Tag Archives: 250

Fast Cars and Fast Love – Ferrari 250 GTO #4219

Motor racing is littered with generous patrons but I venture to suggest that her wealth aside none has been quite so extraordinary as the 20 year old heiress from Asheville North Carolina known as Mamie Spears Reynolds.

In early 1963 she went to New York to see Luigi Chinetti with the intention of buying a Ferrari to enter in the Daytona Continental. She ended up buying today’s featured Ferrari 250 GTO chassis #4219 and finding love in the form of Luigi Chinetti’s son Luigi Chinetti Jr whom she married in July 1963.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

Mamie, heir to tobacco and mining fortunes along with the “Hope Diamond” had Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team (NART) enter #4219 into the Daytona Continental for Pedro Rodriguez to drive and he promptly won the race. NART entered the car at the following Sebring 12 Hours for Joakim Bonnier and John Cannon in which they came home 13th overall.

In May 1963 Mamie sold #4219 to Beverly Spencer in California for US $14,000, Beverly entered the car in numerous events through ’63 and ’64 primarily for Frank Crane who’s best results were a 2nd overall at Laguna Seca and a class win at Candlestick Park Raceway.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

At the end of 1964 Spencer sold the car to George Dyer for US $12,166. George had the now white #4219 painted dark blue and kept it until January 1993 when he sold the car to Brandon Wang the present owner for an estimated US$ 3 – 3.5 million.

By October 1965 Mamie and Chinetti jr were not getting on and after a private phone call to J Edgar Hoover she was liberated by “agents” and promptly divorced Chinetti jr and remarried a dog breeder the same day with whom she appears to have settled down for good.

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

Double Austrian GT Champ – Ferrari 250 GTO #3505

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In April 1962 UDT Laystall racing took delivery of a Ferrari 250 GTO chassis number 3505 painted pale green as were all the other cars in the UDT Laystall team run by dentist and one time Indy 500 competitor Alfred Moss father of Sir Stirling Moss and Sir Stirlings former manager Ken Gregory.

Ferrari 250GTO, Goodwood Revival

The cars first outing was at the 1962 Le Mans test where Willy Marrise recorded 2nd fastest time in #3505, he appears to have driven several other Ferrari’s over the weekend including the fastest car a 250GT SWB chassis #2689. Innes Ireland and Marsten Gregory shared the car for the rest of the season Marsten scored to 2nd place finishes at Silverstone before he and Ireland retired the car at Le Mans with a combination of starter and battery problems after completing just under half the distance of the race.

Innes Ireland drove the #3505 to victories at Brands Hatch and again in the 1962 Tourist Trophy run at Goodwood where the car is seen above fifty years after the event. With just seven events entered the car was sold to Austrian Dr. Gunther Placheta.

Ferrari 250GTO, Goodwood Revival

Dr. Gunther Placheta was an alias for the actor Gunther Philipp who raced under the pseudonym “Giulio Pavesi” and used the #3505 in racing and hillclimbing events in 1963 and 1964 claiming 4 overall victories from nine events known to have been entered claiming the 1963 and 1964 Austrian GT championships in the process.

Since 1964 #3505 has spent most of it’s time with owners in the United Kingdom in 2000 the #3505 sold for $8 million and went to the Matsuda collection.

Ferrari 250GTO, Goodwood Revival

The car was back in the UK with a new Dutch owner by 2005 and last year was sold far a reputed $35 million to it’s current owner wireless billionaire Craig McCaw who by strange coincidence is also the husband of former US Ambassador to Austria Susan Rasinski McCaw. The reputed $35 million price paid makes this car twice as expensive as the most expensive car sold at auction last year the $16 million 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa Prototype.

It should be noted that #3505 was neither owned by Sir Stirling Moss other than through any financial interest he may have had in his fathers racing team British Racing Partnerships which raced under the UDT Laystall banner in 1962 and nor is there any record that #3505 was ever raced by Sir Stirling Moss in period.

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

Raced, Crashed, Stolen & Returned – Ferrari 250 GTO #3387

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With the price of Ferrari 250 GTO’s in the 20 – 30 million US dollar range it occurred to me recently that to be a mere millionaire is probably no longer enough to purchase one of the 39 cars built.

Today’s featured Ferrari 250 GT0 #3387 was sold to Luigi Chinetti in March 1962 after the factory had done some testing with it at Monza earlier in the month.Chinetti entered the car for Phil Hill and Oliver Gendebien in the Sebring 12 hours under his NART banner and came home 2nd OA, 1st in class.

Bob Grossman bought the car and entered it for himself and George Roberts jr in the ’62 Le Mans 24 hours coming home 6th overall 3rd in class behind two more GTO’s. Grossman scored one more class win at Bridgehampton in ’62 before selling the car to the Gammino family.

Mike Gammino raced the car through ’63 and ’64 scoring 4 class wins and 2 outright victories, during practice for ’64 Daytona 2000kms Mike crashed the car and ended up replacing the body with a new body from Scaglietti

Gammino sold the car back to Grossman who drove #3387 to another class victory at Nassau in 1965 before the car retired from active competition and was sold to K F White.

In 1979 R Finger bought the car and eleven years later a Kawasaki motorcycle dealer masterminded a plan to relieve Dr Finger of #3387 after offering the car to interested parties from his fax machine.

Six men from the Savanah manged to steal #3387 and K F White showed up with a US$ 4.3 million cashiers cheque, but backed out of the deal when he suspected the car was a fake because the “real” #3387 was confirmed to be with Dr R Finger. The FBI picked up #3387 later that afternoon returning the car to it’s rightful owner and sending the perpetrators on their way to a Federal Penitentiary.

The car as seen today is seen wearing the colours the original body wore at the Sebring in 1962.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for his photo of #3387 seen at the Petersen Automotive Museum in 2011, the two other photo’s were taken at the 2012 Goodwood Revival.

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

No Side Vent Windows – Ferrari 250 GT Pininfarina Series I Cabriolet

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In 1957 Ferrari launched the Ferrari 250 GT Pininfarina Series 1 Cabriolet with a list price if $14,950 over $3,000 more than the Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder.

The 250 GT Pininfarina Series 1 Cabriolet was better appointed with more sound proofing and more comfortable than the shorter wheel base 250 GT California Spyder.

This car is on of just six Ferrari 250 GT Pininfarina Series 1 Cabriolets to have the fender vents that were a feature of the California Spyder. To tell a Ferrari 250 GT Pininfarina Series I Cabriolet apart from a Ferrari 250 GT Pininfarina Series II Cabriolet one only has to look to see if either of the long wheel base cars has side vent windows, the 42 Series I cars did not have them while the 200 Series II cars did have them fitted.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photo’s taken at Danville Concours d’Elegance.

Thanks for joining me on this “No Side Vent Windows” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Ferrari On The Avenue – Carmel by the Sea Concours d’Elegance

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Saving the best for Ferrari Friday today’s blog is the forth and final summary of the vehicles that were on display at this years Carmel by the Sea Concours on the Avenue which comes courtesy of photographs by Geoffrey Horton.

Of the photographs Geoffrey kindly sent this Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder looks a show stopper, but being one of 55 it was by no means the rarest Ferrari on display.

Enzo Ferrari took to being chauffeured about in a Ferrari 250 GT/E which gives an added poignancy to the model, however the sheer volume of cars built, around 1000, and the expense of keeping them maintained led to many subsequently being broken up for parts for more exotic models and some being hacked wholesale into more desirable examples like the 250 GT SWB Competizione linked here.

350 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso Pininfarina Berlinetta‘s were manufactured between 1962 and 1964, making it more difficult to trace the serial numbers than most.

The 275 GTS above is one of 200 built between 1964 and 1966.

Ferrari had started deleting wire wheels from his options list as early as 1966 with the quad cam 275 GTB/4 which makes it perhaps surprising that the straight edge styled 365 GTB/4 launched in 1969 first appeared at the IAA show in Frankfurt mounted on Borrani wire spoke wheels which hark back to an earlier period rather than more contemporary alloy wheels which had virtually replaced wire wheels in the track competition scene.

Finally winner of the best in show at Carmel by the Sea on August 14th was this 1967 quad cam Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spyder built for Luigi Chinetti to distribute in the USA. This car is the 7th of 10 that was built for Luigi Chinetti to distribute in the USA.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for kindly sharing his photographs.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Ferrari On The Avenue’ edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the last of the Lotus Seven variants to be designed by the factory. Don’t forget to come back now !

Drogo Nose Needs Fuel – Ferrari 250 LM #6217.

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Completed on January 14th 1965 today’s featured Ferrari 250 LM #6217 was delivered to Edoardo Lualdi-Gabardi, a well known racer and hillclimb competitor, in time to take part in the 1965 season.

Unlike chassis #5843 which I looked at a few weeks ago that has an extensive racing history, Edoardo appears to have used the car for primarily for hillclimbing a use to which it was eminently suited as evidenced by at least 8 overall wins he recorded in 1965 and at least a further four recorded in 1966 before Edoardo returned the car to the Ferrari factory.

This particular 250 LM carries a distinctive ‘Drogo’ long nose that replaced the standard Scaglietti item at the end of 1965.

Towards the end of 1966 #6217 was shipped to North America and ended up being converted for street use in New York of the same year.

In 1969 this Ferrari was traded for a Lamborghini Muira which with the benefit of 50 years of hind sight may not have been the smartest of financial moves.

Since then #6217 has resided in Gstaad Switzerland, Bologna Italy, Nelson New Zealand and Düsseldorf Germany before it was acquired by it’s present owner in the USA.

Edoardo Lualdi-Gabardi appears to have started racing by 1950 when he shared the #024 FIAT 500 with a driver named Ranzini with whom he came home 160th in the 1950 Mille Miglia completing the 1000 miles 20 hours, 10 mins and 51.8 seconds some 6 hours behind the winning #724 Ferrari 195 S driven by Giannino Marzotto and Marco Crosara.

Edoardo progressed through a variety of cars including a Dragada, Lancia, OSCA and numerous Ferrari’s to become a regular winner on the European Hillclimb Circuit.

He stopped competing somewhere around 1971 when he was the owner of the one off 2 litre / 122 cui flat twelve Ferrari 212E sportscar, though he is also recorded as having destroyed an Osella on a hillclimb in 1972.

When Ferrari 250 LM’s were first built in 1963 they came with a 3 litre / 183 cui V12 motor fitted.

Later examples like the one featured today were fitted with 3286cc / 200.5 cui motors good for 320 hp. The later cars with the bigger motors should have been renamed 275 LM’s according to Ferrari nomenclature in use at the time, but they were not.

As a result of the complete lack of factory support for it’s GT teams in 1965, stemming from the FIA governing bodies refusal to recognise the 250 LM as a GT car Shelby Cobra succeeded in winning the 1965 World Sports Car Championship, run for GT cars.

Just 32 250 LM’s, of the 100 required to be recognised as a GT car, were built between 1963 and 1965.

My thanks to John Aibel who kindly sent me the photo’s of today’s featured car.

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

Une voiture et un film – Ferrari 250 LM #5843

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The Ferrari 250 LM was a development of the 250 P built for customers to race in 1964, Enzo Ferrari tried to get it classified as a GT car however the authorities denied the request because Ferrari could not prove the required minimum of 100 had been built so the cars were raced as prototypes.

Graham Hill and Jo Bonnier driving the Maranello Concesionaires owned chassis #5907 appear to have taken the models first victory at the 1964 Rheims 12 hours finishing ahead of the NART entered 250 LM #5909 driven by John Surtees and Lorenzo Bandini.

The 250 LM is known to have won at least 32 races outright, including Ferrari’s last ever outright win at Le Mans. Future World Champion Jochen Rindt and Marsten Gregory shared a 250 LM that after early ignition problems was famously driven flat out in a vane attempt to break the car so the drivers would not miss a nights sleep and ended up winning the race after the faster Ford GT40 Mk II’s had retired and the faster works Ferrari’s required unscheduled pit stops to change their brake discs.

Another future World Champion, Jackie Stewart, scored his only victory at the wheel of a Ferrari at Surfers Paradise in the 1966 12 hour race where he shared a Scuderia Veloce 250 LM with Andy Buchanan.

Thanks Cyril Teste at Ferrari Chat I believe the car seen here at Goodwood Festival of Speed last year, which is not mentioned in the programme, is chassis #5843 a car originally supplied to Ecurie Francochamps in May 1964. If the identity is correct this car is known to have won several races and hillclimbs in the hands of Lucien Bianchi, Armand Blaton and “Beurlys”.

At Le Mans in 1964 Pierre Dumay and Grégoire Langois Von Ophem shared a 16th place finish, this race was used as a background for the 1966 film “Un Homme et une femme” the red painted #5843 carrying the #23 was captured in the film on pit road and during the race.

This car first raced in the Belgian national colour yellow in 1965. I believe the owner of #5843 recently also acquired a 250 GTO for a cool $35 million dollars. Some boys sure have all the fun !

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

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring

Tag Archives: 250

Fast Cars and Fast Love – Ferrari 250 GTO #4219

Double Austrian GT Champ – Ferrari 250 GTO #3505

Raced, Crashed, Stolen & Returned – Ferrari 250 GTO #3387

No Side Vent Windows – Ferrari 250 GT Pininfarina Series I Cabriolet

Ferrari On The Avenue – Carmel by the Sea Concours d’Elegance

Drogo Nose Needs Fuel – Ferrari 250 LM #6217.

Une voiture et un film – Ferrari 250 LM #5843