Tag Archives: 250 GTO

Roelofs Replica – Ferrari 250 GTO Replica

Today’s featured Ferrari is a Replica ’64 250 GTO notchback seen at Sherbourne Castle a couple of years ago.

Ferrari 250 GTO Replica, Sherborne Castle

The ever growing demand for real classic Ferrari’s drove up prices massively in the late 1980’s and saw some seek a cheaper alternative by commissioning replica’s usually based on a Ferrari 250 GT/E chassis.

Ferrari 250 GTO Replica, Sherborne Castle

By shortening a 250 GT/E chassis a passing likeness to the more desirable 250 GT SWB, GTO, and TR models could be achieved at a cost of $300,000 plus a 250 GT/E donor car.

Ferrari 250 GTO Replica, Sherborne Castle

While the exterior likeness might pass muster shortening a 250 GT/E chassis meant that often the gear shift was not in the correct place and or the seats beeing too far forward as a result of the 250 GT/E suspension being bulkier than that on the model being copied, also the steering geometry for a long wheel base GT/E was not the same as for shorter models.

Ferrari 250 GTO Replica, Sherborne Castle

It appears that today’s featured Replica was built by Piet Roelofs, on the eastern outskirts of Arnhem in The Netherlands, who is reckoned to be one of the better Replica manufacturers by Micheal Sheehan an exotic car broker who tracks over 200 replica Ferrari’s.

My thanks to El Wayne at Ferrari Chat for pointing me in the direction of the manufacturer of today’s Replica.

Thanks for joining me on this “Roelofs Replica” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at another 500cc Formula 3 Car. Don’t forget to come back now !

Hermann’s GTO – Ferrari 250 GTO #4115GT

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In 1961 23 year old Hermann Cordes visited the Porsche factory with the intention of buying a couple of Porsche’s to race but found the atmoshpere less than friendly and left with out spending so much as a phennig. On his way home the dissapointed would be racing driver went to Frankfurt where serendipidously the Frankfurt Motor Show was happening.

At the show Hermann spoted a light blue Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta similar, so he thought, to the vehicle that had won it class in the 1000kms at the Nurburgring earlier in the year and purchased it along with a Ferrari 250 GTE 2+2 for a little more than the price of four of the Porsche’s he had set out to buy.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

According to legend on the 15th of April 1962 Hermann inadvertently parked his Ferrari 250 GT SWB in the competitors car park at the Eberbach hillclimb and before he knew it the steel bodied car had been given a racing number and Hermann a provisional competition licence and his career got underway. A couple ofweeks later he raced the car at Achum where he finished 3rd.

On the 1st of May Hermann’s 250 GT SWB came into contact with a deer on a public road and the SWB ended up backed into a tree an insurance write off. Hermann escaped more or less unharmed and with the insurance money ordered today’s featured Ferrari 250 GTO chassis #4115GT, which turned out to be the only 250 GTO ever sold new to a German customer.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Vestey, Goodwood Revival

While he was waiting for delivery of #4115GT and before going down to Maranello and then Scalietti’s factory on Modena verify it’s existence and identity, Hermann took the bumpers off his 250 GTE and competed with that. In December 1962 Hermann took delivery of the Grigio metallic 250 GTO chassis #4115GT, before selling his 250 GTE in February 1963 to Guenter Seifert.

In 1963 Hermann competed with #4115GT in the hills and on the track winning his class on the Bad Neuenahr hillclimb and winning overall in a GT race at Hockenheim. Hermann’s last recorded race was at Avus where he finished 2nd.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Vestey, Goodwood Revival

In 1964 Manfred Ramminger bought the car, to which Hermann had added black, gold and red stripes. Manfred shared #4115GT with Herbert Schander at the Nurburgring 1000kms where they finished 20th overall and 5th in class, and driving 4115GT solo Manfred won at Mainz Finthen and Avus before selling the car on to Werner Lindermann for the 1965 season.

Werner won a GT race at the Nurburgring before returning with the previous owner Manfred for the 1000kms where they came home 23rd overall, but this time second in class. Werner then drove 4115GT to it’s second victory at Avus, a second victory at Mainz Finthen and a win at Trier. At the end of 1965 Werner offered the #4115GT, now painted signal red, for sale at around half of it’s original cost.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Vestey, Goodwood Revival

H. P. Burkhardt of Switzerland bought the car in 1966 and in 1967 it was driven Peter Ettmueller to a final class victory on the Ollon-Villars hillclimb. In 1972 #4115GT moved to the UK under the ownership of T.A. Bob Roberts who had it displayed in the Midland Motor Museum, Stanmore Hall, GB.

Present owner Paul Vesty, now Sir, bought #4115GT in 1981 and he is seen demonstrating the car during the 250 GTO 50th Anniversary Tour at Goodwood Revival in 2012.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

My thanks to Michael “Tuboscocca” at The Nostalgia Forum directing me to an article by Gregor Schulz that appeared in Old Timer markt regarding Herman Cordes in April 2006.

Thanks for joining me on this “Hermann’s GTO” 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 no enthusiast should miss. Don’t forget to come back now !

The White RHD One – Ferrari 250 GTO #3729GT

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Blacksmiths, wheelwrights and coachbuilders Coombs of Guildford was founded in the 19th Century. Descendant of the founders John Coombs was taken to Brooklands before the 1939-45 was and on completion of his apprenticeship in 1949 began motor racing in open wheelers and sportscars with some success. He retired from race driving, after winning two races in a day at Mallory Park, because his business commitments no longer gave him the necessary time to compete, so he made the switch to becoming an entrant.

Teaming up with some of the best drivers of the day including his former Connaught team mate Roy Salvadori, BRM driver Ron Flockhart, John built up an excellent reputation with Coopers and Jaguar’s as Coombs of Guildford grew to become a major Jaguar dealership. When he was told Lotus founder Colin Chapman was interested in buying a Jaguar John had no hesitation in putting Colin, against whom he used to race, in one of his cars for a race at Silverstone which Colin promptly won and suitably impressed Colin duly placed his order.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

In July 1962 John took delivery of a white right hand drive Ferrari 250 GTO chassis #3729GT after it became clear that the Jaguar E-Type was too heavy to compete against Maranello’s finest. Despite being driven by the likes of Salvadori, Graham Hill and Mike Parkes, all of whom were or went on to compete in Formula One, the car did not record any victories in 1963 but it did record a string of second places.

John also sent the car to Coventry where Jaguar made a close inspection of it before building John the first of 11 lightweight E-types with aluminium mononcoques and engine blocks.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

In 1964 Viscount Eddie Portman took over ownership of #3729GT who added another second place result before it was entered for Ritchie Ginther to drive in the Tourist Trophy run at Goodwood where he finished 9th.

JA Pearce of JA Pearce Engineering then used #3729 in a couple of sprints run at Brighton and Blackbushe airport in late 1964 and early 1965.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

John also known as Jack Pearce spotted the opportunity for building a formula one car for the new 3 litre / 183 cui regulations which became effective from the beginning of 1966 using a 250 GTO motor. For many years it was believed that the motor from #3729 found it’s way into the back of the JA Pearce 1964 Cooper T73 built originally for the older 1.5 litre / 91.5 cui formula.

In fact Chris Lawrence, who drove and co owned the Cooper Ferrari, many years later discovered that instead of having a Ferrari 250 GTO motor the Cooper was actually fitted with a on older less powerful motor that came out of Rob Walkers 1961 Ferrari 250 SWB #2735GT which had been driven by Stirling Moss to a string of five race victories. Unfortunately the unique Cooper Ferrari T73 was destroyed in a transporter fire at Silverstone in 1967, although the charred remains of both the motor and car are known to still exist.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

After #3729 had been sold on to noted historic racer Neil Corner in 1966 it was painted red and from 1970 to 1999 it belonged to 1958 and ’63 British Saloon Car Champion Jack Sears, who had raced the #3729 for John Coombs at Brands Hatch and Snetterton in 1963.

1n 1999 current owner Jon Shirley bought the car and had a new engine block installed by Ferrari Classiche nine years later.

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

Tour de France Winner – Ferrari 250 GTO #4153GT

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On June 2nd 1963 Frenchman Pierre Dumay took delivery of a silver Ferrari 250 GTO chassis #4153 and two weeks later it was entered under the Ecurie Francochamps banner in the 1963 Le Mans 24 Hours for himself and Belgian Léon “Elde” Dernier in which they finished 4th overall and second in class. Dernier means ‘last’ and Léon prefered to race under a pseudonym of the pronunciation of his initials LD. By the following week it appears that ownership of the car had been transferred to Ecurie Francochamps and entered in race for first Dernier and then Dumay at Zolder and Reims where 2nd overall and 3rd in class finishes were recorded respectively.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

The following season it appears that the Marquis Philippe de Montaigu bought #4135 but continued to enter it in numerous events from 1964 through 1965 under the Ecurie Francochamps banner for the likes of; Georges Berger, Lucien Bianchi, Pierre Dumay, “Gauvin”, Gustave Gosselin, “Lagae”, “Lambrecht”, Francis van Lysbeth, Willy Mairesse, Gerard Langlois van Ophem

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

#4153’s biggest win was when Lucian Bianchi and and Georges Berger won the 1964 Tour de France. In 1965 chassis #4153 was entered into the first Marathon de la Route, an 82 hour race held at the Nurburgring that replaced the Liege Rome Liege Rally, but Bianchi, Berger and Jean Blaton failed to finish. Since then the car has remained in Europe with the current German owner acquiring it in 2003.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

Seen at the wheel of chassis #4153GT during a 250 GTO demonstration at last years Goodwood Revival meeting is Daniela Ellerbrock.

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

BP Green – Ferrari 250 GTO #3767GT

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In July 1962 British racing driver David Piper took delivery of a British Petroleum (BP) Green right hand drive (RHD) Ferrari 250 GTO chassis #3767, Italian registration MO 79460 and raced it in Europe, Africa and the United States before selling it on to Ed Cantrell.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

Pipers best result with the car was an overall win in the Kyalami 9 hours with South African Bruce Johnstone, the following year David shared another Ferrari 250 GTO chassis #4491GT with South African Tony Maggs to win the Kyalami 9 Hours again in 1963.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

Ed Cantrell shared the driving #3767 with former owner Daivd Piper in the 1963 Sebring 12 Hours where they finished 14th overall and 5th in class. The continued to be raced through 1963 until the end of 1964 when Tom Fleming and Ray Heppenstall appear to have been entered to drive #3767 by the North American Racing Team in the Nassau Trophy Race where they finished 14th.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

Ten years later Anthony Bamford acquired the car and it was given the British registration plate 63 GTO which remains legal to this day.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

#3767 is seen here at last years Goodwood Revival meeting where Joe Bamford and Alain de Cadenet, who owned the car prior to selling it to Anthony Bamford in 1974, shared the driving in the RAC TT celebration race in which they were unclassified.

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

Au Danger, Mon Plaisir – Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta #3607GT

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On June 6th 1962 Ferdinando “Nanado” Pagliarini took delivery of today’s featured Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta chassis #3607, he used it to compete in at least nine events up until November 1963, in which he won his class at least 4 times in Hillclimb events.

By the following season #3607 had been acquired by Ecurie Francochamps who entered the car in the 1964 Tour de France for Claude Dubois and Philippe de Montaigu who finished 8th overall and 3rd in class. Portuguese driver António Peixinho next drove the car to 5th place in the 1964 Angola Grand Prix.

Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta, Goodwood Revival

Philippe de Montaigu bought the car in 1965, Philippe was married to junior French Tennis Legend Annie Soisbault who at 21 had turned her hand to professional rallying and racing “because I did want to be dependent on my parents”. During her competition career she would occasionally be accompanied by her cheetah, Annie’s motto was ‘In danger, my pleasure”.

In 1965 Annie drove chassis #3607 to an overall win in the Grand Prix of Paris before crashing the car into a bridge on the Mont Ventoux Hillclimb. Alongside her competition career Annie sold Aston Martin’s to the likes of Eddie Barclay, Johnny Hallyday, Régine, Françoise Sagan and his brother Jacques Quoirez.

Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta, Goodwood Revival

#3607 passed into the hands of Jean-Michel Giorgi after the crash and his best of four known outings resulted in a class win on the the 1965 Agaci Rallye held in Reims.

The car remained in France until 1987 when it went to the USA. In 1990 it went under the hammer for $9,588,780 plus commission but the winning bidder never paid, the following year it sold for £6,900,000 to a Swiss gentleman who swapped it for a Ferrari P3/4 the following year.

#3607 is seen in these photographs taken during last years 50th Anniversary 250 GTO demonstration at Goodwood Revival driven by R Walton.

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

Goodwood 2012 – #5 Ferrari Friday

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If I heard the commentary on Goodwood Radio correctly then there were over $300 million dollars worth of cars at Goodwood last Friday with 11 Ferrari 250 GTO’s present that would make up the first $120 million very quickly !

Among the 250 GTO’s I had not seen before was chassis #4219GT a car which Pedro Rodriguez drove to victory in the second Daytona 3 Hour race held in 1963. This car is reputed to have changed hands for just over $12,000 in 1964 and between $3 and 3.5 million in 1993 !

The role call of drivers of this Ferrari 250 TR #0774TR includes Jean Behra and Dan Gurney who did not finish the 1959 Le Mans 24 hours in it, Phil Hill and Cliff Allison who won the 1960 1000kms at Buenos Aires before it returned to Le Mans where it won the 1960 24 hours with Olivier Gendebien and Paul Frere at the wheel.

I am not sure of the chassis number of this 250 GT SWB Berlinetta so I’m not sure wether or not it’s a Competizione model or not, if you know your 250 GT SWB’s and no the identity of this one please chip in with a reference or two below.

A class win at Le Mans in 1967 for drivers Dietter Sporey and Rico Steinemann followed by another in the 1000 kms at Spa in 1969 with Jaques Rey and Edgar Berney at the wheel did not do much to help the value of this car in 1969 when it changed ownership for just $6,000. By 1983 the value had leapt to $150,000 two years later it was fire damaged and the wreck changed hands for $46,000.
The restored car then went to Japan for a reputed $800,000 in 1988, since then it has come to reside in the UK via the USA for undisclosed sums.

My personal pick for Ferrari of the day is this 250 MM Pinifarina Berlinetta with a longer than standard nose. The car has little racing history from it’s heyday and lost 1 million Italian Lira in value, just under 1/3rd, between 1953 and 1955. By all accounts it was used for to chauffeur movie stars in 1954.

If you can’t have the Ferrari 250 of your choice there are plenty of less valuable 250 GTE’s like the 1963 example above that can be acquired and transformed into the Ferrari of your dreams at a fraction of the price of the real thing.

For one reason or another this Ferrari 250 GTO #3757 has come up for discussion on GALPOT numerous times, I make no apology for showing yet another photo of it again because this time former Ferrari Grand Prix driver and would be Indy rookie Jean Alesi can be seen at the wheel.

Christian Horner is best known as team principle of the multiple championship winning Red Bull racing, he was also a dab hand behind the wheel making it all the way to the second tier Formula 3000 open wheel series before the money ran out and he opted for team management in 1998. Christian is seen here in the Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta chassis 1953GT another car that has been mentioned before in connection with the motor from 250 GT SWB Berlinetta #2025 that has been fitted to the #60 seen here.

The car above driven by Mike Malone looks like a 1958 Ferrari 250 TR however it actually started life as 1956 290 MM Scaglietti Spyder #0606 with Right Hand Drive. After Maurice Trintignant and Phil Hill won first time out in Sweden car was upgraded to 1959 250 TR specs at the factory and ended up in Brazil where Rio Negri was killed after probably mistaking the central pedal for the brakes when it was actually the accelerator. The remains of the fire damaged car were eventually fitted with a Ford V8. Much later it was discovered and mistaken and built up again as the Left Hand Drive ’59 250 TR 0726. Many years later it came to light that the car was actually #0606. Finding Ferrari’s can be difficult identifying them correctly even more so !

Last year I saw 1985 Indy winner Danny Sullivan at my local track Castle Combe, this year I have now seen him race a Ferrari at Goodwood, above he is driving a 1956 Ferrari 850 Monza chassis 0604M, as we saw in a previous post Danny is following in the footsteps of one five time Juan Manuel Fangio and America’s first world champion Phil Hill ! Danny qualified 15th but did not finish the Sussex Trophy Race.

Finally the Freddie March Memorial Trophy race included this 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza Scaglietti Spider S1 chassis #0504M which appears to have been raced by Frenchman Michael Poberejsky under the pseudonym Mike Sparken. Michael won a race in Morocco before sharing the car with Marsten Gregory at Le Mans in 1955 where they failed to finish. R and A Frankel retired with less than half an hour to go in the Freddie March Memorial Trophy too !

Thanks for joining me on this ‘#5 Ferrari Friday’ edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at some of the Lotus racing cars that were present at Goodwood. Don’t forget to come back now !

PS 12 09 21 Condolences to family and friends of Michael Poberejsky who died this morning at his home in Beaulieu sur Mer.

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring

Tag Archives: 250 GTO

Roelofs Replica – Ferrari 250 GTO Replica

Hermann’s GTO – Ferrari 250 GTO #4115GT

The White RHD One – Ferrari 250 GTO #3729GT

Tour de France Winner – Ferrari 250 GTO #4153GT

BP Green – Ferrari 250 GTO #3767GT

Au Danger, Mon Plaisir – Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta #3607GT

Goodwood 2012 – #5 Ferrari Friday