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As the most expensive Ferrari available, the 410 Superamerica replaced the 375 America after only eleven examples had been made. Both cars belonged to Ferrari's 'flagship' America series that offered the highest levels of sophistication, exclusivity and performance. Built as the ultimate grand tourer, each car was custom ordered to receive unique bodies and many were made for auto shows or Ferrari's best clients.

The first 410 appeared at the 1955 Paris Auto Show as naked chassis that exposed a larger 4961cc V12. This was a single-plug variant of the same Lampredi-designed engine that powered Ferrari's biggest and baddest racecars. Thus the 410 was easily capable of moving any grand touring body at imposing speeds.

Shortly after its debut, onlookers didn't have to imagine anymore, and the first individually crafted body and interior were displayed on chassis #0423SA at the 1956 Brussels Show. On the floor sat the first complete Superamerica and its Pinin Farina-designed body set an example for thirty four more to follow. In total thirty of the cars were eventually bodied by Pinin Farina, with two completed by Mario Boano, one by Ghia and another by Scaglietti.

Most of the Pinin Farina cars shared similar lines, however a small group were extremely unique and celebrated their own style. The most notorious of these was the individually-titled 410 Superfast which sported prominent tail fins like the American cars of the era.

While the Superamerica was named to promote the American market, it was still a very European and built with much higher attention to detail compared to the mass-production associated with US manufacturers. However, many garish styling elements found on a few cars definitely had an American influence.

The 410 Superamerica was upgraded several times throughout three distinct series of production. While all trace their engineering back to the same 340/375 America platform, their ladder-type frames were enlarged, included stronger bracing and front coil springs instead of the 375's transverse leaf springs. During the transition from first to second series, wheelbase changed from a 2800mm to 2600mm and the final third series produced until 1959 featured relocated spark plugs. While these changes seem minimal, Ferrari purists still list each series as a different car.

Despite the 410's heavy weight and luxurious demeanor, it still performed impressively thanks to an enoumously powerful engine. Road & Track reached zero to sixty 6.6 seconds while Sports Car Illustrated reach the same speed in 5.6 seconds. These figures were especially good for the late fifties and had to be some of the fastest times ever achieved by the magazines.

After 1959, the 410 was replaced by the smaller-engined 400 Superamerica which was built on the exact same design principles.

Story by Richard Owen for Supercars.net