“This is truly a collector’s dream of the ultimate sports-prototype Ferrari to own – from its eye-catching color
scheme, stunning aesthetics, and purpose in design that define Ferrari’s artistry during this pivotal time in
their history,” commented Rupert Banner, Global Head of Specialists at Bonhams|Cars. “Thanks to
the long lineage of custodians and recent thorough restoration, this sports race car is road registered and
routinely exercised and ready for shows or tours.”
The FIA World Championship of Makes, the sports-car World Championship of its period in the mid-1960s,
showcased during the height of Ferrari’s dominance. For the 1967 World Championship racing season, just
two privateer 412P cars were constructed alongside the Works 330P3/4 and P4 Ferraris. This car first raced
with Col. Ronnie Hoare’s Team in his preferred colors and in its first year was piloted by drivers Richard
Attwood, Piers Courage, Lucien Bianchi, Jo Siffert and prominent privateer David Piper. Upon its racing
debut in World Championship Round 4, the Belgian Spa 1000 Kilometers, co-driven by Attwood and
Bianchi, they finished 3rd overall, gaining championship points that proved vital in securing Ferrari’s ultimate
victory in the 1967 World Championship of Makes.
0854 contested in the 1967 Le Mans 24-Hours, and the Brands Hatch 6-Hour race in the UK, before
changing hands to David Piper who completed that year in it at the Paris 1000 Kilometers, Kyalami (South
Africa) 9-Hours, and the Cape Town 3-Hours. Piper campaigned the car around Europe and South Africa
over 1968-1969, winning at the 1968 Nuremberg 200 Kilometers at the Norisring, the Solituderennen at
Hockenheim, and the Swedish Grand Prix. Piper had lightened the car by adopting open-cockpit glassfibre
body panels, the hand-formed aluminum Ferrari originals from 1967 being stored. This proved just as well as
a minor collision during the 1969 East London 500 Kilometers race in South Africa caused a fuel leak which
ignited, burning the molded GRP bodywork. Back in Europe the car returned to racing with even lighter GRP
open-cockpit bodywork, Piper competing at the Norisring and Hockenheim.
In 1969, the car then passed into its first US ownership, with Chris Cord of Philadelphia, grandson of the
Cord automobile creator. Successive owners have included a roster of top tier collectors, including Sir (later
Lord) Anthony Bamford, Sir Paul Vestey, John McCaw and Bruce McCaw before passing to its current
custodian in 2005. The passionate automotive entrepreneur owner oversaw a painstaking restoration over
nine years, which included the refitting of its original aluminum bodywork, placing it in the guise of its final
outing for Col. Ronnie Hoare’s Team, wearing race number ‘9’ at Brands Hatch. Its exacting refurbishment
has ensured that today 0854 is believed to be the sole car of this prototype Ferrari era that retains its
original chassis, engine, gearbox and bodywork.
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