|
The Cobra powered Ferrari Testa Rossa
Although I understand back when Shelby was in partnership with Dick Hall in Dallas selling cars that they had a Ferrari (maybe 750 Monza) with a Chevy V8 I more recently talked to a college professor who more recently bought a Ferrari Testa Rossa that he said had a 427 installed by Shelby American. The car had fire damage, but not from the engine, the owner st one point tossed into the interior a cigarette to collect the insurance payment. I am surprised Shelby American, being busy building production and race cars in the Sixties,would have the time to do engine conversions but then I don't know what year the conversion was done. Has anybody heard of this Ferrari-Ford before? I imagine the big block Ford outweighed the Ferrari engine by at least double so it must have been a bear in handling.
PS The Professors sold the car with a V-12 though not the right one, for a few million and when I last heard of it on the block, it was $16 million |
I've seen a Ford Mustang with a Aston Martin motor before, it was a V12. Nothing really to do with the post though?
|
The professors would be Charles Betz and Fred Peters - a couple of very well known collectors. The car is supposed to be 250 TR 0666. This is the same car that Jon Shirley just sold for $16M.
I've read before that the car had an engine swap in 1964 or so, but that it was a small block Ford. I have not read anywhere that Shelby put it in. That sort of seems unlikely as it was just a beat up old race car back then and they probably would not have invested the kind of money someone like Shelby probably would have charged. You could probably find more info doing a search on: 250 TR 0666 ford engine Hope that helps. Steve |
Hmm... Did Scot Sanders or Doug Stokes work for Shelby?
The day the $16 million Ferrari got a Ford V-8 - is this the Pebble Beach Goodings Auction car ??? - The Vintage Racing League And I stand corrected - a trusted Ferrari source says it did have a big block Ford, and a Corvette diff also. Steve |
Wow I was finally right about something...
Golly, of course it makes more sense it would have been a 289 which probably weighs at least 150-200 lbs. less than a FE 427. The Professor I talked to said the conversion was very professional but didn't mention the Corvette rear. I wonder how much Shelby charged for the conversion because he charged Rootes $10K to drop a 260 into the Sunbeam Alpine but that involved moving the firewall, etc.
Shelby was involved also in importing Listers already set up to take Chevy V8s. Conversions to American engines were common in Ferraris when they broke back then--a used Chevy cost less than one Ferrari piston! |
Quote:
|
Just a wild guess, but could Max Balchowsky have done engine swap?
He built and drove the famous Old Yeller cars. He was famous for engine swaps and transmissions, too. He put Chevrolet four speeds in exotic Italian sports cars during the 1950's. The History of Old Yeller 2 - Famous Race Car. This is just a little bit of Max and his wife. Carroll Shelby actually drove Old Yeller in a race and Max set up Hollywood cars for movies like "Bullitt." |
The owner of Ol' Yeller 2 has a CSX Cobra he races. He is a dentist.
Dr. Ernie Nagamatsu has a factory hardtop on his car. |
The owner of Old Yeller 2 races a CSX Cobra. He is a dentist.
Dr. Ernie Nagamstsu is a CSX owner who does vintage racing of Cobra roadster with a hardtop. Max Bachowsky 1 |
It wasn't Max who did the swap; some guy in West Covina
Can't find his name but his son posted pictures of the car on the net, though not with the hood open. I was wonderiing if he was a former employee of Shelby , hence the expertise in the engine. I ran into the buyer of the car when it was burned (interior) and with this engine and he said he paid around $1500 for the car that at last report sold for $16 million.
I used to visit Max at his shop in Hollywood, he maintained a lot of Bizzarrinis for stuntman Carey Loftin and built specials to use in Disney movies with race car scenes. Max also had a thing for Buick Grand Sports. |
I was hoping a movie could be made about Max. Dr. Ernie said there was some work done on that but it is on hold. Old Yeller 2 was in "The Killers" which was first (1964) made for TV movie. It was re-released in theaters and only movie that has President Reagan as a bad buy.
|
| All times are GMT -7. The time now is 11:27 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2026, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0
The representations expressed are the representations and opinions of the clubcobra.com forum members and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and viewpoints of the site owners, moderators, Shelby American, any other replica manufacturer, Ford Motor Company. This website has been planned and developed by clubcobra.com and its forum members and should not be construed as being endorsed by Ford Motor Company, or Shelby American or any other manufacturer unless expressly noted by that entity. "Cobra" and the Cobra logo are registered trademarks for Ford Motor Co., Inc. clubcobra.com forum members agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyrighted material is owned by you. Although we do not and cannot review the messages posted and are not responsible for the content of any of these messages, we reserve the right to delete any message for any reason whatsoever. You remain solely responsible for the content of your messages, and you agree to indemnify and hold us harmless with respect to any claim based upon transmission of your message(s). Thank you for visiting clubcobra.com. For full policy documentation refer to the following link: