1953 Ferrari 342 America

Ferrari Maserati of Silicon Valley owner Giacomo Mattiolli describes monarch King Leopold of Belgium’s 1953 Ferrari 342 America at Ferrari’s 60th anniversary celebration at his Silicon Valley dealership in Redwood City, CA

Courtesy of Ferrari;

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342 America (1950s)

The 342 America was Ferrari’s most exclusive model of the period and represents the first series of Speciales designed by Pininfarina. In the two years it was produced, only six were built. Each example was unique and a significant part of Ferrari’s history. The first 342 America was bodied by Vignale and the remaining five by Pininfarina with the entire series producing three cabriolets and three coupes. The 342 America employed a long 2,650 mm wheelbase because of the ‘long block’ Lampredi engine’s length. It also served to fulfill the model’s intended purpose as a comfortable, powerful, grand touring automobile with room for occupants and reasonable luggage capacity. With the 342 Americas and, simultaneously, the 250 MM Berlinettas, Ferrari and Pininfarina began a solid working relationship that has continued unabated to this day.

In addition to the longer wheelbase Ferrari widened the 342 America’s track dimensions by 47 mm (1.85′) at the front and by 7 mm (2.75′) at the rear. A reinforced live rear axle with a 4-speed, now synchronized, gearbox was used. Standard power was modest, rated by Ferrari at some 200 brake horsepower with a pump-fuel friendly 8:1 compression ratio. 342 Americas could be ordered with special factory tuning, producing up to 300 brake horsepower. King Leopold’s 342 America was one such example.

In a departure from Ferrari’s exclusive practice of reserving even chassis numbers for its competition cars, Ferrari acknowledged the competition heritage of the Lampredi V-12 powered 342 America by conferring even numbers of all six of them, a convention that was not followed by the succeeding 240 Europa and 375 America models. The ‘AL’ (America Lungo) suffix attached to these few cars signified the long wheelbase chassis and all were built with left-hand drive. Interestingly, the model designation, 342, is the individual cylinder capacity of the America’s 4,101 cc engine. The Ferrari 340, with exactly the same dimensions as the 342, is an aberration from conventional Ferrari model numbers at the time and added further significance to Ferrari’s first series of Speciales.

The model here on display is in fact the one owned by King Leopold and as such is outfitted with a number of very special and exclusive options requested by the King. It is also significant in being the first Left-Hand Drive Ferrari convertible ever produced.