Alfa 412 Vignale

[CarterHendricks]

This thread looks like as good as any place to make notice that there is a delightful new book, Enrico Nardi, a fast life, by Dino Brunori and Andrea Curami. A friend thought the book was "breezy," and the writing style is light. But that is good. All my questions weren't answered. But there is a lot of research behind this book. The authors do not pretend to solve this last mystery in our Alfa V12 thread, but instead carefully explain all of the available information. There are 350 photos, and about 200 pages. The photos are printed much better than most automotive books. It is published in separate Italian and English editions. It is 55€, which is good value.

John DeBoer is acknowledged as a valuable contributor to this book. He and book coauthor Andrea Curami have also contributed much to the AlfaBB forum.

There isn't that much recent Alfa content. There is little on the famous Nardi steering wheels, and that is ok. Dino has already written articles about their manufacture. But there is much on Enrico Nardi's early history with Scuderia Ferrari, and there is a fascinating section on Nardi's involvement with Mollino and Damonte on the Bisiluro.

One can get this Christmas present directly from the publisher, Fondazione Negri, at their web site: Fondazione Negri onlus - Home I think Cliff Reuter may be shipping some copies to the USA for distribution. see cliffreuter.com for contact information.

--Carter

[don515jz]

I recently downloaded a bunch of photo's and in it was this one.
The title says Alfa Romeo 412 1939.
So is this the old body of the Vignale 412 or have there been more 412's?

[gtv2000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by don515jz I recently downloaded a bunch of photo's and in it was this one. The title says Alfa Romeo 412 1939. So is this the old body of the Vignale 412 or have there been more 412's?

[Marco750B56]

Great Story !

I found another Photo of the same Alfa Romeo 412.

BONETTO, " Circuito da Boavista - Oporto " - Portugal
1950

[fgsavoia]

One of the best thread of AlfaBB. But a question is killing me: where is now the Bonetto (?) based Nardi Silver Ray?

[iicarJohn]

My interpretation of all the data published about the Silver Ray is that there is a chance that a portion of the independent front suspension "pots" from the 412 were used in the building of the car. Probably not much more .... if anything at all. The references are actually quite vague when all are collected together. If you are expecting to find the chassis, i am quite sure that you will be disappointed. But, we won't really know until it is found ... in an unrestored state.

I knew where the Silver Ray was about 25 years ago ... when it was offered for sale in California a couple of years after the owner (or former owner?) died. The price was extremely high at the time for a car of this sort. My father and I picked up a Fiat 1500GT Ghia for the same former-owner in Southern California a few years earlier. We changed the head-gasket and had the radiator boiled-out ... or perhaps recored? I think the Ghia was then picked up from my father's home at some point but I'll see if my father remembers that detail. There's a chance he delivered it to somewhere near Redding, California which is where the Silver Ray "should have" been at the time, maybe around 1982?

"Names are named" in my 1994 "The Italian Car Registry" on page 265. I have a PO Box that was no longer valid in 1994 and a couple of "possible" phone numbers that I've never called. It will turn up one day.

John

[fgsavoia]

The question is born because is easy to think that a one off car like that, at this time would be surely appeared in some concours or classic car meeting.
But, as you remember, the last appearance was in the photo of that paper clipping.

And, since the price was already high at that time, it means that the owner knew (more or less) what he got in his hands.

Let's wait for the car trailed out from some barn somewhere......


edit: i was watching better this scan:



Well, the caption is wrong: it says that the Raggio Azzurro (blue ray) was based on Bonetto car. And this car was not the blue ray.

Moreover, in the car magazine scan the caption says "made for mr. Simpson"; in the advertisment clip it says: "made for Pirelli".

[AlfaMale164S]

FYI... the Silver Ray was sold to a gentleman in upstate New York about 4 years ago. It was going into a full restoration and should sometime soon be completed. It has a couple Alfa parts on it, but Maserati 3500 rear suspension, and a Plymouth engine.

[fgsavoia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlfaMale164S FYI... the Silver Ray was sold to a gentleman in upstate New York about 4 years ago. It was going into a full restoration and should sometime soon be completed. It has a couple Alfa parts on it, but Maserati 3500 rear suspension, and a Plymouth engine.

[AlfaMale164S]

I'll dig up a little more info as well as a couple photos in the near future.

[fgsavoia]

Just to add a further info to the discussion, Corrado Lopresto recently said (in an interview) to own "the Alfa Romeo engine father of the Ferrari 12V breed"