Beautifully inspired by Ferrari’s sixties prototype racers
Hand-made alloy monocoque built by one of Modena’s master coachbuilders
Powered by a 10,500 rpm 4-cylinder Benelli engine with five-speed gearbox
The ultimate children’s car, with a red and black leather interior by Luppi of Modena
Allegretti and Childrens Cars
Mario Allegretti was
one of the most experienced and well-known crafters in the Modena area since
the early 1950s. One of the earliest employees in Carrozzeria Fantuzzi,
he would eventually move on to Maserati full time to produce the tubular frames
and alloy bodies in the race department, most notably for the 250F and A6GS amongst
others. In 1958 he founded a new company with his co-worker Anselmo Gentilini
to create the short-lived but very prolific Carrozzeria Allegretti &
Gentilini. In its short life this venture would be mostly known for working
closely with Giulio Alfieri to dress the Maserati Tipo 60, 61, 63, 64 and the
151 Le Mans. Maserati’s troubled existence in those years didn’t allow the
small coachbuilder to thrive and, after having collaborated with neighbouring
companies on many projects, they ultimately closed Allegretti & Gentilini
in 1963 with Mario joining Drogo Carrozzeria Sports Cars and Anselmo
going to Neri & Bonacini. When eventually Carrozzeria Sports Cars
closed in 1973, Mario Allegretti decided to dedicate his efforts to restore,
rebuild and occasionally create bodies for various Ferrari 250 chassis’ for the
next three decades.
Since 1969, in his
spare time, Allegretti started making scaled replicas of the cars he created
back in the fifties. The first examples were quite crude and powered by very
basic electric motors until 1983, when engineer and fellow “Modenese”, Giuseppe
Zani, walked in his workshop attracted by the sound of panel beating. Zani and his four sons fell in love with
Mario’s creations and joined forces to develop the cars further with the
installation of a 50 cc two-stroke engine and eventually 250 cc four-stroke
Benelli engines.
Only four examples
were ever built with these incredible Benelli engines, a Maserati Tipo 61
Birdcage, Maserati 250 F, Ferrari P4 and Ferrari 250 S. Alejandro De Tomaso,
owner of the Maserati marque in those years, gave official permission to use
the company name, however, Ferrari issued a ‘cease and desist’ letter ensuring
their name could not be used, so these child’s cars were officially known as an
Allegretti 250 S and Allegretti P4.
The Allegretti 250 S
The car
offered here is the only 250 S built by Allegretti, inspired by infamous and
fiercely competitive Ferrari sports racers from the 1960’s. The technical
specifications are unheard of for most cars and would make a very competent
prototype racer on a full scale car, so it’s not surprising that this is the
only example ever built, with a price tag of 30.000.000 Lire (5.000.000 more
than the other Allegretti models). As a reference, in those days that was the
price of a fully equipped Lancia Thema, the latest flagship and top Italian
luxury saloon.
The 250 S
was the result of four months of work, which is an incredible amount of hours considering
that the engine came directly from a Benelli “Quattro” motorcycle and that the
interior was beautifully crafted by none other than Tappezzeria Luppi of Modena.
Removing
the aluminium body panels makes immediately apparent how well engineered this
little car really is. The mid-mounted, four-cylinder, 10,500 rpm Benelli screamer
is perfectly located in the middle of the car supported by a tubular subframe
with the unmistakeable “birdcage” look.
This little
car is an incredible piece of engineering and it will no doubt be cherished in
the future as much as it has been since it was lovingly hand made back in 1985
Specification
250cc, inline 4-cylinder, 4-stroke Benelli
engine
27hp at 10,500 rpm
Top speed in excess of 100km/h
5 speed manual gearbox with
differential
Four straight pipe exhaust system
Electronic starter
Alloy tube monocoque, rear tubular
subframe
Independent front suspension
De-Dion rear suspension
4 vented steel brake discs
Leather interior by Luppi of Modena
Adjustable pedals
Weight – 270 kg
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