Lot 17
c.1956 Grand Prix Squalo Child’s Car
Estimate:
$20,000 - $30,000
Sold for:
$5,125
Timed Auction
Geared Online | October 2020
Category
Automobilia
Description
Without Reserve
Built by Grand Prix Manufacturing Company of El Monte, California and billed in period advertising as “the Ferrari of child racers,” the Squalo – Italian for shark – was designed in the likeness of Ferrari’s beautiful 553 F2 and F1 Grand Prix cars. Impressively engineered, this diminutive racer features remarkable specifications including a square-tube chassis, four-wheel adjustable torsion bar suspension, shoe-type interval braking, magnesium wheels, and an attractive three-piece body finished in classic Italian racing red. At the heart of the Squalo is a 2 hp Continental AU7R “Redseal” engine with direct chain 12-24 drive. Reportedly sold new in 1956 at a Pennsylvania sporting goods store for the princely sum of $575, the child’s racer has spent most of its existence in static storage and remains in good, unrestored condition.
Built by Grand Prix Manufacturing Company of El Monte, California and billed in period advertising as “the Ferrari of child racers,” the Squalo – Italian for shark – was designed in the likeness of Ferrari’s beautiful 553 F2 and F1 Grand Prix cars. Impressively engineered, this diminutive racer features remarkable specifications including a square-tube chassis, four-wheel adjustable torsion bar suspension, shoe-type interval braking, magnesium wheels, and an attractive three-piece body finished in classic Italian racing red. At the heart of the Squalo is a 2 hp Continental AU7R “Redseal” engine with direct chain 12-24 drive. Reportedly sold new in 1956 at a Pennsylvania sporting goods store for the princely sum of $575, the child’s racer has spent most of its existence in static storage and remains in good, unrestored condition.
