A 1954 Ferrari 375 MM Scaglietti Coupe won the “Best of Show” prize, the most prestigious award at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, held at the famous Carmel golf course in California.
The car, which beat off a packed high-class field, was bought for 4 million Lire back in August 1954 by the film director Roberto Rossellini, although it was originally built as a race car, in the traditional red car with a “barchetta” body. It was the twelfth of fifteen 375 MM built and Rossellini drove it on the public roads, including trips to Switzerland with his wife Ingrid Bergman.
The 375 MM went back to the factory after an accident that had seriously damaged its front end and was sent on to Carrozzeria Scaglietti in Modena. The repair of the car provided Rossellini and Scaglietti with the opportunity to come up with a new coupe bodywork, featuring a series of innovations, such as the front fenders which anticipated by several years, the lines of the Testa Rossa and silver paintwork which combined to make chassis 0402AM a truly unique model.
The car remained in Rome until acquired by a young fan who paid 265 thousand lire for it. After that, the ex-Rossellini 375 MM passed into the hands of well-known French collector Charles Robert. It was then auctioned in 1994 and bought by Californian Mark Ketcham before it ended up with its current owner. The restoration work, which resulted in it winning the Pebble Beach competition took three years to complete, from 1995 to 1998.
Source: Ferrari