Farewell, Lazzarino: An old friend comes to auction

The one and only 1952 Lazzarino, featured here in the Hemmings Blog and in Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car over the years, will be heading for a new home when Bonhams offers it at the June 5 Greenwich sale.

Dan first spotted it at one of owner Jon’s first outings after bringing it to the U.S. from Argentina, the 2005 Mt. Washington Hillclimb. The next spring, I met Jon at the Bridgehampton road rally, and later went back down to photograph and drive it. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Shortly after the shoot, Jon, with his son Jake, took the Lazz on the 2006 Great Race, sending us regular reports from the road. After that, he made regular visits to our neck of the woods to participate in the Mt. Equinox Hillclimb, and generally enjoyed the heck out of it.

But as amazing as it seems to those of us who haven’t owned even one coachbuilt Fifties Argentine roadster, Jon has gradually used the car less and less, and last year purchased a 1951 Chrysler for his routine racing-around-the-world duties (you’ll probably see the Chrysler again soon, as it’s his 2011 Great Race entry).

All of us at Hemmings see important and/or spectacular cars from time to time as we go about our work, but a few of them become something more. Like when someone invites your two-and-a-half year old son to climb into his Lazzarino.

The Lazz is one of a small handful of cars that have defined my time here. It’s not spectacularly valuable (although perhaps it should be) – the estimates place it in Dino 246 GT or 356A Speedster range – and with a drivetrain distinguished by Argentine Chrysler components, it’s hard to say it’s exotic. But it transcends all of that with a fabulous history, looks and a record of performing for days at a time without exciting breakdowns. It’s one of those perfect cars, and in this case it’s the only one.

I’ll miss knowing how to find the garage where the Lazz is kept, and the little internal smile I’ve had from an awareness that if for some reason I needed to see it, I knew who to call. But it deserves to be driven, and if Jon isn’t doing that any more, I understand that it is time for a new home. If that home is with you, I wouldn’t mind if you dropped me a line sometime. You know, just to let me know the car was doing well. And take good care of her, okay? We had some good times.