The ultimate italian coachbuilder site
The ultimate italian coachbuilder site
This spectacular Ferrari here is perhaps the Marzottos’ most significant car of the twenty-some Ferraris that the brothers owned. Completed by the factory on 2 February 1950 and delivered to Umberto, chassis number 024 MB’s first outing was in the Targa Florio, where a clutch problem unfortunately sidelined the car. The car’s next outing was at the Mille Miglia with Umberto and co-driver Franco Cristaldi. It was crashed heavily and returned to Ferrari, where it was fully rebuilt.
After their accident at the Mille Miglia, the Marzottos were looking for even better results in 1951. Giannino thought success could be achieved through utilizing new bodywork for 024 MB that placed an emphasis on weight reduction and improved aerodynamics. Rather than fit the car with traditional coachwork from Touring, Fontana of Padova and the soon-to-be famous sculptor Franco Reggiani were commissioned to create a streamlined body, with maximum efficiency and performance in mind. The result, lovingly nicknamed “Uovo” (“egg” in Italian), was an automotive design like no other. Heavily inspired by Reggiani’s previous aeronautical training, the Uovo took the shape of a jet, minus the wings. The bare Ferrari frame was superimposed over a tubular structure reversed and bonded with Peraluman plates, which created a light but rigid outer shell. One hundred and fifty kilos lighter than similar Ferraris of the time, it was fitted with twin shock absorbers and a regulator for its Formula 2 brakes. The car was fitted with a 156-liter gas tank with a range of over 550 kilometers. The windshield was as upright as possible and was made from crystal. Marzotto was pleasantly surprised to find that the crystal provided excellent visibility, due to not creating “annoying reflections.” Marzotto’s only wish for his excellent creation was that the hood be 15 cm lower – the raise was due to the factory not delivering the ordered monoposto radiator in time. Conceived and executed by Giannino from start to finish, the Uovo is the epitome of a car envisaged by a racing driver without limitation of imagination and financial means. Curiously, Marzotto took Enzo’s advice to place the driving position as far back as possible, allowing the driver to feel the tail movement at its height – although this did cause severe oversteer. It debuted at the Giro di Sicilia, still unpainted in bare aluminum and with an enormous aircraft headlight on the left. It led with a 20-kilometer advantage on the second but was forced to withdraw because of a broken O-ring in the differential. It is the period photographs from the start of that year’s Mille Miglia at Brescia that showcase just how groundbreaking the design was. Many photographs of the car from this event exist and in almost every photograph, the unique Ferrari appears to be at the crowd’s center of attention. Reminiscing about the race, Giannino Marzotto remarked that: “I felt very comfortable in my Uovo – led by the three carburetors with 186 bhp – whose sheer speed appeared competitive with that of the 4.1-liter Ferrari. Torque and acceleration could be lower . . . but the handling . . . was much better. As a driver, this was a privilege.” Looks aside, most notably, the Uovo held a significant portion of the lead, 30 kilometers on Ferrari’s 4.1-liter Works entry, before it was forced to retire due to tire problems. Surely the instance of a heavily modified privateer entry leading a Works car caused several heads to roll in Maranello! It can be argued that the Uovo would have emerged victorious had it not been sidelined. While the Giro di Sicilia and the Mille Miglia both resulted in DNFs for the Uovo, the car’s third race, the Giro della Toscana, proved to be much more fruitful; Giannino Marzotto and Marco Crosara crossed the finish line in 1st place overall. After a successful 1951 season, Giannino started to be much less involved in the family business and in 1952 raced only twice. He established the Scuderia Marzotto to lend his many Ferraris to his friends in order to keep racing under the family name. Returning to the Mille Miglia in 1952 with Guido Mancini and Adriano Ercolani, the Uovo once again ran consistently within the top 10 entrants before retiring. That year’s Trento-Bondone hill climb saw the Uovo finish 1st overall with Giulio Cabianca behind the wheel, with a further 4th overall and 1st in class finish at the Coppa della Toscana a few days later. The final known event in Europe for the Uovo was the Avus Grand Prix in September 1952, where it finished 4th overall.
At the end of 1937, at the Milan Motor Show, Carrozzeria Castagna had exhibited a Vistotal cabriolet which featured a windshield which was erected from the dashboard without any side posts. This revolutionary system born beyond the Alps was called “Vutotal”.
There are in the history of companies, just as in the history of nations, certain fateful episodes, which have an influence on the course of events well in excess of their actual importance. Chrysler’s request to Ghia to build for them, to their design, a special body on a Plymouth chassis, is one of these episodes.
Giannino Marzotto was one of the Marzotto family’s heirs, a well know family of entrepreneurs in the textile industry; Enzo Ferrari’s friend and great…
