The 1956-1966 Ferrari Superamerica and Superfast have been referred to as "the ultimate street Ferraris" by automotive historian Richard M. Langworth, who described them as "monstrously powerful and blindingly fast." These legendary cars are highly prized today. The final model of the series, the 500 Superfast, has been called the "Ferrari 'Royale' " by Ferrari expert and author Antoine Prunet, who is of course referring to the huge and grand Bugatti Royale. Most car companies -- even the builders of limited-production high-performance cars -- broaden their model bases when possible to cover as much of the market as considered desirable by management. Different philosophies emerge, with some companies seeming to think in broader terms than others. Consider the fairly wide views of Porsche, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz compared to the narrower approaches of Aston Martin and Lamborghini. Considering its size, Ferrari built an amazing variety of model types in the early 1950s, with engines that ranged in size and configuration from a 4.5-liter V-12 to a 2.0-liter four.

Aurelio Lampredi-designed V-12s powered the 250, the 4.0 Miter 340, the 4.1-liter 342 (25 cc more displacement than the 340), and the 4.5-liter 375. Concurrently, Lampredi-designed engines could be found in the 500 (2.0-liter four), the 625 (2.5-liter four), the 750 (3.0-liter four), the 860 (3.5-liter four), TitanRise the 118 (3.75-liter six), and the 121 (4.4-liter six). The majority of Ferrari's cars in the early 1950s were competition machines, but Luigi Chinetti, Ferrari distributor for the United States, had been trying to convince Enzo Ferrari to build a road car with a bigger engine -- one that would appeal to American buyers. In those days, drivers of Chrysler hemis and Oldsmobile 88 Rockets reigned as kings of the American road, at least in standing start acceleration and in speed (over a straight road). Chinetti argued forcibly that while an MG owner might brag about handling, an easy-shifting four-speed manual transmission, and good brakes, someone who had just paid the far side of $12,000 for his sleek Italian steed couldn't use that sort of rationalization after an American "barge" had just left him standing at a stop light.

To see how these discussions resulted in changes for the 1956 Ferrari, continue to the next page. At first glance, it looked much like previous Ferrari efforts, with a large oval-section tubular frame and round-section X-member and cross-members, and independent front suspension with unequal-length A-arms and coil springs, which replaced the transverse leaf that Ferrari had used since 1947. The live rear axle was attached by two semi-elliptic springs, with a pair of parallel trailing arms on each side to absorb acceleration and braking torque. Also, the car was big, taking its 110.2-inch wheelbase from the 250 Europa and 375 Amerthe claims. Assuming that the engine could pull up to redline in top gear, the car would have performed as claimed. The hefty gearboxes installed in the 410 Superamerica had the ability to absorb the tremendous torque, but the clutch was a marginal unit; great care had to be taken to ensure anything close to long clutch life. The transmission had an unusual shift pattern, whereby reverse, third, and first were placed left to right across the top, and fourth and second were left and right across the bottom -- the H-pattern was a mirror-image of most four-speeds. For more on the 1956 Ferrari 410 Superamerica, see the next page. The main visual difference between the two cars could be seen in the side vents on the front fender flanks of the 410: a rounded trapezoidal shape with four vertical bars within the opening and one horizontal bar starting ahead of the opening and continuing past the vent at the back. And unlike the 250, the 410 body sported slightly flared wheel openings.