Ferrari 375 America Vignale Cabriolet

This Ferrari 375 Vignale Cabriolet one-off cabriolet is one of the most sensational examples of Maranello’s 1950s open grand tourers. Designed by Giovanni Michelotti, this 375 America left the Factory finished in black paint over a black interior with a tan soft top. The cabriolet was clothed by Vignale in particularly elegant all-alloy coachwork that featured a rakish one-piece wraparound windscreen, a hood scoop, and five-gill fender vents with a sweeping bottom character line that extended through the rear fenders. The design was similar in nature to the Vignale coachwork mounted on chassis number 0359 GT, a 250 Europa GT sold to the well-known Ferrari client and Belgian royal Princess Liliane de Rethy, though 0353’s longer wheelbase allows the design to flourish with beautiful aesthetic flow. Factory-equipped with a rare hard top that further distinguishes the Vignale profile, 0353 AL was sold directly from Ferrari to Mrs. Bianca Colizzi, daughter of famous Italian film director Giuseppe Colizzi, in December 1954. Shortly before Christmas 1954 the car was registered on Italian plates “Roma 215282”. After only a year the cabriolet was reportedly in storage with a doctor, and in this state the car was spotted by Luigi Musso, the future Scuderia Ferrari factory driver. Musso mentioned the Ferrari 375 Vignale Cabriolet to an acquaintance named Harry Chambers, an American employee of TWA who had recently opened the airline’s Milan division. Chambers would go on to enjoy a long career in the aerospace sector, being knighted by the Italian government in 1960 and eventually becoming the general manager of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Mr. Chambers tracked down the Ferrari and made an offer, officially purchasing the car in October 1956. During nearly two years with the Ferrari 375 Vignale Cabriolet Chambers spiritedly enjoyed it while feeding his passion for motorsports, and the car was photographed on at least one occasion while parked at the Monza circuit. In July 1958 Chambers sold the Ferrari to his friend and fellow TWA employee, flight dispatcher Joseph Fitch, who hailed from Los Angeles, California. By this point the coachwork had been refinished in a shade of gun-metal grey. Mr. Fitch enjoyed the 375 briefly in Italy before importing the car back to California in December 1958. Mr. Fitch refinished the coachwork in dark blue, and gradually overhauled the mechanical elements. After the refurbishment was completed, the 375 was the owner’s pride and joy, being carefully garaged at his home in Southern California and frequently photographed. In 1969 he displayed the cabriolet at the Ferrari Owner’s Club meeting in Culver City, California, and in August 1972 the car won first in class at the Hollywood Bowl Concours d’Elegance. By April 1973 Fitch began contemplating the end of his ownership of 0353 AL, ultimately choosing to sell the uber-rare cabriolet to fellow Ferrari enthusiast Wayne Golomb of Springfield, Illinois, who purchased the Ferrari in 1974. The Ferrari 375 Vignale Cabriolet was featured in several marque publications during Mr. Golomb’s ownership, and in 1980 he conducted a comprehensive restoration. After 21 years Golomb sold the Ferrari in 1995 to Illinois resident Dennis Machul, who enjoyed the cabriolet during a successful completion of the 1995 Colorado Grand. By 1998 the unique Vignale Cabriolet was sold to the consignor and following a paint freshening in black with a reupholstered interior, the car has been carefully kept in climate-controlled storage ever since. Still accompanied by the rare factory hard top, this elegant Ferrari is an unusual open-bodied interpretation of the Lampredi-engined grand tourer, as one of just a few cars that occupy the developmental period between the 342 America and the forthcoming Superamerica. A true one-off, this car is powered by one of the three largest engines of any Ferrari cabriolet built during the 1950s. Recently submitted for Ferrari Classiche certification, 0353AL is confirmed to retain its original matching-numbers drivetrain components and alloy coachwork.