Ferrari 375 MM Coupé Speciale

The Ferrari 375 MM Speciale Ghia, chassis 0476 AM, is one of the rarest road-going Ferraris of the 1950s. It was built on a 375 MM chassis, one of only nine road-legal coupés constructed on this competition platform between 1953 and 1955. The 375 MM was developed as an endurance racing sports car and took its name from its displacement per cylinder and Ferrari’s association with the Mille Miglia. Chassis 0476 was ordered in June 1954 by American businessman Robert Wilkie, who wanted a racing Ferrari adapted for road use. The car used a competition-derived Lampredi V12, related to Ferrari’s Formula 1 engines, producing around 340 hp. It was equipped with three Weber 42 DCZ 3 carburetors, Magneti Marelli ignition, and Borrani knock-off wire wheels. Unlike most 375 MM chassis, this car did not receive bodywork by Pinin Farina. After completion in November 1954, the chassis was sent to Carrozzeria Ghia in Turin. Under the supervision of Luigi Segre, Ghia developed a unique aluminium coupé body over a steel inner structure. Wilkie supplied some ideas of his own, but many were rejected because they did not suit Ghia’s design language. The final design combined Italian coachbuilding with strong American influences. The car had an extremely long bonnet, a wide egg-crate grille, pronounced front fenders, a curved windscreen, and a semi-fastback roofline. The ventilated sail panels anticipated themes later seen on Ferrari grand touring cars, while the rear featured subtle tail fins and a chrome bumper shaped around the taillights. The two-tone Salmon and Anthracite Grey finish emphasized the form of the body and echoed American show-car taste of the period. The design was related in spirit to Ghia’s Supersonic bodies and the DeSoto Adventurer II show car, but the finished Ferrari remained a one-off. It was completed in early April 1955 and shown on Ghia’s stand at the Turin Motor Show, alongside the turbine-powered Gilda. In summer 1955, the car was shipped to the United States and delivered to Wilkie in Milwaukee. Chassis 0476 is the only Ferrari 375 MM bodied by Ghia and the last Ferrari ever bodied by the Turin coachbuilder. After several decades, it underwent extensive refurbishment but was not fully restored. It still records fewer than 15,000 km. The car later appeared at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2026, bringing one of Ghia’s most unusual Ferrari designs back into public view.