Ferrari 500 TRC #0706

Ferrari 500 TRC 0706 Story Line

The Ferrari 500 TRC is actually one of the most important “bridge” cars in Ferrari’s racing history. Its significance isn’t about headline Le Mans wins; it’s about how it reshaped Ferrari’s approach to customers, engines, and global racing—especially in the U.S to become a global performance brand.

The 1956 season saw a notable departure for Ferrari, with the 500 Mondial replaced by the new 500 “Testa Rossa”. Distinguishable by its trademark red cam covers and rakish Scaglietti coachwork. The Ferrari 500 TRC sported significantly improved Scaglietti bodywork which included a wider cockpit, a passenger-side door, a full-width windscreen, and one of the most beautifully curved fender line to ever grace a Ferrari.

The Ferrari 500 TRC helped Ferrari dominate American amateur racing.

In late 1957 the Ferrari was sold through Luigi Chinetti ( The Ferrari Importer to the USA) to Mike Garber of Hamden, Connecticut, the sponsor of the legendary Swiss-born racing driver Gaston “Gus” Andrey.

Still finished in its Le Mans blue livery, Andrey first drove the beautiful 500 TRC at the Nassau Bahamas Speed Week in December 1957. Andrey failed to finish the Tourist Trophy event but came back strong with a 2nd in class in the Governor’s Trophy prelim race and a respectable 5th in class in the hotly contested Nassau Trophy race. Following Nassau, the car remained in the Southeast and was entered by Mike Garber in the 1958 12 Hours of Sebring. Driven by Andrey, Bill Loyd, and for a short stint the great Dan Gurney, the car ran well until the 125th lap when it suffered a rear axle bearing failure.

Following Sebring, the car was refinished in a two-tone scheme of white over a red lower body, a red stripe, and Swiss emblems on each side, paying homage to Andrey’s Swiss heritage. The Ferrari 500 TRC #0706 MDTR was driven by Andrey in a slew of races through 1959, earning him the SCCA E-Modified championships in 1958 and 1959. Almost always among the top 10 finishers, the car claimed an overall win at Lime Rock in April 1958, and a class win at the 1958 President’s Cup at Marlboro, Maryland. It also won its class at Bridgehampton in June 1958, Virginia International Raceway in October 1958, Thompson in May 1959, and Lime Rock in July 1959.

History of the Testa Rossa engine

Design by engineer Aurelio Lampredi was also responsible for a very successful four-cylinder motor. The mainstay of Ferrari’s dominating 1952 and 1953 World Drivers’ Championships in Formula Two competition.

After Lampredi’s exit in 1955, a new engineering team led by ex-Alfa Romeo maestro Vittorio Jano was charged with developing the four-cylinder engine even further, and their work most auspiciously featured the fitting of a new cylinder block that was finished in gloss red paint. The birth of the Testa Rossa.

This marked the inception of the mighty Testa Rossa, a model that would ultimately be fitted with a red-head V-12, and go on to become arguably the most legendary sports racing prototype series of all-time.

Gaston Andrey went on to the drive several Ferrari 250 12 cylinder Testa Rossa’s at the 12 hours Sebring in 1959 #0720 and in 1962 #0746.