The March 2015 issue of the magazine Vintage Racecar includes my story of the lost years of the Ascari Ferrari, now a prominent exhibit at the Donington Collection in the UK

In 1952 and 1953, Alberto Ascari drove Ferrari Tipo 500 chassis number 5 through the two seasons to win the FIA Drivers World Championship both years. In the course of the two years he won nine championship Grands Prix in succession, a record not beaten for over 50 years.

After the 1952 season the car was upgraded from a 2-litre Formula 2 car (the World Championship in 1952 and 1953 was run to Formula 2) to run in the new 2.5-litre Formula 1, making the car a Tipo 625, as Ferrari type numbers at the time were based on the capacity of one cylinder in cubic centimetres.

After running in a couple of non-championship F1 races the car was sold to Australian Tony Gaze after being fitted with a 3-litre engine, still of only four cylinders, thus making it a Tipo 750 if it followed Ferrari practice.

The car was passed to Top Australian driver Lex Davison who used it with great success including winning the Australian Grand Prix twice, at Caversham WA in 1957 and Bathurst NSW in 1958 – long before the V8 Supercars took over Mount Panorama.

In 1960 the old Ferrari passed to Western Australian Doug Green, who used it to dominate racing in WA for two years.

After almost being converted into a rather odd looking sports coupe in 1963, the Ferrari passed though several owners before being sold  to British owners who raced it in VSCC historic racing events. In the late 1960s it was acquired by Tom Wheatcroft’s Donington Collection.