Guiding a Ferrari 340 to Second in Class at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance - ISSIMI Meccanica
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- Опубликовано: 26 июн 2024
- What does it take to win an award at the legendary Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance? The right car? The right history? The right documentation? The right restoration? The right detailer? The right owner? Yes, to all of those things. The process literally requires years, but what happens once the car finally arrives on the Monterey Peninsula a few days before the show?
On the Thursday morning before the show (which is always on Sunday), there is a drive, which requires the car to cover several dozen miles under its own power on public roads. Cars which successfully complete the Tour (as it's called), receive credit when judged on the field Sunday, but for many of the cars, for which the preceding months have been a frenzied rush, completing the Tour is no small feat. The particularly late breaking restorations may have seen very little or no use on public roads prior to the tour, making it a harrowing experience for owners and restorers alike. And in many cases, the cars are race cars, making them ill-suited to road use even when in top form. Come Sunday, the cars are judged on the field for authenticity, presentation, and functionality, another harrowing moment for all involved.
In 2021, ISSIMI Meccanica, ISSIMI's service and restoration branch, was retained by one of its clients to provide support during the days leading up to the Concours this extraordinary 1951 Ferrari 340 for both the Tour and during the Concours itself.
The earliest Ferraris built have a brutal, serious character that made even the cars with the diminutive 2 and 2.5 liter Colombo-designed V12s feel like industrial grade equipment. The suspension is extremely firm, the brakes require a hefty shove, the gearbox requires equal parts brute force and finesse, and the overall experience has a brashness that largely disappeared even by the 250. The thought of driving one of these cars near the limit for 24 hours in racing conditions seems positively heroic yet that’s exactly what Ferrari’s racing drivers did at Le Mans in the early 50s.
To take advantage of the 4.5 liter displacement limit for sports cars, Ferrari took the Lampredi-designed “big block” engine from their Formula 1 racers and created a 4.1 liter version that was intended to be durable enough to last 24 hours of punishment. Named 340 for the displacement in ccs of each cylinder, only a few dozen of these cars were built, intended primarily for competition. Most frequently, they received bodywork by Touring or Vignale, either open or closed, although Ghia and Pinin Farina also bodied a few examples.
Most 340s have illustrious histories and this example is among the most illustrious of all. Wearing iconic Touring Barchetta bodywork, this car raced at Le Mans in both 1951 and 1952. The car then lived a charmed life in Europe before being acquired by an American collector who commissioned a painstaking years-long restoration in Italy to the car’s exact 1951 Le Mans racing configuration.
After half a decade of work, the result is stunning, and ISSIMI Meccanica was delighted to provide mechanical support for the car during its American debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance during Monterey Car Week in 2021. In the incredibly tough Ferrari Competition class, the car placed second behind an exquisitely restored Series II 250 GTO, a testament to the authenticity of the restoration as well as the passion and expertise of everyone who contributed to it. 
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It is super impressive how well these videos turn out for such a small team and company with not a ton to gain compared to production costs. We appreciate it!
Yeah this is one of the highest and most consistent quality car channels
It’s almost certain this bunch has venture capital behind them, no way is the level of production value sustainable at ~100k subs and middling-to-low engagement.
We’ve found a bunch of gear heads who’ve figured out how to get people to cover expenses for stuff like this.
I’m here for it and I’m grateful:)
Just being able to get your car on the lawn at Pebble Beach to compete is a big achievement in my opinion.
The gas tank in the passenger foot-well... my god we are spoiled these days, hahaha!
I mean, if the washers are not exactly original, what good is the car?! Seriously, though, congratulations on restoring it to this standard!
Once I used a different brand of wiper blade and my car spontaneously combusted.
The ranking is useless. The cars we own will always be #1 in our hearts anyways.
Definitely read this as F430 at first, was very confused
Had no idea, there were a Ferrari 340.
340 America, 340 Mexico and 340 MM.
Thank you
Video bello
340 bell ISSIMA
Did the editor want to drown out the speaker intentionally with that soundtrack?
Open YOUR ears
get some better speakers
Never have problems with road trips in my MX-5; move with the times gramps!
At 3:56 I didn't know Moby was a car guy
Incredible work and attention to detail.
I would like to see a video on the realities of a restoration: the painstaking research, dealing with sublet chrome, platers, components, etc. Inavailability of yellow passivate and cad plating. What about 2 stage vs single stage paint?
How many hours?
The waiting for paint to gas out while you wotk on on other parts.
Reality of booking rooms, transport, logistics.
What about the difficulty and wracking of nerves following the application to PB?
Special jigs you made for the body and adapters for rotisserie?
Any filler on the body?
(Be honest)
Some ups and downs, such as the leak that sprung unexpetedly, how hard to bleed brakes, get her first start, that sort of thing.
Cheers
Beautiful! How would I get employed as a restorer?
Restore something..
Stunning car!
Got here early
👍👍👍👍
20 views? Get in!
Perfect video for me I am totally addicted to those kind of videos thumbs up. You should use a service such as Promo'SM.
Pebble is insane and toxic and ruining car culture. Let’s hope your $25M race car can drive under its own power for 3 miles. Oh no, you used the wrong washers (that Enzo originally got from Luigi’s hardware store down the street from the factory). Good business decision by ISSIMI but I hate everything Pebble and Quail stand for. Cars are meant to be driven.
Yeah seeing $25M cars at Goodwood actually being driven is way cooler.
Pebble is absolutely a smell my own farts contest
ISSIMI fan disappointed- if I actually had the money to pay for such exotic prep, I would be put off by the smarmy reps focus on their “relationship” skills and willingness to follow behind a car too ill prepared to complete the required drive… It smells like this guy would be more focused on handling me interpersonally like an “asset” than demonstrating a pattern of thorough and no excuses preparation allowing customers to arrive and depart both resplendent and confidently… especially when this appears to be a rather elegantly simple machine (relative to say a 200kmi Prius, Doble, or some Lagonda or Lincoln covered in vacuum logic)…
Hopefully this is just the standalone impression of an orphaned edit cut out of a larger pitch, or perhaps the service offered is only polishing and logistical support.
… also disappointed to hear that finishing the drive only by means of traveling mechanic entourage wouldn’t take vehicle score down more that it does (not ISSIMIs fault in any way, just sad)
Fan not lost… yet