A superb and rare photo of Juan Manuel Fangio in his magnificent Ferrari D50 Formula 1 race car, during the 1956 Monaco Grand Prix.  Juan Manuel Fangio went on to win the 1956 Formula One World Championship title with the photographed Ferrari D50!

The 1956 Ferrari D50 was a Formula One racing car designed by Vittorio Jano for Lancia in 1954! The car's design made use of many innovative features, such as the use of the engine as a stressed chassis member, the off-centre positioning of the engine to allow a lower overall height, and pannier fuel cells for better weight distribution and aerodynamics. Six of the cars were built.

The Lancia D50 made its race debut toward the end of the 1954 Formula One season in the hands of two-time and reigning World Champion, Italian driver Alberto Ascari. In its very first event Ascari took both pole position in qualifying and fastest race lap, although his car's clutch failed after only ten laps.

Following Ascari's death, and in increasing financial trouble, the Lancia family sold their controlling share in the Lancia company, and the assets of Scuderia Lancia were given to Scuderia Ferrari. Ferrari continued to develop the car, although they removed many of Jano's most innovative designs, and the car was rebadged as the Lancia-Ferrari D50 and later simply the Ferrari D50. Juan Manuel Fangio won the Formula One World Championship in 1956 with this car modified by Ferrari (SEE PHOTO!). During their competition lifespan D50s were entered into 14 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, winning five.

Argentinean Juan Manuel Fangio dominated the first decade of Formula One racing.  He won five World Championship titles — a record which stood for 46 years.  During his career he rode for 4 different teams: Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Maserati.  This was a feat that has not been repeated since. For these achievements, and because of the time they were accomplished, he is considered by many as the "greatest driver of all time". Fangio was born on San Juan's day in 1911 in Balcarce, Argentina to Italian parents from the small central Italian village of Castiglione Messer Marino, near Chieti. He began his racing career in Argentina in 1934, driving a Ford Model T, which he had rebuilt. During his time racing in Argentina, he drove Chevrolet cars and was Argentine National Champion in 1940 and 1941. He first came to Europe to race in 1949, funded by the Argentinean Automobile Club and the Argentinean government. Juan Manuel Fangio, unlike most later Formula One drivers, started his racing career at a mature age and was the oldest driver in many of his races. During his career, drivers raced almost without protective equipment. The notable rivals he had to face consisted of the likes of Alberto Ascari, Giuseppe Farina and Stirling Moss.

Initially Fangio was not particularly successful until racing an Alfa Romeo in 1950. He finished second in the world championship in 1950 and won his first title in 1951. He was competing well in 1952 in a Maserati until a serious accident at Monza, Italy ended his season with a neck injury. Fangio soon returned to win La Carrera Panamericana, the 2000-mile Mexican road race the following year in a Lancia D24. In 1954 he raced with Maserati until Mercedes-Benz entered competition in mid-season. Winning eight out of twelve races (six out of eight in the championship) in that year, he continued to race again with Mercedes—driving the superb W196 Monoposto—in 1955 (in a dream team that included Stirling Moss). At the end of the second successful season (which was overshadowed by the 1955 Le Mans disaster in which more than 80 spectators were killed) Mercedes withdrew from racing. In 1956 Fangio moved to Ferrari, replacing Alberto Ascari, who had been killed in an accident, to win his fourth title. He finished first in three races and second in all the other championship races. In 1957 he returned to Maserati and won his fifth title, notable for an extraordinary performance to secure his final win at the Nürburgring in Germany. After his series of back-to-back championships he retired in 1958, following the French Grand Prix. He won 24 World Championship Grands Prix from 51 starts, the best winning percentage in the sport's history. In 1990, he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. According to the official Formula One website, "Many consider him to be the greatest driver of all time." Many later drivers, such as Jim Clark, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, have been compared with Fangio.

This is a very nice and very rare non period photo that reflects a wonderful era of Ferrari ‘s automotive history in a wonderful way.  This is your rare chance to own this photo, therefore it is printed in a nice large format of ca. 8" x 11" (ca. 20 x 28 cm).  It makes it perfectly suitable for framing.