Tag Archives: TdF

TdF – Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione #2127GT

The Tour de France Automobile (TdF), sponsored by the Le Martin Newspaper and organised by the Automobile Club de France, was first held in 1899 and won by René de Knyff driving a Panhard et Levassor. The event continued until 1986 when François Chatriot and Michel Périn won the last competition in a Renault Maxi Turbo. The event was revived in 1992 under the Tour Auto name for pre 1966 cars.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione, Hall & Hall, Bourne

Today’s Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione chassis #2127GT , seen in Hall & Halls care, was the 40th 250 GT SWB to be built and was supplied new to Pierre Dumay who raced it under his ‘Loustel’ team banner on at least three occasions the first of which was the 1960 Tour de France.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione, Hall & Hall, Bourne

Pierre shared the driving with Jo Schlesser and they finished the event 2nd behind Belgians Willy Mairesse and Georges Berger driving the Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari 250 GT SWB Competizone chassis #2129GT which coincidentally was the 41st 250GT SWB to be built.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione, Hall & Hall, Bourne

Pierre Dumay is known to have entered the car in at least five further events up until the end of 1961 before the cae was sold to the Senegalese driver entrant Cicoira who is known to have raced the #2127 on three events between 1962 and 1964.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione, Hall & Hall, Bourne

Cicoira recorded a 6th place finish in 1962 Angola GP, a 4th in the 1962 Prix of Luanda and a 3rd in the 1964 Dakar 6 Hour race in which he was improbably listed as the sole driver of the car.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione, Hall & Hall, Bourne

#2127 returned to France in 1965 where it remained until 1986 when it was acquired by an MG Metro Challenge driver, aspiring to the British Touring Car Championship, Laurence C Bristow. #2127 appears to have remained in the UK with at least three different owners ever since.

My thanks to Rick Hall at Hall & Hall for his kind permission to take these photographs and to Ted Walker at Ferret Fotographics for taking me there.

Thanks for joining me on this “TdF” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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The Pack Team – Ferrari 250 GT LWB Interim #1519GT

In 1950 5 Swiss MG TC owners, Jean Cottin, Richard Crot, Willy Ducrey, Jaques Jonneret and Edmond Tocchio in Geneva founded Ecurie La Meute, The Pack Team, because the MG Car Club Switzerland did not meet their sporting ambitions.

Nine years later Ferrari produced seven 250 GT LWB Interim models using 250 GT Long Wheel Base chassis as used in the 250 GT LWB Berlinetta and LWB California Spider models but with a Pinin Farina body featuring a rear 1/4 light window.

Ferrari 250 GT LWB Interim, Pappalardo, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Today’s featured car, chassis #1519GT, seen at Goodwood earlier this year with owner P Paul Pappalardo at the wheel is the fifth of the seven Interims to be built.

#1519GT was originally sold to Ecurie La Meute member Jean-Pierre Schild who entered the car with co driver Roger de Lageneste in the 1959 Tour d’France in which they finished 3rd.

Ferrari 250 GT LWB Interim, Pappalardo, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Jean Pierre is known to have driven the car on one further occasion the 1959 Coupes du Salon at Montlhéry which he won beating the much smaller Lotus Eleven of Bob Hicks.

In May 1960 new owner Dean McCarthy entered the car for the SCCA National Cumberland race but was disqualified, undeterred Dean went to Watkins Glen the following month and won the SCCA sanctioned Glen Classic.

Ferrari 250 GT LWB Interim, Pappalardo, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

During the remainder of the 1960 season Dean recorded two 2n place finishes at Thompson and Montgomery before retiring from the Haybale Governor’s Cup at Montgomery with a damaged car.

Ferrari 250 GT LWB Interim, Pappalardo, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The last known event for 1519GT was the 13th Annual Grand Prix Watkins Glen at the end of 1960 where Dean drove the repaired car to a seventh place overall and class victory.

Since then the car spent some time without either engine or gearbox but the original engine and gearbox was reunited with the car when it underwent a two year restoration by Ferrari Clasiche which was completed earlier this year.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Pack Team” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow I’ll be looking at the Flash Special 500 Formula 3 car. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Ojeda City Winner – Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta #1035GT

77 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinettas were built from 1956 to 1959 in four series. To make things interesting Carrozzeria Scaglietti built the model with; no louvres in the C panel, 1 louvre in the C panel, 3 louvres in the C panel or 14 louvres in the C panel across the four series.

Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta, Silverstone Classic

To keep things simple the 250 GT Berlinetta is also known as the Long Wheelbase Berlinetta (LWB) and Tour de France (TdF), an event for motor vehicles won by 250 GT LWB’s from 1956 to 1959.

Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta, Silverstone Classic

Today’s featured 1958 1 louvre model, seen at Silverstone Classic, appears to be chassis #1035GT with which Cuban sugar baron Alfonso Gomez-Mena and a co driver known only as Meyer competed on the 1958 Tour de France.

Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta, Silverstone Classic

The pair did not finish the event but Alfonso is known to have competed in at least 6 further events with the car.

Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta, Silverstone Classic

In March 1959 Alfonso shared #1035GT with fellow Cuban Juan Montalvo in the Sebring 12 Hours where they finished 20th overall and 2nd in class. The pair shared the same chassis the following month in the 1000km race at Daytona were classified 12th though their engine expired before the finish.

Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta, Silverstone Classic

Alfonso then took the car to Cuba where he finished second in the 1959 4 hour Almar race, 2nd in the 1960 Havanna GT race and finally 11th in the 1960 Cuban Grand Prix.

Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta, Silverstone Classic

Racingsportscars.com also shows results for a 1959 race in Venezuela called the Ojeda City Grand Prix, no precise date is given for the event but Alfonso is credited as the winner beating the only other known contestants Venezuelan’s Lino Fayen and Ettore Chimeri who were also both driving Ferrari 250 GTs though the order in which the latter finished is also unknown.

Thanks for joining me on this “Ojeda City Winner” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Ginetta. Don’t forget to come back now !

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