Ferrari 400 Superamerica SWB Coupe Aerodinamico (1961)

Not only capable of building the world’s most competitive racing cars, by the early 1960s Ferrari had established a reputation of producing the world’s greatest grand tourers. Born of Enzo’s realisation that he needed to be able to continuously fund his racing ambitions, Ferrari’s twelve-cylinder grand touring cars defined sporting luxury and brought race-bred pedigree to the road.

Introduced at the 1959 Turin Motor Show as Ferrari’s flagship grand tourer, the new 400 Superamerica boasted a number of improvements over its predecessor, the 410 Superamerica. Compared to the 250 GT coupe, this new car was fitted with a new, short-block ‘Colombo’ 4.0-litre V-12 (a full litre larger in displacement than the V-12 in the 250) with outside plugs. To haul in the performance, Dunlop disc brakes were introduced at all four corners. These were a massive improvement over the drum brakes on the 410 Superamerica. These improvements came at significant cost; the Superamerica was more expensive than the 250 GTO when new.

Thirty-five 400 Superamericas were constructed, and these models are divisible between long and short-wheelbase chassis’, as well as coupe and cabriolet coachwork. Much like its 250-series siblings, the short wheelbase are considered much more desirable than their long wheelbase brethren, thanks to their improved handling characteristics. Of the seventeen short-wheelbase 400 Superamerica Aerodinamico coupes built, this example was the fifth to be completed. Originally finished in Blu Lancia over a Blu Grigio leather interior with matching carpets in Blu Scuro, the car was one of just 10 outfitted with open headlights for delivery to Italy. However, the car would only remain in Italy with its original owner, Emanuele Rivetti, for roughly one year before it moved across the Atlantic.

The Superamerica’s second owner was John W. Mecom Jr. of Houston, Texas. Sold to him via the successful privateer racing driver Bob Grossman, prior to delivery the car was tested by Car and Driver magazine and featured on the cover of their April 1963 issue and tested at a cost of $17,800, nearly 4.5 times the price of a new Corvette at the time! Son of oil tycoon John W. Mecom Sr, previous owner of the New Orleans Saints NFL team, the younger Mecom was very active in racing in the 1960s and certainly no stranger to Ferraris, so it was only natural that he’d come into ownership of what was then the marque’s flagship offering.

The Superamerica remained with Mecom until 1970 and was then sold to Paul Schreiber of Palos Park, Illinois. The Superamerica was shown at Emilio Tosi’s Ferrari club meeting in Illinois in 1973, and once more in April of 1978 at a Ferrari Club of America regional event in Chicago. In 1976, the Ferrari was listed in Road & Track magazine for sale by Schreiber.

Despite this, Schreiber retained ownership of the Superamerica until late 1978 when the car was sold to Karl Dedolph of Wayzata, Minnesota. Passing through Wayne Nelson of Indianapolis, Indiana, the car found a long home with the celebrated enthusiast and vintage racer Tom Mittler, who would go on to own the Superamerica for circa thirty years until his passing in June 2010. Later that year, the car was shown by his family at the Santa Fe Concorso in New Mexico. The Superamerica remained with the Mittler Family until 2014. While under the ownership of the Mittler family, the car received Ferrari Classiche Certification, confirming that it retains its original chassis, engine, gearbox and differential.

Sold to its most recent previous owner in 2014; the car resided within a collection based on the west coast. Under this ownership, the car received a full restoration which took about eighteen months to complete. The mechanical work was done by the Ferrari specialists at Restoration & Performance Motorcars of Vergennes, Vermont while the paint, interior, and underbody work was done by Au Temps Tic Auto of Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue in Quebec, Canada. In total, this included of $210,000 of work and restoration invoices will be included in the sale.

In July of this year, the car received a minor service and inspection prior to being shipped to Pebble Beach where it was driven by DK Engineering in the Quail Rally where it performed beautifully and was superbly received, well suited to the California roads.

One of the most expensive motorcars money could buy at the time of its unveiling, it’s no surprise that the majority of Superamericas found homes with titans of industry such as John Mecom Jr. Enzo Ferrari himself even own one of the 17 SWB Aerodinamicos, now residing within the Revs Institute Collection. Blending exceptionally usable performance with unparalleled luxury, these cars were built with no comprises and are perfectly suited crossing continents in leaps and bounds. Classiche Certified and beautifully restored, this example wants for nothing and is an exceptional automobile in all regards.