Ferrari 330 America by Cyrille Jaquinot a Book Review: By Jim Weed

 

    The 60-year anniversary of the 250 GTE has spawned many tributes. While the GTE model was not sexy enough, it does hold a pivotal role in Ferrari history.

    At the time it was Enzo Ferrari’s greatest accomplishment, aside from racing. The boldness of the project would bring a whole new set of buyers to a Ferrari automobile.

    Ferrari had previously toyed with 4-seater cars, but none were really made to fit four real people. The GTE was to change that. In addition, the projected quantity to be built was most ambitious.

    Surely, Luigi Chinetti had a hand in helping Ferrari decide to embark on building a 2+2 for the masses; for letting Pininfarina loose to design the body; and to commit his salesmanship to sell many of these cars in America.

    Three years later and 950 250 GTEs built, the next new model was nearly ready for production. The design for the 330 GT 2+2 was set and Pininfarina was ready to begin production. But wait, there were still 50 more cars needed to complete the original 1000 vehicle contract.

    Chinetti again stepped up and committed to purchasing the last fifty cars. Put the new 4-liter engine in them and call it a 330 America.
Cyrille Jaquinot has brought the story and history of this single model to life. Chinetti figures heavily in the beginning of the book with a review of how Ferrari and Chinetti knew each other and how their shared experiences helped shape Chinetti’s life.

    Chinetti came to America and escaped the war; when he could go back, his bond with Ferrari helped the latter create the cars we love today. Chinetti’s commitment to sell Ferrari automobiles to rich Americans sealed the deal.

    Throughout the years it can be seen how Chinetti helped Ferrari sell products in America. Models like the Superamerica and Spyder California may not have ever been built were it not for Chinetti’s influence.

    So, when it came to those last fifty cars Ferrari obliged and Chinetti sold.

    The book Ferrari 330 America is a tribute to Chinetti and all he did to help create a presence in America. It also, with its many, many photographs, details every aspect of this interesting batch of Ferraris.

    More than half the book follows the history of each individual car. Greater than the dry history of who, what and where each car has ever lived, Jaquinot supplies us with photos of each car. Often, with multiple detail shots in addition to glamour shots of the cars in action or placed in bucolic settings.

    This book blurs the line between a technical manual on a type and a coffee-table pictorial history. Either way it deserves a place in any Ferrari library.

    ISBN 97810 3485 3435, 10 in. x 8 in., 400 pages. I found it on Blurb.com. Go to history and scroll through other self-published books. Or, contact Cyrille Jaquinot directly at WWW.CAVALLINOMARKET.COM,  contact@cavallinomarket.com.