- In the beginning, Ferrari also chased fame and honour on the water
- Only the Ferrari engine survived the car's fatal racing accident in the Mexican desert
- Monzino takes to the stage
- Boat with Ferrari resembles an amphibious vehicle
- The red three-pointer with the rising horse was forgotten
- Restoration to perfection
- Years of patience and care were required to breathe life back into it
- Technical data
Contact! In the deep cockpit of his single-seater, the driver presses the fuel pump switch. He lets the engine run for a few seconds with the starter motor, but without igniting it. He pumps the accelerator pedal with his foot until the carburettors are full. Then he sets the magneto to position three and presses the starter button again. This time, a controlled inferno is triggered in the centre of each of the twelve cylinders. The engine has come to life. The rev counter quickly twitches to 1300 revolutions per minute. The cooling water slowly heats up, while the oil pressure gradually drops from eight to four kilograms per square centimetre. The sound is fantastic. If you have an ear for it, you can hear all the moving parts of the historic V-12 engine purring like clockwork.
For a fraction of a second, the driver thinks of Ascari and Villoresi, who almost won the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1953 - if it hadn't been for that stupid clutch. In the meantime, the water temperature has risen to 60 degrees. The pilot switches off the engine so that the heat is distributed and continues to rise naturally. Three minutes later, he fires up the engine for the third time. He engages the propeller shaft and slowly releases the pedal. The red hydroplane begins to leave its trail of white foam across the lake. It picks up speed and finally lifts itself seemingly weightlessly onto the narrow edges of the hull.
In the beginning, Ferrari also chased fame and honour on the water
At this speed, most ordinary boats have already reached their limit. Here, the party has only just begun. Right next to it, the author at the helm of a jet-powered RIB designed by Fabio Buzzi for the Italian Navy's special forces is trying to keep up with the raging fireball chasing across Lake Como. The photographer on the bow of the accompanying boat is bent forward as if in an attack position, camera in one hand.
Unlike the other two classic Ferrari-powered racing boats that still exist, this is the only one equipped with an engine that comes directly from a renowned road racing car. The other two have engines that were originally intended for installation in racing boats. The incredible story begins in 1953 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Ferrari was still a relatively young company at the time. It worked with great ambition to make its emblem with the rising horse famous on the racetracks and thus become an icon.
It is the year of the first sports car world championship. Company founder Enzo Ferrari, known as Il Commendatore, launches a trio of 340-MM coupés to win the first major - and commercially promising - international title. At Ferrari, the designation of the older models was based on the displacement of the cylinders. Therefore, the 340 MM actually had a 4.1-litre engine, but the car with chassis number 0318AM was fitted with a 375-F1 with a displacement of 4.4 litres. This was derived directly from Aurelio Lampredi's V12 Formula 1 winning design of the 1950s. Ferrari historians know that this special unit was adapted for the 1952 Indianapolis 500 miles. Certain parts were milled from steel instead of forged.
Only the Ferrari engine survived the car's fatal racing accident in the Mexican desert
The prestigious Ferrari 375 MM was born shortly before the 1953 Le Mans race. The first example of the model was entrusted to aces Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi. The two dominated the competition. They were ahead for 17 of the 24 hours and even beat the lap record with 181.5 kilometres per hour. Nevertheless, they had to retire after 19 hours. The clutch failed after 229 of the 304 laps. It was probably unable to cope with the increased torque of the larger engine. Of the two other Ferraris, only the 340-MM chassis 0322AM finished the race in 5th place, driven by the brothers Paolo and Gianni Marzotto. The 0320AM with Hawthorn and Farina at the wheel was disqualified after twelve hours.
After Le Mans, the Ferraris went back to the Pininfarina workshop to be modified for the rest of the season. Further appearances followed. First in Belgium at the Spa circuit, then at the first edition of the 1000 kilometres at the Nürburgring. Finally in the seaside resort of Pescara on the Italian Adriatic.
The last race in which the Berlinetta 0318AM crossed the starting line was in Mexico. At that time, when Ferrari was not yet within reach of the world championship title, the three sister cars raced under the private flag of Franco Cornacchia's Scuderia Guastalla. So it was off to the desert of Central America for the impressive Carrera Panamericana. But the race ended in disaster. A tyre burst at full speed. The car left the track and overturned. The two drivers were killed and the Ferrari was almost completely destroyed. Only the engine remained virtually unscathed in the crash. It was returned to Italy and put into storage.
Monzino takes to the stage
In 1957, he came to the attention of a certain Guido Monzino, who needed an engine for a new 800-kilogram racing boat, which he had built at San Marco in Milan. The renowned shipyard belonged to Oscar Scarpa, himself a champion with countless victories and several speed records to his name. The hull bore the construction number 069 and the precious V12 itself was fully checked by the Ferrari Corsa department before installation.
Other interesting classics:
Guido Monzino was known to the Italian public not only for his large chain of Standa shops, but above all for his expeditionary spirit. This led him to the remotest corners of the world and almost made him a national hero thanks to regular media coverage. His self-financed adventures ranged from the Himalayas to the Andes and not least to the North Pole. There is no doubt that Monzino loved dramatic landscapes and the feeling of extraordinary moments that his fortune made possible.
His new racing boat was a so-called three-pointer. It was typical of the great era of motorboat racing, which lasted from the 1950s into the 1970s. The hull was characterised by a wide foredeck with two external floats. Meanwhile, the stern ended with a narrow transom that supported the propeller and rudder mounts. At full speed, the boat lifted so far that it was only in contact with the surface of the water at three points - the lower edges of the two floats and the propeller. Hence the name. This minimised the friction caused by water resistance.
Boat with Ferrari resembles an amphibious vehicle
As the cooling water for the engine must be preheated to a certain temperature at full load, it is first collected in an intermediate tank with a capacity of 20 litres. A heat exchanger heats it there. The driver must therefore ensure that the cooling water has reached a sufficient temperature before driving the engine in a speed range between 5000 and 6000 revolutions per minute. For perfect performance, it is also an advantage if the water surface is not completely smooth, but is rippled by small waves. From a speed of around 80 kilometres per hour, these can ensure that the hull is freed from the suction of the water, so to speak, and becomes even faster, similar to an amphibious aircraft taking off. For this reason, Monzino preferred to do his laps in the early hours of the morning, as these conditions were the most common.
When he wasn't travelling the world, the adventurer worked from his office in Milan. But in order to escape the big city and enjoy life from a sporting perspective, he stayed at his villa on Lake Como as often as possible. The villa was one of the most impressive there. When the weather permitted, he had his Ferrari three-pointer brought to the private jetty of his estate from a nearby shipyard. The numerous servants could then watch as the master of the house, impeccably dressed, climbed into the cockpit of his red racer in the morning and, accompanied by the fantastic roar of the twelve-cylinder engine, set course for Como. After just under a quarter of an hour, he moored at the yacht club. There he moored his boat and climbed into Ferrari number two, which was already waiting in the car park on land to take him to Milan.
The red three-pointer with the rising horse was forgotten
However, Monzino was not a driver who liked to go round in circles on the water. He therefore did not take part in classic races that led round the same buoys lap after lap. The only exception that appealed to him was an adventurous event that was very much his cup of tea: the Pavia-Venezia Raid. Over 450 kilometres, its unique route follows the wild course of the River Po downstream, peppered with obstacles such as sandbanks, blind bends, locks and bridges - all at top speeds. A rally on the water. Monzino achieved his best result with his floating Ferrari in 1958 with a respectable third place after a journey of four hours and 36 minutes at an average speed of 88.26 kilometres per hour.
A decade later, in the second half of the 1960s, Monzino's passion for Ferrari remained unabated, and he regularly purchased the most exclusive new models from Maranello, including the 400 Superamerica and the 250 GT California. Only the wild chase on the water lost its fascination for him over the years. And so his boat on land was increasingly forgotten - until a young art student from Milan, who also lived on Lake Como, became aware of the red work of art, which was now in need of renovation but had lost none of its aesthetic appeal.
Restoration to perfection
It was May 1969, and Italy had been experiencing the same political and social events as the USA and many other European countries since the previous year. Monzino was therefore initially highly suspicious when this student asked him to sell him his San Marco Ferrari. But Dody Jost, as the young man was called, turned out not to be a left-wing agitator at all, but an enthusiast with an eye for the extraordinary.
They finally came to an agreement. Jost, who also owned the Nautilus Hotel am See, acquired the three-pointer and conserved it for a few years before starting the complete restoration. The hull was sent to the renowned Luccini shipyard, while the engine was entrusted to the workshop of Diena & Silingardi Sport, specialists in the rarest Ferraris. Piece by piece, all elements of the classic regained their strength and beauty, but the process required years of effort before the original perfection was achieved.
Years of patience and care were required to breathe life back into it
The San Marco Ferrari was then exhibited in its former glory at the Museo Casa Natale Enzo Ferrari in Modena and fascinated not only the public, but also the company historians at Maranello themselves. For a long time, they had paid little attention to Ferrari's presence on the water. In 2012, the Classiche department, which is responsible for authenticating the most outstanding models, made the journey to measure the boat. After a thorough examination, the engine was finally officially recognised as a historic original.
Collectible Ferraris with an unusual pedigree can fetch high prices at auction. For example, a "younger sister" of the 0318AM, which was fitted with a 375 engine after the 1953 Le Mans race, fetched almost ten million euros in May 2013. But even such sums do not take anything away from the serenity of the unique three-pointer with the horse emblem, which was bought almost secretly at first hand more than fifty years ago. It still keeps the spirit of Monzino alive on Lake Como. The heart beats.
Technical data
Car
Ferrari 375 MM (Mille Miglia) Berlinetta, body: Pininfarina (number 0318AM), units: 23 (from 1953).
Engine
375 F1 V12 developed by Aurelio Lampredi for Formula 1, water-cooled, cylinder bank angle: 60°, displacement: 4.5 litres, transmission: 4-speed (manual), power: 340 hp at 7000 rpm, top speed: 289 kilometres per hour.
Boat
San Marco Ferrari, shipyard: Cantiere Navale San Marco, Milan (hull number 69), year of construction: 1957, type: three-point racing boat (hydroplane) of the 800 kg class, hull material: wood
This article appeared in BOOTE issue 11/2020 and was revised by the editorial team in December 2024.
