards on the Monza,
including Outstanding 4-Cylinder Ferrari and the Jet Aviation Peoples
Choice at the Palm Beach Cavallino Classic this year. The car was
recently scrutineered and accepted by Ferrari Technical Services as
worthy for Sotheby’s Ferrari Auction at Modena.

Again, back to its birthplace.