This car is Allen Guiberson’s new Ferrari 750 Monza (0510M) shown next to the Pebble Beach Golf Course just before it was to be driven by Phil Hill at the 1955 Pebble Beach Road Races which took place on April 17, 1955. Guiberson had taken delivery of this pretty Monza in time for the 1955 Sebring 12 Hours a month before. At Sebring the Monza was initially awarded first overall, but then a back and forth lap-counting protest gave the winning result to Briggs Cunningham’s Jaguar D-Type driven by Mike Hawthorn and Phil Walters. So the Monza’s drivers, Phil Hill and Carroll Shelby, had to settle for second place at Sebring but still captured first on the race’s Index of Performance.
Here at Pebble Beach, Phil Hill ran away from the field to win the Del Monte Trophy ahead of an earlier ex-Scuderia Ferrari, ex-Alfonso de Portago 750 Sport driven by Sterling Edwards. Phil Hill had also won Best in Show at the weekend’s Pebble Beach Concours with his 1931 Pierce Arrow LeBaron Cabriolet.
Guiberson never used the Monza again, giving more attention to his older but more powerful Ferrari, a 340MM Vignale spider. So the Monza sat unused in Guiberson’s garage until it was seen by two young men from Dallas, Dick Hall and his younger brother Jim, the latter becoming the more famous of the two, both as a driver and later on as the constructor of the Chaparrals. The Halls were not lacking for family money and, in addition to buying the Monza from Guiberson, helped Carroll Shelby set up shop in Dallas. Shelby went racing again in the Monza in 1956 until Jim Hall came back from CalTech and took over the driving duties.
Today, the ex-Guiberson Ferrari Monza remains in the Petroleum Museum in Midland, Texas, returned to its original white and blue livery, the only Ferrari 750 Monza that was until recently owned by a driver who had raced the same car in the 1950s. It was sold to a new owner at Monterey, California in August 2016.
Photo by Peter Coltrin ©The Klemantaski Collection – http://www.klemcoll.com
To see more photos from our archive go to: http://www.klemcoll.com/TheGallery.aspx
Klemantaski Collection 
I thought this was the car that won the inaugural race at Road America, as well, also driven by Phi Hill?
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It may be the other way around… Tilp also had a Ferrari 750 Monza (0498M). That was the car that Hill won with at Elkhart. It may also be the car that Hansgen drove at Cumberland rather than the Guiberson Monza. Now that you have raised this, we will work some more on it.
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Pebble Beach 1955 was grand slam for Phil–
During practice on Saturday, i was in his pit when mechanic
pulled him in, When asked what was wrong ?, they told him
the Family Pierce Arrow had won grand prize at the Concours
d’Elagance. He and brother Jerry spent the winter doing full
restoration of his Aunt Helen’s car..
Hill pulled on A sweater, and dirty pants, trotted down the footpath to
collect his award, Following day he would drive in horrible rain to win
with Sterling Edwards behind in another Monza.
Years later, Phil and I joked of this and he mentioned being chauffered to
school in that mighty Le Baron bodied car, he and sister Helen embarrased..!
Jim Sitz
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Actually, we believe Sterling Edward’s Ferrari at Pebble Beach was a 750 Sport, not a 750 Monza. It’s a fine point at best, but the Sport was a 1954 3 liter car built on a Mondial chassis (type 501) whereas the 1955 Monza was built on the later type 510 chassis. The motors, although similar in displacement, were somewhat different in mechanical detail. The bodywork looked very similar, so Sports were often called Monzas. There were only four of these Mondial-derived 3 liter cars versus many more Monzas in various versions.
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Great Photo. SUPER text !
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That’s a wonderful story Jim Sitz relates of Phil Hill and his sister Helen in their Santa Monica, California childhood being embarrassed to be chauffeur-driven to school in the Hill family’s grand Pierce Arrow, and then of Phil, years later, collecting the Best of Show trophy for that same car at Pebble Beach.
Irrefutably, time and life move faster than wanted for our dear friends, and for ourselves. Fifty-three years after Phil’s glorious Del Monte Trophy race and Concours d’Elegance paired wins at Pebble Beach, I wrote with sorrow “A Friend’s Goodbye to Phil Hill” in the Classic Driver online publication these words:
“Philip Toll Hill Jr’s funeral was held at the Saint Monica Catholic Community Church on a quiet avenue called California. Out front was Phil’s stately Pebble Beach Best of Show-winning 1931 Pierce Arrow LeBaron Convertible Town Cabriolet, a car that Phil’s parents owned when new. Parked ahead of it was what Phil himself surely would have chosen for his last ride, a splendid, oh-so-cool 1929 Packard Funeral Coach specially brought in from northern California.”
That day, witnessed along with his family and so many of his friends in life, was Wednesday, September 10, 2008, when America’s gifted legend and the world’s racing champion, Phil Hill, was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica at noon under a blue California sky.
William Edgar
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Jim Sitz offers a correction for my post above, informing that the 1931 Pierce Arrow LeBaron Convertible Town Cabriolet was not owned by Phil Hill’s parents when new. The car was actually owned when new by Phil’s Aunt Helen. So it is proper to say that the Pierce Arrow was owned by a close member of the Hill family, but not Phil’s parents.
Thank you, Jim, for catching this. It was in fact an uncorrected error made 9 nine years ago when I originally wrote the piece for Classic Driver, and repeated here.
William Edgar
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We have just updated this post to reflect that it did not race at Cumberland, Maryland in 1955 – that was a different 750 Monza, owned by George Tilp. Also, this car was sold by Jim Hall in 2016 in an auction at Monterey, California.
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I had the great good fortune to see the Lovely Monza at Jim Halls shop in Midland TX some years ago. Not knowing he was the owner, at that time, it was a shock to see this historic beauty in his garage. To stand next to such a Beautiful and Historic creation was pure joy. Mr Hall had done well while it was in his care. Although being a visual person, the works were still truly enjoyable.
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