The last year of the 1950s was a culturally significant one, from the recording of John Coltrane’s Giant Steps and the premier of The Sound Of Music on Broadway to the release of the Academy Award-winning Ben-Hur and the debut of the ABC’s Mr. Squiggle. It was also the year that Frank Lloyd-Wright’s Solomon R. Guggenheim museum opened and Miles Davis recorded the legendary jazz album Kind of Blue, a 1959 backdrop against which this remarkable Ferrari Competizione Ventidue restomod concept was inspired.
Created by the team at the London-based design studio Forge Design, the Competizione Ventidue is a thoughtful fusion of the best of mid-century creative expression and cutting-edge modern engineering. It uses the 1961 Ferrari 250 SWB ‘SEFAC Hot Rod’ as its design template, a now highly collectible vintage Ferrari, but injects it with contemporary technology such as a hydrogen-burning engine and composite bodywork.
Drawing from the context of Miles Davis’ ascension into the history books of music legend, the car aims to be something that a celebrity of his time might have wanted, with its aluminium body, oversized engine intake and nearly 300 horsepower to play with. It’s not hard to imagine Miles Davis finishing up a recording session at Columbia’s 30th Street Studio in New York City, grabbing his prancing horse keys and hopping into this svelte stunner.
RELATED: Someone Just Paid $23 Million For Michael Schumacher’s 2003 Championship-Winning Ferrari
“I drive a Ferrari – not to be cute, but because I dig it”
– Miles Davis
“We went back to what the car was at the time, what it represented,” explained David Seesing from Forge Design. “We love working across disciplines, being inspired by art or architecture – but then ultimately obsessing over the details in pursuit of design perfection”
While this contemporary interpretation of a vintage Ferrari is a sight to behold, the typical price paid at auction for a 1961 Ferrari 250 SWB ‘SEFAC Hot Rod’ is around US$6 million (AU$8.8 million), meaning any attempt to transform this concept into reality won’t come cheap. Despite this cost of entry, you can’t help but be glad the team at Forge Design dreamed up this eye-catching Ferrari Competizione Ventidue restomod.
