There it was again. Open right to the page on David Love's coffee table in blue gray light, as the afternoon rain tapped out a rhythmic theme on large picture windows. In recent days this story of 0718's history has been often quoted for my benefit. The passage, from Joel Finn's seminal work on 250 TRs published thirty years ago, has long been accepted as fact. But, like so much in Ferrari history, had it become legend, accepted and repeated, by having been carved in stone by ink on the well-thumbed page?
One must certainly respect the scholarship represented for standing up to the onslaught of Ferrari tales told and retold in the thirty years since publication. During the period of these decades past we have seen competition cars transformed from worthless obsolete racers to priceless objects of desire, with revered histories.
As the rain ran down the large picture windows its descending translucent shadow moved across this tale of 0718. Finn had written that 250 Testa Rossa, serial number 0718, was initially an Ecurie Belge car, first run in-anger by Lucien Bianchi at Goodwood on 7 April 1958. Wearing the number 59, Bianchi brought the TR beneath checker in 5th place. The debut was followed by an appearance at Silverstone, were Bianchi again piloted, achieving a 6th place in the standings. Finn goes on to state that 0718 was then entered in the June festivities at LeMans. Here Bianchi was joined by Mairesse for the run of twenty-four hours in weather much like this wet afternoon. The yellow Francorchamps garage car covered only a tenth of the distance required to finish, the clutch
Pictures above are live links to excerpts.
