New York museum is home to extremely rare Ferrari
- This Museum in New York is playing host to a very rare Ferrari
- The Saratoga Automobile Museum has an exhibition on the car brand
- One of the cars on display is an innovative prototype that debuted in 1966
Published on Aug 02, 2024 at 4:40 PM (UTC+4)
by Ben Thompson
Last updated on Aug 02, 2024 at 6:31 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
This New York museum is home to an extremely rare Ferrari.
The Saratoga Automobile Museum is hosting the car as part of its exhibition ‘Enzo Ferrari: An Obsession with Speed’.
The car getting central billing? The stunning Ferrari Speciale prototype of Aldo Brovarone.
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A brief history of the Ferrari Speciale
The Speciale was a prototype designed to demonstrate the possibilities of the brand.
Introduced at the 1966 Paris Motor Show, the car shared engineering and design similarities with two other museum exhibition cars, the Dino and Daytona.
The Speciale was nicknamed ‘Tre Posti’ and ‘Guida Centrale’ due to its innovative central driver position.
Later in the year, the Lamborghini would bring a mid-rear engine design to market when it released the Miura.
After its worldwide show tour wrapped up in 1967, Tre Posti was sold to US Ferrari importer, Luigi Chinetti.
Although he sold it and bought the car back twice, it would remain in the Chinetti family until 2014, spending some time on loan at the Saratoga Auto Museum in 2009.
So, while this car is rare, it’s not as exclusive as the 456 GT Venice, of which only seven were made and six were for the Sultan of Brunei.
The mechanics of the Speciale
The car was powered by a V-12 Colombo engine, which was in turn fueled by three Weber 40DFI carburetors.
The Speciale kept in the museum remains in good shape, producing 375hp, which would be enough to get it up to speeds of over 150mph.
At the time of its creation, the Speciale was a big innovation for Ferrari.
Enzo Ferrari himself had been uncertain about whether his buyers would take a chance on a 375hp mid-rear engine road car.
However, the Dino, also featured in the Saratoga Auto Museum, proved that there could be a market for such a car.
The story of this buried Ferrari Dino 246 GTS is the most bizarre car story ever.
The Speciale was ahead of its time with its mid-rear engine placement, which would be replicated in the 1973 365 GT/4 Berlinetta Boxer and the 1994 512 Testarossa.
This goes to show that Ferrari always finds a way to make an idea work, even if it comes to fruition decades later.
With this type of long-term thinking, it’s no wonder that a third of the company’s clients are under the age of 40.
If you want to check out the exhibit, you can head down to the Saratoga Automobile Museum in Saratoga Springs, New York.
