1968 Serenissima Ghia Coupé

Serenissima G.T. (Certificato di Origine), Ghia Serenissima (Ghia press release, Burgess-Wise 1985), Ghia Berlinetta Serenissima (Bricarelli 1968)

Erroneously named as: Serenissima Agena (coupe) (Setright 1974, Goodfellow 1999) or Serenissima Agena 3500 (coupe) (Wyss 1991, Tjaarda 2002); this later usage of the name Agena is a mix-up with the Serenissima Agena 3500 GT (1970) coachbuilt by Carrozzeria Drogo Sports Cars in Modena (I).

Marque and Engine manufacturer: Serenissima Automobili S.r.l., Formigine/MO (I)
Coachbuilder: Ghia S.A., Torino (I)
Design: Tom Tjaarda

Chassis no.: 001 G.T.
Tipo: Coupé G.T. 358 V M 2 (24/10/1968 in the Certificato d'origine by error written as: Coupé G.T. 358 V N 2)

Project background: “Alejandro de Tomaso, who recently had purchased Carrozzeria Ghia, wanted to utilize his production capacities and tried therefore to convince [the Serenissima owner Count Giovanni] Volpi of a series production of the prototype. But the Count remained undecided.” (Blaube 2008)

1968 1. owner Conte Giovanni Volpi di Misurata (Serenissima Automobili S.r.l.), Formigine (I)
10/1968 colour: light green metallic; interior: light green leather

24/10/1968 Certificato d'origine, signed by Nello Ugolini (Serenissima Automobili S.r.l.). Formigine (I)

30/10/1968 Ghia press release

30/10–10/11/1968 presented on the Ghia stand at the 50. Salone Internazionale dell'Automobile in Torino (I) together with the Maserati 4200 Coupé "Simun" and the De Tomaso Mangusta Spider (both designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro)

13–23/03/1969 shown at 39. Salon de l'Automobile Genève (CH) together with Lancia Fulvia 1600 Ghia Coupé "Competizione"

05–13/04/1969 shown on the Ghia stand at the 13. International Automobile Show in New York (USA) together with a yellow De Tomaso Mangusta (Robert Feigenbaum, pers. comm. 19/07/2007)
(1969) changes: engine type M67 installed by Serenissima Automobili S.r.l, Formigine (I); capacity 3.0 l; circular exhaust pipes
engine design by Ing. Franco Lambertini and Harry Mundy (GB)
Original engine M63 installed to Serenissima Formula libre race car; capacity reduced from 3.5 to 3.0 l (present owner: Nicolas Schönleber, D)

(1969) repainted: red; interior: blue leather

15/08/1969 present with Scuderia Serenissima in the paddock during the Coppa Cita di Enna on the Autodromo di Pergusa, Enna (I)
road registered with license plate PROVA MO 171
The photos below have been taken in front of the workshop of Serenissima Automobili, Via Emerenzio Ghiselli 4, 41043 Formigine/MO (I);
Cars (from left to right): Serenissima Agena 3500 GT Drogo (1970), Serenissima Ghia Coupé (1968), Serenissima Lola GT Mk6AF (1968/69, chassis no. LGT1, = Ford GT40 test car), Serenissima Torpedo Competizione (1965; chassis no. 004), Serenissima 308 SP McLaren M1C (1968/69), Ford Transit (in the background);
Persons (from left to right): Guido (?) (mechanic), Bruce McIntosh (mechanic; today Head of Engineering at Gordon Murray Design Ltd., Shalford, Surrey, GB), Alf Francis (technical manager 1966–1970), Ing. Franco Lambertini, Diana Mantovani (secretary and book keeper), Ivo Jatachi (mechanic). [Bruce McIntosh, personal communication 28/08/2008]

Photo in front of Via Emerenzio Ghiselli 5, 41043 Formigine/MO (I)

1970 Serenissima Automobili closed (Workshop premises in Via Ghiselli later used by Scuderia Filipinetti)
07/12/1976 Certificato d'origine, signed by Nello Ugolini (Serenissima S.r.l.), Roma (I)

14/02/1977 offer by Charles “Chuck” Graemiger (Ch. Graemiger Engineering), Lausanne (CH), for modification for road registration in Switzerland
1977 road registration in Switzerland unsuccessful: stop distance test on ramp failed due to clutch/power problems
(26/07/2008) owner still Giovanni Volpi; Venezia (I) (Giovanni Volpi, pers. comm. to Wolfgang Blaube)
13/11/2018 (km 1792) photos Christian Martin for Artcurial

08/02/2019 auctioned as lot 86 by Artcurial at Rétromobile, Paris, at 452,960 € (370,000  € highest bid + buyer's premium + VAT; estimate 400,000–600,000 €)

08/02/2019 2. owner N.N.1
16/08/2024 not sold as lot 73 by Gooding & Co, in Pebble Beach (CA, USA); 530,000  € highest bid (estimate 700,000–900,000 €)
sold after the auction at 580,000 US-$

16/08/2024 3. owner Javier Quirós, San José (Costa Rica)
17/08/2025 participant L3-O8 in class L3 “Postwar Preservation Late” at 74. Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in Pebble Beach (California, USA)

Technical Data

Glossary

Agena = Beta Centauri = a star in the constellation Centaurus (Wikipedia); the derivation from 'knee' is not correct (Thayer 2008)

Serenissima = (lat. serenus = highness) derived from Serenissima Repùblica Vèneta (or Repùblica de Venesia), the ancient name of the Republic of Venezia (Wikipedia)