Never resting on its laurels, Ferrari sought to improve upon the four-cylinder race cars that had won them the 1954 World Sportscar Championship. The 500 Mondial and 750 Monza would soon face new competition, including the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR. In response, Ferrari developed new, larger engines including the Lampredi-designed 3.5 liter in the 857 Sport.

The 857 Sport debuted at the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy in Ireland and Scuderia Ferrari entered three new works 857s to compete with Mercedes-Benz. Included in the lineup was this example, chassis 0588 M, the last of the four 857 Sports built. On September 14, 1955, Ferrari’s new team driver Olivier Gendebien entered the circuit in 0588 M for Thursday morning practice and, unfortunately, crashed and rolled the Ferrari before the end of practice. Days later, chassis 0588 M was returned to Carrozzeria Scaglietti in Modena, for repairs, during which, Scaglietti fitted a tail fin to the headrest, giving the car its distinctive appearance. As with many of the ex-Scuderia Ferrari cars, 0588 M was sold to the US to partake in the country’s flourishing sports car racing scene.

Noted sports car team owner John Edgar of Hollywood, California, had amassed a group of significant Ferraris, including a 275 Sport Barchetta, 340 America, and the former Le Mans-winning 375 MM Plus. After seeing Phil Hill’s win for Ferrari in the 3.5-liter 857 S in Nassau, Edgar decided he needed a large-displacement four cylinder for the upcoming season.

In 1956, Edgar placed an order with Luigi Chinetti in New York, and soon he received 0588 M, as well as an invoice for $17,500. Once prepped, the team headed to Palm Springs, California, with the 857. On the starting grid, Edgar’s driver, Jack McAfee, sat poised in his new mount across from Carroll Shelby in Scuderia Parravano’s 410 S. Quickly after the start the two Ferraris pulled past a D-Type to take the lead, but McAfee could not keep up with Shelby on the Palm Springs circuit. Regardless, the 857 Sport’s first competitive outing brought the car a commendable 2nd Overall.

Several weeks later at the Stockton Road Races, McAfee piloted the 3.5-liter Ferrari to a 1st Overall victory over another D-Type and John von Neumann in his Monza. With the finned Ferrari gaining popularity throughout California, fans were delighted to see the car lined up that April for the 7th Annual SCCA Pebble Beach Road Races. The grid included a full mix of four- and six-cylinder Ferraris in the hands of Hill, Shelby, and Ernie McAfee. Unfortunately for Ernie McAfee, it would be his last race and, as a result of his death, the last year of road races in the forest at Pebble Beach. Despite the dark air that day, Jack McAfee took the 857 Sport to a 3rd Overall.

From there, Jack McAfee took the car to a 6th Place finish at the SCCA National at Eagle Mountain Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas, but at Road America, on June 24, 1956, McAfee failed to finish. In July, McAfee managed a 5th Overall at the race at Beverly, prior to the car’s return to the West Coast. For the SCCA National Seafair Road Races outside of Seattle, Edgar entrusted Masten Gregory to pilot the 857, although gearbox trouble ended his race.

The 857 Sport was quickly flown to New York in order to fix the gearbox prior to the race at Montgomery on August 19th. McAfee had enjoyed continued success in the Porsche 550, and by now Carroll Shelby had come to join the team. For the New York race, Shelby would pilot the 857 for the first time, with fantastic results. In race four, he won outright, and repeated the result in race nine ahead of a Maserati 300S and three Cunningham D-Types.

At Thompson Raceway the following month, Shelby ended up in the dirt after the Ferrari’s brakes failed. Back in the hands of McAfee that November, the car came in 5th Overall at the 1st Annual Palm Springs National Championship Races. In December, four starts at Nassau, piloted by Richie Ginther, yielded no podiums, and likewise for Shelby at Pomona to round out the year. However, the 857 S had served the team well in the 1956 season, and Edgar subsequently sold it to Stan Sugarman of Scottsdale, Arizona.

In April 1957, McAfee borrowed the Ferrari from Mr. Sugarman to compete in the 2nd Annual Palm Springs National Championship Races where he took 5th Place. In November, McAfee took 4th, and then 5th in the main event. Later that month, Richie Ginther finished 5th in the main event at the inaugural race at Laguna Seca.

A few more outings over the next year brought an 8th Overall at Riverside and a 3rd Overall in Palm Springs, but by 1958 Mr. Sugarman knew he had an old race car. That year he replaced the four-cylinder Ferrari engine with that of a Chevrolet Corvette V-8. During the late 1950s, the car found its way to Texas, and by 1962, Jim Hall facilitated the purchase of 0588 M to the admired enthusiast Oscar Koveleski of Scranton, Pennsylvania. Koveleski fitted yet another Corvette V-8 engine and over the next three years went racing and brought home a few podium finishes from small events in the Northeast.

In 1966, the 857 Sport was sold to pop artist Andy Warhol. An unusual owner for an old racing Ferrari, Mr. Warhol wanted to make a parody of the film The Yellow Rolls-Royce. Chassis 0588 M was subsequently painted yellow with black wheels and a black grille. The film was never produced and the Ferrari was said to have been driven by Mr. Warhol’s agent around the streets of New York.

The car eventually passed to Tiny Gould, still finished in yellow and black, prior to its return to Italy. In the early 1970s, Christopher Renwick sold the car to Luigi P. Rezzonico Castelbarco of Imbersago, Italy, more commonly known as “Count Bobily”. During his ownership, the 857 S appeared at the 1973 Le Mans Historics driven by Corrado Cupellini, who later owned the car, eventually selling it to the respected collector Jean-Claude Bajol.

Meanwhile, by 1982, a Los Angeles attorney was offering the engine and gearbox of a so-called “Super Monza” out of Australia. During an inspection of the components, the engine was found to be 0588 M – the original 3.5-liter four-cylinder unit from this 857 S. After some negotiation, the engine and gearbox were sold to David Cottingham of DK Engineering in the UK.

After 13 years in his ownership, M. Bajol sold the Ferrari to Mr. Cottingham who had persistently tried to buy the car, intending to restore and reunite it with its original engine.

In 2011, the 857 S was disassembled and inspected prior to an extensive restoration by DK Engineering. The body was found to be exceptionally original and was expertly refinished. The original engine and transaxle were rebuilt and reunited with the chassis after more than 50 years apart. By September 2011, the 857 S was returned to its John Edgar livery and made its debut at the Goodwood Revival.

In 2012, chassis 0588 M joined the collection of its current owner, where it has taken its place among a score of world-class competition Ferraris and has been maintained by his expert staff of caretakers. Today, in superb mechanical and cosmetic order, the 857 Sport represents a supremely finished example of a very significant and pure four-cylinder Ferrari. Having started life as a Scuderia Ferrari works car, the subsequent race record in the ownership of John Edgar marks a successful spell in the hands of both Jack McAfee and Carroll Shelby. Additionally owned by Oscar Koveleski, Andy Warhol, and Jean-Claude Bajol, 0588 M is certainly a unique example.

Furthermore, 0588 M boasts gorgeous and unique Scaglietti coachwork, a matching-numbers engine, and an exceptional history, having been raced by some of the greatest drivers of the era. This is quite possibly the best 857 in existence and one of the most important four-cylinder Ferraris ever produced. Beautifully restored and likely the finest of its kind, this is a chance to own one of the most compelling Ferrari sports racing cars of the 1950s.