Ferrari 625 New Zealand Tasman

Completely against his usual practice, Ferrari built a special racer in 1957 at the request of New Zealand driver Pat Hoare, to compete with it in the so-called Tasman Series in Australia and New Zealand.

It is assumed that the New Zealand driver Pat Hoare had a special bond with Enzo Ferrari, although it has never become entirely clear how that came about. In any case, completely against his usual practice, Ferrari built a special racer in 1957 at Hoare's request, so that he could use it to compete in the so called Tasman Series in Australia and New Zealand. This also meant that the Ferrari brand was represented in this championship. The car was put together from an outdated Tipo 500 chassis, a Le Mans engine bored out from 2.5 to 2.8 liters, and the transmission from a Tipo 555 'Super Squalo' Grand Prix racer. The fuel tank at the rear came from a Lancia D50 that Ferrari had taken over. Hoare drove many races in New Zealand with this car, but the bored out four cylinder often caused problems. He therefore went looking for a V12, but could not find one. He then contacted the factory, which offered him a completely new car. The original Ferrari 625 New Zealand Tasman was then sold by Hoare to a private driver and now forms part of the collection of the Louwman Museum.