In the coming Salon Retromobile happening in Paris early February, three rare GT cars from Serenissima will be offered by Artcurial. Scuderia Serenissima was founded by Count Giovanni Volpi, who walked out from the Ferrari tribe and formed his own team in 1961. When Enzo Ferrari stopped selling Ferraris to the team, Volpi turned to other automakers to create his own. The three Serenissimas in this auction were pretty much in their original condition from the heydays of 1960s.
The first one is the 1966 Serenissima Spyder by Fantuzzi. It was once raced on the track of Le Mans, which is the only surviving Spyder of two built and has ever had one owner — Count Volpi himself. Few would remember Serenissima did participate in Le Mans as 1966 is always seen as the year which three Ford GT40s took the three podium places. The #24 Serenissima Spyder was driven by Jean-Claude Sauer and Jean de Mortemart, but retired after 5 hours due to transmission broke down. The spyder is still fitted with the 3.5-litre V8 engine designed by Alberto Massimino. The aluminium bodywork by Fantuzzi shows signs of wearing but again it remains unaltered.
The 1967 Serenissima Agena prototype was designed as a high-end Grand Tourer, with a mid-setting engine almost identical to the aforementioned Le Mans Spyder, yet it was hardly used once finished. The prototype is being sold by the marque owner with documentation and photos. With its nature and rarity you can expect to see it in future concurs and events.
The 1968 Serenissima Ghia GT is another prototype in the auction. Born out of the friendship between Count Volpi and Alejandro de Tomaso who was in charge of Ghia at the time, the coupé was created by designer Tom Tjaarda and was exhibited on the Ghia stand at Motor Shows in Turin, Geneva and New York. It requires recommissioning before it can be driven, but again this comes from the marque owner and it’s the first time the coupe is available.
