Carroll Shelby's Winningest Ferrari Is Monterey 2022's Highest-Priced Auction

One of these wealthy men was John Edgar, who made millions manufacturing kitchen machinery. He also had an insatiable need for speed, which he satisfied in various racing boats and cars over the years. Edgar saw his first Ferrari in action in 1951 and knew that he had to have one. He eventually purchased several, but his efforts were bested by a 4.9-liter Ferrari 410 Sport (0592 CM, which was a single carburetor car) piloted by an ex-chicken farmer named Carroll Shelby.

On the other side of the pond, and a few years earlier, Enzo Ferrari was determined to win the FIA World Sportscar championship. In 1955, Ferrari designed an all-new chassis called the 519/C. It powered a 4,954cc V12 racing engine with three huge twin-choke Weber 46 DCF carburetors. The result was 400 horsepower, which is essentially half what the current812 Superfastproduces.

Ferrari built only two examples with the chassis numbers 0596 CM and 0598 CM. Car 0598 CM was raced by Fangio in the final round of the FIA World Sportscar championship,称为Carrera Panamericana. Unfortunately, the car broke down on lap 89, andStirling Mosswon the race in a Maserati 300S.

The two 410s were retired, returned to the factory, and restored. They were sold to privateers, which takes us back to John Edgar, who had been waiting to buy the same car that beat him earlier.

To ensure success, Edgar lured Shelby away from Scuderia Parravano. In early December 1956, 0598 CM was shipped to Nassau for the Bahamas Speed Week. Shelby struggled with the car at first but eventually won eight races and managed 10 podium finishes.

From 1956 to 1958, 0598 CM entered nearly 40 races and scored 11 victories and 19 total podium finishes in the hands of the drivers mentioned earlier.

Edgar sold the car in 1960, and it continued to have a colorful life. It traveled the globe and made an appearance at several historic races, and graced the covers of several magazines. In the 2010s, it was selected by Ferrari as one of 60 cars representing the most significant Ferraris in the history of the marque. Recently the car has undergone a full Ferrari Classiche inspection, and a detailed report is on file.

The car was sold with the first and last trophies won by Shelby in the car, as well as the original fuel tank inscribed by Carroll Shelby. On it, Shelby wrote, "Mr. Ferrari told me that this was the best Ferrari he ever built."

Interestingly, four years ago, aFerrari racer with a similar historyalso fetched an identical price at auction, piloted by Fangio and Hill, but not by Shelby.