Ferrari Marks 60 Years in the United States with a Celebration on Rodeo Drive
Report and photos by Victor Varela
The city of Beverly Hills loves Ferrari. The Italian marque feels right at home cruising Santa Monica Boulevard, Wilshire Boulevard and of course, Rodeo Drive. What better place for Ferrari to celebrate its 60th anniversary in the United States, than in this Southern California city best know for wealth, celebrity and fast cars.
Over 1,000 Ferraris gathered in the streets of the 90210 for the “Race Through The Decades: 1954-2014” event, making this one of the largest gatherings of Cavallino Rampantes in history. Rodeo Drive served as an outdoor museum for 60 of the most iconic Prancing Horses ever assembled in California for this historic display.
Among these were several race winning cars – 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO 4293 GT; 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta ‘SEFAC Hot Rod’ Comp/61 2689 GT; 1967 Ferrari 330 P4 0856, the only original 330 P4 remaining; the “winningest” Ferrari, the ex-John von Neumann 1957 Ferrari 625/250 TRC 0672 MDTR; 1949 Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta 0008 M; 1964 Ferrari 250 LM 5893 LM and 1957 Ferrari 315 S 0684.
Some very notable road cars included the very first Ferrari in the United States, the 1948 Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta 0002 M; the 1955 Ferrari 375 America 0355 AL, the 1954 Turin Auto Show car custom built for Gianni Agnelli and the 1954 Ferrari 375 MM Scaglietti Coupe, which in 2014 became the first Ferrari to win Best of Show at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Celebrity cars were also represented with the 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4, purchased new by Steve McQueen, the 1981 Ferrari 308 GTSi, driven in the popular 1980s TV show, “Magnum P.I.” and the 1986 Ferrari Testarossa used in the TV show, “Miami Vice.”
The main event during the day’s celebration was the first worldwide unveiling of the limited-edition F60 America, commissioned to pay homage to the important and enduring relationship Ferrari has enjoyed with its American clients. Among the VIPs during the unveiling were John Elkann, Chairman of FCA; Piero Ferrari, Vice Chairman of Ferrari; Sergio Marchionne, CEO of FCA; Amedeo Felisa, CEO of Ferrari; Bruce Meyer, founding chairman of the Petersen Automotive Museum and TV personality Mario Lopez. Also making its debut in the United States was newest edition to the Ferrari stable, the first 458 Speciale A.
Aside from all the collectors, Ferrari clients and VIPs who were part of this historic occasion, fans of every age attended this free event to drool and admire the hundreds of Ferraris on display under the warm California sun – making this a truly special, automotive event.
The event ended on a high note as I had the pleasure of meeting Piero Ferrari at the end of the F60 unveiling and he was gracious enough to shake my hand and autograph my press card.
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Victor Varela documented Ferrari 60th Anniversary in America celebration. We split up Victor’s pictures into two galleries. The first gallery starting below features our favorite images, all displayed in the full-width view of Sports Car Digest, while the second gallery can be found on the last page of the article and gives a comprehensive view of all the photographs. To see more from Victor, visit VictorVarela.com.
Ferrari 60th Anniversary Gathering – Featured Photo Gallery
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Ferrari 60th Anniversary Gathering – Featured Photo Gallery Page Two
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Ferrari 60th Anniversary Gathering – Featured Photo Gallery Page Three
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Ferrari 60th Anniversary Gathering – Featured Photo Gallery Page Four
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Ferrari 60th Anniversary Gathering – Featured Photo Gallery Page Five
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Ferrari 60th Anniversary Gathering – Featured Photo Gallery Page Six
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Ferrari 60th Anniversary Gathering – Featured Photo Gallery Page Seven
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Ferrari 60th Anniversary Gathering – Featured Photo Gallery Page Eight
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Ferrari 60th Anniversary Gathering – Featured Photo Gallery Page Nine
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Ferrari 60th Anniversary Gathering – Featured Photo Gallery Page Ten
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Ferrari 60th Anniversary Gathering – Featured Photo Gallery Page Eleven
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Ferrari 60th Anniversary Gathering – Main Photo Gallery (click image for larger picture and description)
[nggallery id=748 images=15]
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[Source: Victor Varela]
“marquee”? In the first line of your text?!?!? Seriously. It’s time to learn how to spell. It’s “marque”.
2nd this.
Geez, you guys are tough. The buck, as always, stops with the editor. Hate to let you in on a secret, but we do know how to spell marque. This one slipped past the goalie though.
I have a tip for Walter in regards to credibility. When critiquing spelling and grammar, pay close attention to your own. Your rant is rampant with errors. If I were critiquing your English, then I wouldn’t know whether to begin with sentence fragments, punctuation, or simple capitalization.
For Jeff, avoid starting sentences with a numeral unless you are a student of Walter’s school of colloquialisms.
HAHAHA…Tru dat
Much nicer response than they deserved. What pricks.
Really!? First comment out the door is to point out a small typo? Who doesn’t love the smell of sarcasm and condescension in the morning. Seriously, leave this kind of attention grabbing for Facebook boys, and focus on the STORY and the IMAGES… it’s all about the cars and racing here and not to draw attention to the size of your dictionary.
Speaking of images, these are great photos, Mr. Varela, thanks to you and to Sports Car Digest.
You are very welcome, Don!
Amen to that
Very nice photos Vic!
Love the detail shots! That 312P, wow what a cool race car, my fave!
Cheers, Mike
Thanks, Mike. I always appreciate the nice comments you post about my images.
Great cars! Great photos! Thanks
Thank you, Herb!
They’re beautiful cars – all of them. But I didn’t know that they ‘…were assembled in California…’. If I had, then I wouldn’t have travelled to Maranello to see the factory!
They were all very beautiful automobiles. I am fairly positive that by your visit to Maranello, you knew full well that they were far from being assembled in California in the manufacturing sense as to them being part of a collection for this event. Funny guy. 😉
Just a foot note for those who may not be aware: FCA in these titles refers to “Fiat Chrysler Automobiles”, not Ferrari Club of America. Beautiful photos as ALWAYS!! Many thanks for covering the event! Sincerely David Curro Director – North Central Region – Ferrari Club of America.
Thanks for the foot note on the FCA acronym as I’m sure many thought it to be the Ferrari Club of America. Thanks for the kind words on the images and it was a pleasure to cover this event and to share the images of all the rare and wonderful Ferraris that were present.
Thanks so much for this great look back through racing history. Just lovely. I can remember many of these cars when they were racing. Peter Brock
You are very welcome, Mr. Brock. It was a very special event and I enjoyed capturing the images of all the truly unique and historic cars that were shared by their respective owners.