Rick Grape 750 Monza Spyder ex-Portago | FerrariChat
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Rick Grape 750 Monza Spyder ex-Portago

Discussion in 'Vintage (thru 365 GTC4)' started by bitzman, Dec 24, 2012.

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  1. bitzman

    bitzman F1 Rookie
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    #1 bitzman, Dec 24, 2012
    I was reading the new book by Jerry Heasley the first in a series that he entitles something like RARE FINDS, and it has a chapter on a very battered looking 750 Monza Spyder 0498M. Heasley says that the finder of the car, Rick Grape, gave up on any idea of restoring it because the owner of the original engine in another country wanted $750,000! But when I researched the car today it says that the now Australian owner was able to get the engine from England and unite the two. I was wondering if the cost of that engine has been published since then?

    Also it says a transaxle was purchased by the Ausralian owner from a UK supplier, what would something like that have cost?

    I am just curious to add up the engine and transaxle costs to see if Rick Grape gave up too soon. Apparently he got the car at a bargain price but "bargain" is a relative term if you have to spend a million dollars more just to get the engine and transmission.

    Has it ever been printed about what Grape paid for it in 1995 when he found it out in a field where it had lain (laid?) for 30 years?

    I guess this is another example of "the chassis is king" because he who has a chassis like that can always run a Ferrari V-12 (as this car had for a time) while endeavoring to obtaint he historically correct engine, though in the case of the DK Engineering 857S he who had the engine ultimately had the car come to him.

    Hoping to hear a learned opinion...
     
  2. miurasv

    miurasv F1 World Champ

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    #2 miurasv, Dec 24, 2012
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  3. El Wayne

    El Wayne F1 World Champ
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    #3 El Wayne, Dec 24, 2012
    Regarding de Portago - there might be some confusion here between 0498/M and 0496/M.

    Also, my notes show that a new engine for 0498/M was fabricated around the surviving crankcase of 625 GP Monoposto s/n 0480 and that this new engine has been stamped as #0480. I have not confirmed this. Perhaps someone else knows more.
     
  4. El Wayne

    El Wayne F1 World Champ
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    #4 El Wayne, Dec 24, 2012
    This page used to show a new engine #0480 being built along side the engine from 0584/M. The page has since been taken down and the images are long gone.
     
  5. bitzman

    bitzman F1 Rookie
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    #5 bitzman, Dec 24, 2012
    http://www.uniquecarsmag.com.au/news-and-reviews/article/articleid/55276.aspx

    "early, ex-factory team car that was piloted by Britisher Mike Hawthorn and the Spanish nobleman Count Alfonso De Portago in the Goodwood Trophy Nine-Hour race in 1954 in England, but failed to finish. "

    I was hoping they found the original engine in the UK but it was another 750 Monza engine, so I guess you could say it's all original now, don't know how many points they lose not having the same engine it was sold with more than 60 years ago
     
  6. EnzoNZ

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    #6 EnzoNZ, Dec 25, 2012
    Wayne is correct.
     
  7. JerryH

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    #7 JerryH, Dec 31, 2012
    I got the facts on the 1955 Ferrari Monza 750 Spyder directly from Rick Grape. He passed away in 2011. Rick was a down-to-earth guy, a real car guy. He truly wanted to restore the Ferrari. The cost proved a little too steep. I started writing my column, "Rare Finds" around 1990. I should have written a book on my best Rare Finds (barn finds) years ago. I have two books out now- the first one with Rick's car is "Rare Finds, Rediscovering Muscle Car Treasures." However, the title is misleading because I include more than muscle cars. Is a Ferrari 750 a muscle car? I don't think so. It is a performance car, of course. I include the most sensational finds from readers over more than 20 years. One is a Boss 429 Mustang a lady was using as a dog house in Juarez, Mexico. My second "Rare Finds" targets Mustangs and Fords. I include a GT40 dug up behind Salt Walthers' race car shop in Dayton, Ohio. The cover is Larry Shinoda's Boss 302 graphic styling Mustang. Basically, readers send me leads on these cars through my columns in Muscle Car Review, Mustang Monthly, and Vette.
     
  8. mseals

    mseals Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #8 mseals, Jan 1, 2013
    Welcome to FerrariChat, Jerry!

    Mike
     
  9. Bad tracks

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    #9 Bad tracks, Jan 2, 2013
    Hello...I am a new member and this is my first post.

    I am trying to locate the current owner of this car. In 1960, this car came to Mobile,Al and I was the mechanic who converted this car to a Fuel Injected Corvette. The car was then owned by Chuck Nervine who raced the car at Louisianna Hilltop Raceway and Pensacola Florida Correy Field SCCA.

    I was first to drive the car with the Fuel Injected engine ...big mistake to put a heavy chevy in this car...overheated constantly and too heavy for driving hard into curves. The original 4 cyl engine would run circles around it. It one only one major event and DNF 5 times for heating issues in the Corvette configuration.

    My interest in locating the owners address is to share my fotos of the car and provide history on the car. I searched for twenty years trying to find the car but my understanding is it has been acquired by a collector in Australia. If any one reading this can supply a mailing address I would be most appreciative.
     
  10. miurasv

    miurasv F1 World Champ

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  11. BigTex

    BigTex Seven Time F1 World Champ
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    #11 BigTex, Jan 3, 2013
    +308..Welcome and thanks for joining in our discussion!

    I'll bet it made a NICE dog house......:D :D :D
     
  12. miurasv

    miurasv F1 World Champ

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  13. miurasv

    miurasv F1 World Champ

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    #13 miurasv, Jan 3, 2013
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  14. Bad tracks

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    #14 Bad tracks, Jan 3, 2013
    Thank you for your reply and especially for the pictures of the car when it was white. I found at one time it was yellow and then red ...which was the color of the car when it came to Alabama in 1960. The owner of the car Chuck Nervine, was adamant about a Corvette power plant installation , but it was a huge mistake. The original power 4 cyl engine would run circles around it on the track due to its lighter weight and the car never performed to my expectations with the Corvette mill. The engine had to be torque buckled to compensate for the torque and it continually overheated.

    Upon my return from the service, I searched 22 years trying to find where it had ended up. Fascinating history on this car ....hope it is now restored to its former beauty.

    Bad Tracks
     
  15. miurasv

    miurasv F1 World Champ

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    #15 miurasv, Jan 3, 2013
  16. bitzman

    bitzman F1 Rookie
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    #16 bitzman, Jan 3, 2013
    Now that Mr. Grape has passed on, can you illuminate us would-be Ferrari finders as to approximately what he paid for the Ferrari?

    In your book you don't say who in the horse owners family (Grape spotted the car in a pasture at a horse ranch where he was washing horses) owned or raced the car.



    The factoid (am I spelling that right? Seems like a car guy's word) pertains to another car you wrote about in one of your two books on rare finds: what happened to the Salt Walther GT40-in-the-mud. I did some further investigation on that car and it's controversial...let's trade facts. We can all learn something..
     
  17. cab0154

    cab0154 Rookie

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    #17 cab0154, Jan 9, 2013
    the story about how Rick found the car that is published is not the same as what he told me. He told me he was looking around for an old Ferrari to play with. One of his old high school friends told him that there used to be one sitting at a farm the friend worked at 30 years earlier. They went out there and the car was still there. He told me when he bought it he didnt know much about its history. As far as what he paid for it, i know that he did not care to share that information with many people, so I am not going to comment on it. If the family decides to share that with everyone, it is their decision.
     
  18. cab0154

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    #18 cab0154, Jan 9, 2013
    From what I was told, it ended up being bought in Louisiana with a SBC in it, the man who bought it moved to Fort Worth, never titled it and put it in his barn. it was later set out with some other old cars in the field where the Grape family found it in '95.
     
  19. Bad tracks

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    #19 Bad tracks, Jan 10, 2013
    This car has been restored to its original beauty and looks better probably than it did new. The front air bubble was removed form the hood along with the rear air scoops for the wheels and is original in Ferrari Red. It is once again racing in Australia.

    If you have any information as to where the original 3.0 litre engine may be found, please post it here.
     
  20. bitzman

    bitzman F1 Rookie
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    #20 bitzman, Jan 16, 2013
    If what you say is the truth, is not nearly as entertaining a story if he had an "inside tip."
    However I know a story about a Bizzarrini where it was found the same way--
    a guy from Palos Verdes who found a Bizzarrini when a former high school chum, some 20 years after graduation called him and said "You used to talk about that car Bizzarrini. well, I know where there is one."
    So I guess the moral of the story is you spread far and wide the info that you are looking for at least a certain brand and maybe word will come back to you.

    The fact that the lady who owned the car knew it was raced by Count de Portago gives me a clue that she might have known it had value-- better for Grape if she didn't know anything about it if you want to get a good price.

    I would suspect he got it below $30,000 because I don't think he had a high-paying occupation at the time.
     
  21. cab0154

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    #21 cab0154, Jan 16, 2013
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    The speculation about his occupation is entertaining to me. Unlike some things I do not wish to comment on, out of respect for the wishes of a man who was like a father to me; his occupation is a widely known fact that I could share. However I think Ill just let you search for that information since i took your comment as somewhat crass. ;)
     
  22. michael bayer

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    #22 michael bayer, Jan 16, 2013
    cab0154 You are an extrodinary, honorable gentleman for being so discrete! Bravo! M
     
  23. cab0154

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    #23 cab0154, Jan 16, 2013
    i heard a story that there were only 2 cars with rear brake scoops. i have no idea if this is true or not. were the hood bubble and scoops added after the car came to the states?

    here are a couple digitals i have saved

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    here is one of several Rick sent me in '03

    [​IMG]
     
  24. Bad tracks

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    #24 Bad tracks, Jan 16, 2013
    Thank you for the additional pictures of 0498M. Rick Healey would be the expert on how many of these type Ferrari Monzas were built. My association with the car began in 1960 and I helped install the 327 Fuel Injected engine ( a 1961 mated to my 1960 Corvette 4speed transmission ) The car when I first saw it had the scoops on the rear wheels but the hood was still pristine.

    The hood bubble was installed at the time of the engine swap...it had to be done to accomodate the Chevrolet Rochester Fuel Injection tower which stick up an inch or so. It
    was ugly to the extreme but most did not know the difference since Ferraris were not plentiful in Mobile Alabama at that time.
     
  25. cab0154

    cab0154 Rookie

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    #25 cab0154, Jan 16, 2013
    Thats great! I cant believe Im talking to a person who was racing this car 15 years before I was born and 35 years before I first layed eyes on it. You sir have put a great big smile on my face.
     
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