This is a 1957 Ferrari 250TR, chassis number 0666. When it raced in Le Mans with Dan Gurney and Bruce Kessler, it had drum brakes, which had been obsolete for the better part of a decade. Still, it worked.
The sister car to this 250TR won Le Mans overall, and even though Ferrari switched to discs for the following year's 250 TR59, the previous car was a triumph for sturdy, old, proven engineering in the face of something more modern.
Canadian ex-cabbie Mkolabin weighed in on the value of outmoded automotive tech while we were discussing NYC's ugly new outer-borough taxis.
A Former Cabbie Speaks...
Being a cab driver used to be an alright job. You could smoke in the car, so could your customers. We drove big ex-cop Crown Vics and Caprice Classics. When a wagon was called, it was a MOTHER FUCKING WAGON... not a hatch back. The cars drove from the ass, and turned propane to save a buck. We had big, comfy cars to drive... cars that could hold five passengers in I'm-Drunk-Grade-Luxury.
Sure, it wasn't the most glorious of jobs, but it wasn't what it is now.
Neutered cabs, FWD hybrids, rule the roads now. They're small and cheaply made. They do not stand up to the test of time that is being a taxi. Tens of thousands of dollars now, to buy a car eligible to be a cab, versus the handful of grands it took to convert an ex-interceptor. They're no better on gas then were the Vics and Caps once converted. Tall people hate them. Commuters hate them. Drivers hate them.
But it's okay, because companies all across North America have found the solution to crappy cabs doing a crappy job driven by crappy cabbies on crappy roads; paint 'em all the most hideous, god awful color possible. No one will even notice.
Photo Credit: Jim Culp