A topic of discussion around the Classic Driver office is often what era we’d move like to go back in time to experience first-hand. Standing perilously close to the shimmering blue Monegasque waters just to catch a glimpse of Fangio and Moss’s Silver Arrows scream by would be a special moment in time, but when we discovered the origins of this stunning Ferrari 750 Monza by Scaglietti, and how it was raced by true icons of the sport, we all agreed that might have been a perfect era to teleport back to.
In the mid-1950s, sports car racing took America by storm. Across multiple states, on almost every weekend, both professional and gentleman drivers could be found pushing their machines to the limits, all for a chance to stand on the top step of the podium. While many drivers opted to stay loyal to their American brands, others looked further afield, and this Ferrari 750 Monza was given its first outing at the gruelling 12 Hours of Sebring in 1955. Behind the wheel was none other than Phil Hill and Carroll Shelby, who were initially crowned the overall winner, but later conceded to second place after another look at the lap charts, leaving the win to the Jaguar D-Type of Mike Hawthorn and Phil Walters.
The Ferrari would go on to win multiple events during the mid-1950s, including the 1955 and 1956 Del Monte Trophy Pebble Beach Road Races, as well as a victory by Jim Hall in his very first road-race at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, and remained in Hall’s care for decades, before being sold to the Ottis family in 2016 in RM Sotheby’s Monterey sale. While so many of these legendary racers remain as museum pieces to be admired, the Ottis family know a thing or two about Ferraris and motorsport with their world-renowned shop Patrick Ottis Company based in Berkeley, California. Nowadays, the world of historic racing is thriving, allowing father and son duos like Pattrick and Tazio to continue the glory of competition, with this weekend seeing Tazio race the 750 Monza against a flurry of Jaguars, Aston Martins and Maseratis in the coveted Freddie March Memorial Trophy. We caught up with Tazio first at a local shop short after the car arrived from California, and later as he and his team were busy unloading the precious white and blue Monza at Goodwood. Intrigued by their story, we wanted to know where the love of cars stemmed from for Tazio, “I am very lucky to have grown up in a small yet world renowned Ferrari restoration shop in Berkeley, California, owned and still run by my dad, Patrick Ottis. I fell in love with the projects at the shop, the passion, and connections it brought, it is a community, and being able to cheer on the red Formula 1 team from a young age.”
Having spent his life surrounded by a stable of prancing horses, it’s easy to see why Tazio has such an admiration for Ferraris. Having worked on so many of Maranello’s best, there comes a time where the desire to own one of your own becomes too great, and Tazio explains how the duo came to own such a special car, “My father wanted to have a new project that he and I could play with together. He ended up trading his pre-war Alfa Romeo for the Monza. When this car became available, it was very much intriguing to us for its American history and livery. It aligns with who we are, and perhaps better than any car could. We are proud of who we are and also proud to make history with the Ferrari brand.” It’s true, the Ottis family are perhaps the perfect custodians of such a special blend of Italian engineering with American race history and glory. Now being regularly used in competitions around the world, we were intrigued to find out what is truly is like racing such an important piece of history.
“Our first race in this car was at Laguna Seca and was actually the day after we showed and won our class at Pebble Beach. Some thought we were crazy for it, but we wanted to prove it’s possible to prepare a car for both the track and lawn, in which it was successful at both. It’s hard to beat racing the car at such an iconic track like Laguna, and ever more as two of its wins with Phil Hill and Shelby were just a few miles away at the Pebble Beach road races.”
And so, from the gravel traps of the corkscrew and lawns of Pebble Beach, Tazio and the 750 Monza find themselves in the paddock of Goodwood, ahead of what is set to be another incredible weekend of historic racing. While Laguna Seca boasts 11 corners, Goodwood’s historical grounds hold just six main turns to navigate, but is by no means an easy track to race. In drawings it may look simple, filled with mostly right-hand turns, but experiencing the minimal run-off, adverse cambered corners and a chicane barely wide enough for the American muscle cars for the first time is an unforgettable experience, and one Tazio relishes in with every visit. “Goodwood is a fabulous track. It feels like an old school layout, but there is something so lovely about that. It is, what I feel like, a relatively quick and short lap and has a lovely flow to it. It always leaves the feeling of ‘if only I could have a couple more laps to keep playing with it’ after every session!”
With risk comes reward, and the Revival balances between the celebration of historic motoring and the thrill of competition better than just about any event out there. While every race holds huge significance and value, it is the Freddie March Memorial Trophy that is the most valuable and most fervently contested. While this is an incredible spectacle for the thousands of fans pitched up trackside, we were intrigued to find out whether racing a car as historically and financially valuable as these plays on Tazio’s mind at all. His answer was, in truth, exactly what we hoped he’d say, “I don’t ever worry too much about damaging our Monza. Luckily it hasn’t happened yet, and perhaps it may never! I think it’s something that, for the most part, everyone who is showing up understands and accepts. With that, I believe we all exercise a level of caution, yet we can still race hard and that’s the magic in it all.” When this car crossed the finish line at Sebring, or stormed the flag in New Mexico, there was no reason to care for the car, it was used as a tool for victory, and while its value has rocketed, cars such as these were created from a desire to be victorious, and long let it continue!
Aside from eye-wateringly valuable grids, racing at the Goodwood Revival lets drivers rub shoulders and door mirrors with some of motorsport’s legends, with the 750 Monza likely to experience its hardest competition since its heyday. We wondered if there is one car that Tazio would love to take victory over, and in true racing driver fashion, there wasn't just one car to beat, “Of course I would love to beat all the cars! However, there are some quick drivers and cars out there too! The D-Types are such lovely cars, it would certainly be nice to be ahead of them, but that was a tall order in period too!” Likewise, the grid is bursting with icons of Formula One, Touring Cars and Le Mans, all brought together by the love of racing. Given the rare chance to go wheel-to-wheel with high profile drivers, we wanted to know whether Tazio has his sights set on any driver to beat, “It’s hard to think of a driver I would love to beat, but what I find amazing is that we can all come together and race side by side while appreciating the spectacle it all is. It’s fun to feel like just as much of a fan of this era of car and the history that was made with them as someone like Jenson Button. To further spend laps on track with people like that is a treat in itself. To race and perhaps better anyone like that is a cherry on top.”
Tazio is all smiles now, but we have an inclining once the period-correct overalls and helmet is tightened up, the racing will be as famously intense as ever, with patchy rain forecast across the weekend too, just to throw in a little more drama. We’ll be follow Tazio’s progress in the 750 Monza across the weekend, which will see him run across all three days of the event, in practice, qualifying and the racing itself!
Photos byKevin Arechiga for Classic Driver 2024
