For 1960, Ferrari built 46 of these race-prepared, aluminum-bodied Competizione SWBs, a model that is now commonly referred to as the Comp/60.
While many variations existed with regards to aesthetic and mechanical features, most Comp/60s can be identified by a few key visual characteristics: the more elegant front grille and side windows of the original design, a prominent external fuel filler on the rear deck, and a cockpit air vent at the top of the rear window.
The car presented here is a fascinating example of the 250 SWB Comp/60 Berlinetta; it claims a fantastic period-competition history, well-documented provenance, and recent, show-quality restoration.
The Newport Jazz Festival was just one year old when the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet blazed onto its stage in 1955. By 1960, when pianists Dave Brubeck and Horace Silver each played a rollicking set, the event was an institution, known all over the world. And so it remains today — though there’s something to be said about the fest in that formative era, when every step forward was historic.
For all of us at Jazz Night in America, the Newport Jazz Festival is both hallowed ground and a cherished hang. Our host, Christian McBride, is the festival’s artistic director. (Call that a disclosure, if you like; we think of it as a heavy asset.) So this summer, in the absence of a physical gathering, we’ve set out to lovingly recreate the festival experience, Jazz Night-style.
Our three-part series begins with The Golden Age — a jump back to the mid-to-late ’50s, featuring McBride’s selection of rare and unreleased Newport recordings by Brown and Roach, Brubeck and Silver, along with a killer festival house band. (Will there also be a taste of Muddy Waters? You’ll have to listen to know for sure.)
Musicians
Newport House Band: Joe Zawinul, piano; Howard McGhee, trumpet; Clark Terry, trumpet; Zoot Sims, tenor saxophone; Wendell Marshall, bass; Roy Haynes, drums.
Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet: Clifford Brown, trumpet; Max Roach, drums; Harold Land, tenor sax; Richie Powell, piano; George Morrow, bass.
Dave Brubeck Quartet: Dave Brubeck, piano; Paul Desmond, alto saxophone; Eugene Wright, bass; Joe Morello, drums.
Horace Silver Quintet: Horace Silver, piano; Blue Mitchell, trumpet; Junior Cook, tenor saxophone; Gene Taylor, bass; Roy Brooks, drums.
Set List
“Chasin’ At Newport” (Newport House Band)
“Jaquis” (Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet)
“I Get A Kick Out Of You” (Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet)
Of the six stainless steel cars that rolled off the Ford assembly line in Detroit in 1936, four exist today, including this example that was retained by Allegheny Ludlum – now known as Allegheny Technologies – itself. The company donated the 1936 Ford Deluxe Sedan with a brushed stainless steel body to the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, where it is on display as part of the permanent collection.
In 1935, executives at the Ford Motor Company and Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Ludlum Steel joined forces on the production of a solid stainless-steel car, a 1936 Deluxe Sedan. That car became the focal point of a campaign to showcase the extreme durability and aesthetic appeal of the new metal. Only six of the 1936 Fords were built in total and all were far from being simply promotional trailer-queens; each was to log over 200,000 miles in the hands of Allegheny Ludlum executives until their “retirement” in 1946, outlasting most of their non-stainless body parts and multiple engines is testament to the superiority of the dynamic metal.
Allegheny Ludlum and Ford would later collaborate on two more stainless models, the 1960 Thunderbird and 1967 Lincoln Continental Convertible. Just two Thunderbirds rolled off the assembly line in 1960, with bodywork formed from T302 stainless. Both retain their original exhaust systems today, after 60 years and more than 100,000 miles each. The 1967 Lincoln Convertible was the last of the stainless steel cars produced. Except for the vehicle’s body, all other parts and equipment on the car are standard for the 1967 Lincoln Convertible. Only three were made, once again proving that stainless steel’s enduring beauty is matched by its toughness.
La Dolce Vita (“the sweet life” or “the good life”) is a 1960 comedy-drama film directed and co-written by Federico Fellini. The film follows Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni), a journalist writing for gossip magazines, over seven days and nights on his journey through the “sweet life” of Rome in a fruitless search for love and happiness. La Dolce Vita won the Palme d’Or (Golden Palm) at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival[ nd the Oscar for Best Costumes. The film was a worldwide box-office success.