The winning Ferrari of Jo Bonnier and Lucien Bianchi. Count Giovanni Volpi bought some of Ferrari’s all conquering 1961 250TRI race cars for his Scuderia Serenissima team. This would be the last great Ferrari Serenissima would use. By late 1962 Volpi and others were caught up in a typical Ferrari “moment of confusion” and left.

Bonnier sits in the car while mechanics check something in the engine compartment..

The two Scuderia Serenissima Ferrari entries. The modified 250 Testa Rosa renamed 330 TRI and the 250 GT Berlinetta. #23 would win, the #22 Berlinetta would not finish. During the tumultuous great palace revolt at Ferrari in 1962, Enzo aggravated Serenissima’s boss Volpi enough that the Count funded a new company formed by ex-Ferrari people called ATS.

World Champion Phil Hill in the new Ferrari GTO. Typical of the erratic Mr. Ferrari, he decided not to send any factory cars to Sebring. Hill was disappointed not to be in one of the Sports race cars but the GTO was quick and finished 2nd overall entered by NART (North American Racing Team) the US importer Luigi Chinetti.

It appears here that the #53 MGA is passing Hill’s GTO. Honest, that’s my story and I am sticking to it. The Oltoff,/Whitmore MGA would finish a fine 20th overall.

Olivier Gendebien, aka Jellybean taking his turn in the GTO. Later in the year Hill & Gendebien would win the 1,000K of the Nurburgring and LeMans. Then Ferrari would go on a rampage and Phil Hill, along with several others, would simply walk away from the chaos.

Bill Wuesthoff, Bruce Jennings and Frank Rand would take their Porsche RS-60 to 3rd overall and just 1 lap behind the Hill/Gendebien Ferrari.

Bob Holbert would team with Dan Gurney is the Abarth-Porsche to finish 7th overall and first in the 1.6class.

The Gurney / Holbert Porsche accelerates out of the last turn. The Abarth bodied cars were very successful. As the Italians from Carlo Abarth’s factory made every body by hand, no two were exactly the same. This drove the Germans crazy, but they could not deny it was beautiful, fast and it sold out immediately.

Edgar Barth & Paul-Ernst Strähle in the second factory Abarth-Porsche were 9th overall and second in 1.6 to Gurney and Holbert.

This Cunningham Cooper Monaco was powered by a Maserati engine. Driven by Bruce McLaren and Roger Penske nobody thought the car would last - but it did and even led. Rarely out of the top 5. The electrics went bad as dark settled and it took the crew an hour to fix the lights. Even with that huge delay the car was 5th overall and only 16 laps behind the winner.

Roger Penske guides the Cooper Maserati T-61 under the MG Safety Fast bridge.

Innes Ireland in the Ferrari 250TRI 61. Ireland and Moss took the car to a 3 lap lead when a mistake by a pit steward caused a DQ for illegal refueling. Moss brought the car in about 2pm to check the brakes. The pit for the NART team was full so the car was pushed to the refueling area. A pit steward mistakenly cut the fuel seal and a mechanic filled the tank.

Moss leads before the DQ. It took officials 3 more hours to find that car #26 had refueled after 17 laps rather than the minimum 20 laps. While it was not the fault of the team - officials had no mercy and the car was not allowed to continue.

This Chaparral I was driven by Hap Sharp and Ronnie Hissom. Jim Hall took over for the last 45 minutes after his #11 car retired. The Chaparrals were fast and #10 finished 6th overall. The Texas oilmen knew they could compete with the best and over the next two decades Hall and the Chaparral’s won in long distance, CanAm, Indy and pioneered the black art of aerodynamic.

Originally built by Troutman & Barnes and called Chaparral, Jim Hall bought two and had great success. Hall asked to buy the name and hence the change to Chaparral I. He then hired Troutman and Barnes to continue with the Chaparral 2 and the rest is history.

The number 11 car fights with the eventual winning Ferrari. Jim Hall and Chuck Daigh drove this Chaparral and were doing well until the steering broke.

Front straight action as the #11 Chaparral goes past one of the Corvettes and continues to lead the #23 Ferrari.

George Constantine (in car) and Gus Andrey were two great New England drivers. Constantine had great success with this Ferrari TR 59/60 and owner John Bunch decided to race Sebring.

The car appeared with Constantine’s usual #49 left over from his win at the 1961 Watkins Glen Grand Prix. Gus Andrey (in shorts) oversees the work.

Thursday practice and somehow officials let Constantine go out with the wrong number on the car. Both George and Andrey were well known and liked by the SCCA and that influence may have worked for them.

One of Dave Nicholas’ life highlights. Here he sits on a Thursdy morning having ridden from the middle of Sebring city through the orange fields with the Flying Greek George Constantine in a real Ferrari Testa Rossa.

Roy Bishara, BARC #16, stands next to the Ferrari with his camera. Mechanic Adolph Reinsinger and Dave Nicholas lean on the car. What they are looking at is lost to history.

Being with the Ferrari was a huge deal for us. From L-R is Spankey Smith, Adolph the mechanic, Dave Zych and Roy Bishara. The BARBBOYS were famous for our straw hats.

George and Gus arrive on Saturday morning with the correct #20 on the Ferrari. The car was running fine in the top 5 until it broke an axle after 40 laps.

Bob Grossman at the wheel of the Ferrari Dino. Alan Connell co drove but the car failed to finish due to a broken oil pump.

Ferrari 246SP driven by the Rodriguez brothers, Pedro and Ricardo. We had seen the first version at Sebring in 1961. This car was much improved.

Pedro brakes hard in the 246SP Ferrari. These cars were excellent racers and won the Targa Florio and Nurburgring 1,000 in 1961 and 1962. Their results at Sebring and LeMans were not good.

Walt Hansgen gets pushed to his starting position in the rear engined Tipo 64 Maserati. The car was doomed from the beginning. The front suspension broke in practice and the rear failed and put the car out of the race after only 30 laps/.

Ed Hufus and George Reed always came up with great Ferrari’s. This year was no exception and they brought this 250GT special bodies Berlinetta 8th overall and 3rd in GT

The Serenissima Ferrari Berlintetta of Fernando Tavano and Colin Davis did 119 laps before the V12 gave up.

Another look at the Ferrari. The classic look of the short wheelbase 250GT is ageless. One of the ionic cars of the 60’s. Remember that in 1961 Denise McCluggage drove one from NYC to Sebring, won the race and drove it home.

The All American Berlinetta of Charlie Hayes, Chuck Dietrich and Carl Haas. Yes, the same Carl Haas the Lola importer and later partner with Paul Newman in the Newman-Haas Indy car team.

The #27 car was running at the finish but had problems during the day and completed only 149 laps in 34th place.

A second Ferrari 248SP was for North American drivers Buck Fulp (US) and Peter Ryan (CDN). While the Rodriguez boys in the sister #34 were quicker, this car ran most of the whole day to finish 13th.

This car was changed at the factory to the small V8 and became a 268SP. The Rodriguea boys drove it at the Nurburgring 1,000 but Pedro put it in a ditch and the car never finished. Later in its life it became a Walmart car in the hands of Rob Walton.

The Corvettes were beginning to figure long distance races and how to finish. This car driven by BARC member Don Yenko and Ed Lowther finished 19th.

The number 3 Vette of Johnny Allen and George Robertson stayed parked on the back straight with its 283 engine seized.

Delmo Johnson and Dave Morgan kept it running all 12 hours but with small troubles could not finish higher than 21st in the Johnson Chevrolet car.

Perhaps the most unusual car in the field was the Holman Moody #9 Ford Falcon Challenger V8 driven by NASCAR star Marvin Panch and Jocko Maggiacomo. The Falcon made it to 36th overall.

In the usual Cunningham white with blue stripes, Briggs and John Fitch won the GT 4.0 class in this E Type beating all the Corvettes.

Jack Sears #52 MGA at the MG bridge. Sears and Andrew Hedges drove it to be the first MGA and just 1 lap behind the factory Sunbeam Alpine. This car is now owned by Hugh Burruss.

The #51 MGA races under the MG bridge. The usual Jack Flaherty and Jim Parkinson were just a lap behind #52. Jim Plowden has this car and it is currently being renovated by Jim Alcorn.

Note the coupes ran without a valance to assist in cooling. The motors were also special running with the water jackets blocked off, no head gasket and using a special water outlet at the back of the cylinder head. The idea was to eliminate the chance of a blown head gasket and the process had been used for many years dating back to the T series.

%1 leaves the pits while a spectator looks at the engine compartment of the wounded Rodriguez Ferrari.

Here is the #52 car going past the pits. These were 1600 MkII cars that came with 1622cc motors. But for Sebring the class limit was 1600cc so MG created special motors of 1588cc.

The 53 car, now owned by John Wright, race through the night, lights blazing. Back in the day there were no huge lights as today. When the sun set on the flat lands of Florida it got dark - quickly.

A fuzzy shot of 53 on the back straight. Bob Oltoff and Sir John Whitmore finished 20th overall and 2 laps behind the other MGA’s.

The #51 car now lives in California in the hands of Jim Plowden. Here is a photo from the fall of 2018. Dave Nicholas practiced at The Thermal Club but the engine was not up to the task after 2 years in a museum. The car is being resurrected (not restored) by the excellent Jim Alcorn. The idea is to race it at the Monterey Reunion in 2020.

The all new Elva Mk VI of Art Tweedale, Alan Ross and Ben Warren arrive at the track. The car had to withdraw with a heavy oil leak after 114 laps.

Out on the track, the Elva Mk VI was the first rear/mid engined small sports racer and dominated until Colin Chapman finally caught up with his Lotus 23.

Whistling along on race day the Elva had the 1100cc class locked up before the Climax had an incurable oil leak.

The TR-4 of George Waltman finished 30th overall. Waltman loved driving and did the whole 12 hours by himself. Waltman reportedly drive the car from NY and back home. Legend has it that George stopped in the early afternoon, had lunch, got back in the car and continued the race.

The #43 Sunbeam Alpine was part of a 3 car team from The Rootes Group. All 3 MG’s beat two of the Alpines, but #41 of Peter Harper and Peter Proctor was first of the non Porsche cars.

Denis McCluggage and Alan Eager returned to Sebring with this 1.o liter OSCA. The results were the opposite of 1961 as Denise crashed after 10 laps.

John Gordon and John Bentley took their 750 OSCA to first in the 850 class. The Fiat Abarth #76 of Alfonso Thiele and Jean Guichet won the 1100cc GT class.

The Kingham brothers (Dave and Bob) AC Bristol lasted only 45 laps before it broke an axle.

A classic battle early in the day. Chuck Daigh in the Chaparral leads Walt Hansgen in the tipo 64 rear engine Maserati.

We were experimenting taking photos at night. The best part is the flag marshals never saw us as we climbed the fences and got close to take this photo of the #10 Chaparral.

Who would have guessed a Cooper Monaco with a Maserati engine would go all the way. Here Roger Penske is flying in the dark after having a 1 hour pit stop to repair the lights.

One of several posters for the race.

The 62 Program featured America’s World Champion Phil Hill on the cover.

Even long ago we liked a few “artsy” shots. Here Dave Zych captures Alan Eager’s crocheted driving gloves as he takes off in the OSCA..

Everything you need, nothing you don’t. The Ferrari Testa rossa of Constantine and Andrey’s cockpit.

Cockpit of the Scuderia Serenissima Tipo 64 birdcage. The car lasted 16 laps with Nino Vaccarella at the wheel.

Spankey (straw hat) confers with Bob Stanton from Binghamton and the Southern NY region SCCA.

The BARCBOYS charge across the paddock

Marshall Reutlinger, Joe Tierno, Gordy Ruston & Steve Vail behind.

Young mechanic Adolf Reinsinger came down from John Bunch’s shop in Stamford, CT. Bunch was one of the top execs at BBD&O, probably the #1 ad agency in the 60’s and some think the model for the TV series Madmen.

Newly inducted BARC member, Graham Hill smiles for the camera.

Suntanned, shirtless Stirling Moss checks out the NART 246SP Ferrari.

Moss was the hero of all young race fans. If he was around, we took photos.

Moss next to Jo Bonnier (white hat) and Pedro Rodriguez (drivers suit). He was always making deals even on the starting grid.

Denise explains to Moss she can’t figure out why the OSCA is so slow.

Denise is deep in thought as the start approaches. Marshall Reutlinger holds here famous polka dot helmet. Tierno (r) wonders why he isn’t holding the helmet.

Innes Ireland has a chat with some young fans in the pits.

The All-American sportsman Briggs Cunningham at the drivers meeting. Briggs and John Fitch would take the Cunningham E Type jaguar to a class victory beating all the Corvettes.

We were all surprised when Steve McQueen showed up to race. He drove one of the factory Sprites in the 3 hour race on Friday.

McQueen did a good job. He was on a team with superstars, Stirling Moss, Pedro Rodriguez and Innes Ireland. While he finished behind the Grand Prix stars, Steve finished 9th overall.

Denise McCluggage gives us a glance as Alan Eager (with his back to us) is thinking he’d rather be in a New York club jamming on the sax.

George “the flying Greek”Constantine does a last minute inspection of the Ferrari before the start. Sadly the car only lasted 40 laps.

The BARC team plotting strategy for the Ferrari. Nicholas (straw hat) is creating the lap chart, Spankey (looking sad) and Roy Bishara wait for the work to be done.

Spankey walks with Paul Richards, who was leading the 3 hour in a Fiat-Abarth when the clutch packed it in.

Don Yenko (on left in drivers suit with stripe) finds something amusing at the drivers meeting.

Wherever we went, the BARCBOYS looked for girls. At Sebring, the high school marching band always played before the start.

What’s more important, the cute baton twirler or the M-B 300 SLR in the background.

Our majorette smiles at whichever one of us was snapping photos. Our friend Ford Heacock was a student at Sebring High at the time. I wonder if he knew her?

A race beauty sits on the hood of a car drinking a Miller High Life. No wonder we took a photo.

Another beauty caught us trying to get a sneak photo and posed.