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The Life of a Ferrari V12

Retro Scene Magazine, Donnerstag, 11 Juni 2009 in Partner- und Mitglieder-Blogs, retroscenemag.com

Bill Harrahs 1969 “Jerrari” came to my attention last year when it cropped up on eBay. I’d never seen or heard of it before and it is a pretty bizarre machine, combining curvacious

Ferrari 365 front sheet metal with a then brand new Jeep Wagoneer. The Ferrari theme was more than skin deep though as the 365’s V12 engine also found its way into this concoction.

Harrah's Jerrari in a period magazine

When listed on eBay it was now fitted with a more mundane small block Chevy motor so what happened to the Italian running gear?

eBay photos on Jalopnik

You would imagine it may have ended up back in a sixties Ferrari but I recently discovered, totally by chance, its destination.

I had bought a pile of seventies Street Rodder magazines at an autojumble as its an era of hot rodding I feel I know very little about. Leafing through them I came to a 1978 issue and some construction photos of a roadster being built at Magoos Auto Shop in California. The car’s owner ran a West coast Ferrari dealership and so had decided to build a top-notch rod as a promo for the business using a V12 for motorvation.

In 1977 Harrah had decided to replace the Jerrari with another V12 equipped Wagoneer and presumable chose a more current engine. The engine from the old wagon found its way into that same hot rod shop where it was installed in the roadster, the chassis extended by four inches to allow for its length. Once complete this car was named the “Deucari” and won the coveted “Americas Most Beautiful Roadster” award in 1979, making the cover of Street Rodder in June of that year.

So this one engine has been in several iconic cars, leaving Modena in a 365, being transplanted into a millionaires folly and then finding a home in a famous hot rod in which (assuming its not since been replaced) it still lives as seen here in a recent Oakland Roadster Show. Not bad!