Doomed NART project never really took off

Only one built: The success of Ferrari sales in North America doomed the simple and ingenious design

Most serious Ferrari enthusiasts interested in the earlier models will recognize the term NART (North American Racing Team).

During the 1960s, Luigi Chinetti was the Ferrari distributor for the United States and made a good living selling his used Ferrari racing cars to wealthy Americans.

His Ferraris attracted some of the best drivers in the country; they were extremely fast, lightweight sports cars that claimed numerous victories and were responsible for Chinetti’s flourishing business.

Luigi Chinetti Jr. began working on his own exciting project in 1969, one that would certainly have some financial risk.

His plan was to offer the existing Chinetti clientele a luxurious and sophisticated, high-performance, four-seat bespoke automobile at a reasonable cost.

The design was simple and rather ingenious. It would require relocating the front-wheel-drive engine and sub-frame from the Cadillac Eldorado into a body constructed in Italy by the famous coach building firm Zagato.

The result was a 400-horsepower, 500-cubic-inch, mid-engined car with four-wheel independent suspension and four-wheel disc brakes.

The lightweight body combined with a large engine offered neck-snapping performance and acceleration.

The reverse rear window is reminiscent of the one used in the Ferrari Dino.

The prototype car was displayed on the Zagato stand at the Turin auto show in 1971 and again a few months later on the Chinetti stand at the New York Auto Show.

However, the sale of Ferrari products took off for Chinetti and Junior’s project was shelved.

Only one of these cars was built and sold, and the original owner decided to sell it a while ago at an auction in California for $68,835.