TOGETHER AGAIN AFTER 70 YEARS

Commendator Franco Cornacchia was more than just a car dealer. He sold dreams, ideals and adventure through the finest sports cars on the market, which became true four-wheeled legends within just a few years, drawing crowds at the Mille Miglia and commanding attention whenever they raced on circuit. They came from Modena, the home of high-performance cars, and displayed the Prancing Horse on their bonnets. Cornacchia was the first to believe in Ferrari, and Enzo himself rewarded that faith by giving him exclusive rights to sell his cars, establishing Ferrari’s first-ever dealership. The premises were in Milan, on Via Freguglia, just a few steps from the Giardini della Guastalla, nestled between the State University, the Ospedale Maggiore and the Courthouse. This was no minor detail. Cornacchia named his team Scuderia Guastalla.

He created it to express both his own passion and that of his wealthy clients, making it one of the first private teams to race Ferrari cars. Like the two barchettas that arrived in Milan in 1954, just in time to be sent onto the track or, better still, onto the roads of long-distance racing. The first was the 250 Monza, chassis 0442M, a Scaglietti Spyder. This car featured a 3.0-litre V12 producing 240 cv, propelling an 850-kg chassis, and was immediately entered in the Supercortemaggiore Grand Prix at Monza, where it finished third overall, driven by Cornacchia himself alongside Marquis Gerino Gerini, the archetypal gentleman driver and a highly accomplished racer on the verge of turning professional. The other was the 750 Monza, chassis 0470M, bodied by Scaglietti to a design by Dino Ferrari. It shared the same 3.0-litre displacement, this time configured as an inline four-cylinder, and was lighter and more agile, with 260 cv propelling just 760 kg. The car’s debut was more adventurous. Its first journey took it by air cargo to Mexico City, immediately followed by its competitive debut in the Carrera Panamericana.

The 250 Monza wears number 22 and placed fifth overall at the 1954 Carrera Panamerica, while the number 14 750 Monza exceeded maximum time limits

The 1954 edition, the fifth and final one, was also the first to take place entirely on paved roads along the 3,000-km route. Previous races were held on rough dirt tracks filled with hazards, where the year before, Felice Bonetto lost his life while leading in a Lancia D24.

The asphalt was meant to make the race easier, but it was not enough. Giovanni Bracco and Riccardo Livocchi, who shared driving duties, exceeded the maximum permitted time at the finish and were consequently disqualified.

A different fate awaited the 250 Monza, also fielded in Guastalla colours and driven by team owner Franco Cornacchia, with Argentine Enrico Peruchini as co-driver. They finished fifth overall and third in the over-1500 cc class, in a race won by Umberto Maglioli’s Ferrari 375 Plus, followed by another 375, the MM Vignale driven by Phil Hill and Richie Ginther.

After seven decades apart, both barchettas returned to Ferrari Classiche for a full restoration respecting their original specification

From that moment, sealed by the chequered flag, the destinies of the two Monzas diverged. The 250 Monza stayed in Central America and was sold to Manfredo Lippmann, Mercedes-Benz distributor for Guatemala. Impressed by its performance in the Carrera, he immediately had it repainted in blue, white and gold. The 750 Monza returned to Italy for a few months before being sold to Swedish amateur drivers, who raced it extensively until a serious accident in 1957. This was followed by a body reconstruction that didn't exactly match Scaglietti’s original design. Over the next seventy years, both cars crossed the Atlantic multiple times, travelling between Europe and the United States. Eventually, they returned, the 750 Monza 0470M in 1998 and the 250 Monza 0442M in 2007, not to Milan but to the garages of two collectors based in Lombardy.

From then on, they came close but never met, showing up separately at events like the Mille Miglia and Le Mitiche Sport of Bassano. Then, through one of fate’s strange twists, the two barchettas ended up together in the Ferrari Classiche workshop. Their owners, unaware of this remarkable coincidence, had separately sent the cars to Maranello with the same purpose: to bring each back to its original condition. Both cars underwent intensive programmes in the workshop: replacing non-original parts, a full technical overhaul, and a complete aesthetic restoration – including reworked bodywork for the 750 Monza and its upholstery - as well as inspecting all mechanical components to restore proper function and efficiency. The objective, which was fully achieved, was Ferrari Classiche Certification. And maybe, another shared adventure, like the 1954 Carrera Panamericana.