The Morrari originated as a 1955 Ferrari 555 ‘Super Squalo’, so named because of its curvaceous aluminium body, which flowed gracefully around its two side-mounted fuel tanks into a sharp pointed tail. A third fuel tank plus oil tank nestled in the tail. When viewed from above, it resembled the silhouette of a shark; squalo is Italian for ‘shark’.
The 555 was powered by Aurelio Lampredi’s 2497cc four-cylinder double-overhead-camshaft motor, backed by a five-speed transaxle, and a de Dion rear axle. It sported a double-rail chassis design, with larger diameter tubing on the lower rails. Wheels were 16-inch Borrani wires, and the wheelbase was 85 inches. But for a lone victory at the Monaco Grand Prix (GP), the 555 largely failed to impress, and, at season’s end, Ferrari did a deal with financially stricken Lancia and acquired the D50s, which it modified and rebadged, and its 555 models were sold.
In late 1955, chassis No. 555/1 was purchased by Peter Whitehead. The following year, both it and a second 555 (chassis No. 555/2) for Reg Parnell were fitted with larger 3.5-litre Tipo 860 Monza four-cylinder sports car engines and sent to Australia.
Both cars are thought to have had their wheelbases extended by three inches, and both were assigned new chassis numbers – FL/9001 (555/1) and FL/9002 (555/2), the ‘FL’ designation standing for ‘Formula Libre’.
Following their Australian competitions, both 555s were sent to New Zealand to contest the international races in early 1957. Whitehead finished second in the New Zealand GP, took victory at Wigram, was third in the Dunedin Road Race, and won at Ryal Bush. The car then passed to new owner Tom Clark, and Whitehead returned to England.
Clark won events at Mairehau and Levin before taking the car to Australia, where he crashed heavily in the Bathurst 100 and nearly succumbed to his injuries. He missed the 1958 New Zealand season while recovering, but he returned to Bathurst for the Australian GP, and finished ninth.
Clark contested the 1959
