Tag Archives: Breadvan

Ferrari Friday – Silver Jubilee Silverstone Classic

Welcome to another Ferrari Friday edition of “Gettin’ a l’il psycho on tyres” this week brought to you from last month’s Silver Jubilee Silverstone Classic.

Ferrari 365 GTB/4, Silverstone Classic,

There were plenty of disguised Ferrari’s present such as this 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 chassis #16643 which left the factory as a 2+2 Berlinetta and was converted into a Spyder in 1988, this car is reported to have recently been upgraded with a Traffic Master tracker, Autowatch immobiliser and iPod stereo connection.

Ferrari 365 GTB/4, Silverstone Classic,

Still carrying it’s original Scaglietti 2+2 Berlinetta body above is the 1970 365 GTB/4 chassis #13775 that was owned by “20th Century Boy” Marc Bolan who famously never learned to drive fearing premature death only to be tragically killed when a passenger in a Purple Mini 1275GT driven by his partner in 1977.

Ferrari 275 GTS, Silverstone Classic

Another Ferrari with a famous owner is the 1965 Ferrari 275 GTS chassis #07395 seen above which once belonged to 1980 Australian Formula One world champion Alan Jones.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB, Halusa/Halusa, Silverstone Classic

Also no longer carrying the body it left the factory with is the famous 250 GT SWB chassis #2819 which Count Volponi had hastily converted to a GTO spec with Breadvan body by Giotto Bizzarini and other ex Ferrari personnel. The car was shared by L & N Halusa and is seen during qualifying for the Sunday TT race in which it finished 17th from 16th on the grid.

Ferrari 250 GTE, Silverstone Classic

I have not yet been able to discern a chassis number for the 1961 Ferrari 250 GTE above, if you know it don’t hesitate to chime in below.

Ferrari 250 GTE, Silverstone Classic

The replicated TR body above also sits on a V12 250 GTE which I believe is the 1963 chassis #4873.

Ferrari 246S, Gregor Fiskin, Silverstone Classic

Finally congratulations to Gregor Fisken who is seen above dancing the, GALPOT site banner car, 246S #0784 through Chapel on his way to a win in the Stirling Moss Trophy.

Thanks for joining me on this Ferrari Friday edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres, I hope you will join me tomorrow for more highlights from the Silver Jubilee Silverstone Classic. Don’t forget to come back now !

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The Breadvan – Ferrari 250 GT SWB #2819

Today’s unique vehicle came to be built after Count Giovanni Volpi di Misurata fell out with Enzo Ferrari for financing a rival Formula One team ATS which employed ex Ferrari personnel Carlo Chiti, Giotto Bizzarrini and World Champion driver the American Phil Hill.

#2819 started life as a regular Ferrari 250 GT SWB and was entered in the 1961 Tour de France by Ecurie Francochamps for Olivier Gendebien and Lucien Bianchi who finished 2nd. The car was then acquired by Count Giovanni Volpi di Misurata who’s Scuderia Serenissima di Venezia entered the 1961 Paris 1000 kms for Maurice Trintignant and Nino Vaccarella who finished 3rd.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Wanting a third vehicle to enter in his Le Mans team which included one 250 GTO, #3445 and a Ferrari TR/61, #0792TR which won at Sebring, but unable to secure a second 250 GTO from Ferrari, Count Volpi di Misurata had his 1961 250 GT SWB upgraded to 250 GTO spec by the very man responsible for conceiving the original 250 GT SWB and 250 GTO series Giotto Bizzarrini.

Allegedly in just 14 days Giotto Bizzarrini & Piero Drogo modified Count di Misurata’s 250 GT SWB by moving the dry sumped engine back 5 inches behind the front axle so that it could be mounted lower in the chassis. Piero Drogo came up with a staggeringly beautiful body with a cut off ‘Kamm’ tail which led to the name Breadvan. The finished car was 143 lbs lighter than the 250 GTO and 7 mph faster on the 4 mile Mulsanne straight at Le Mans.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

The body of the 250 GT SWB Breadvan is so low that a plastic bubble was devised for the hood to cover the six Webber carburettors. The 276 horse power 2953 cc / 180 cui V12 engine weighed nearly half that of the contemporary XK straight six used by Jaguar in it’s D & E Type racers.

#2819 driven by Carlo Maria Abate and Colin Davis was leading the works 250 GTO’s in the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hours when it retired after four hours with drive shaft failure. After a 4th place finish at Brands Hatch for Abate, and 3rd place in Paris for Ludovico Scarfiotti and Davis the ‘Breadvan’ was used by Count di Misurata as a road car.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

The original SWB body from #2819 was fitted to chassis #2439 by Scaglietti in 1962 after Gunnar Anderson had a couple of accidents at Falkenberg and Västkustloppet in Scandinavia.

Apparently Count Volpi di Misurata lent The Breadvan to Gianni Agnelli, then head of FIAT, who had the vehicle painted black by his butler because it reminded him of a hearse, it is not noted if this had anything to do with then delicate state of Ferrari finances at the time, the Ferrari road car division was eventually absorbed by FIAT in 1969.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Breadvan Edition” of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at Colin Chapmans 1968 turbo charged all wheel drive Indy challenger. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Goodwood RAC TT Celebration – Ferraris

The RAC TT or International Tourist Trophy is a more or less annual award given to the winners of a selected motor race. It was first awarded in 1905 making it the longest lasting trophy in Motorsport. Among the many venues that hosted the RAC TT is Goodwood which ran TT races from 1958 to 1964. Below are 9 of the 10 Ferrari’s that took part in the Revival Celebration TT practice sessions a couple of weeks ago.

Ferrari 250 GT Drogo, Goodwood Revival

The #14 Ferrari 250 GT Drogo started life as a 250 GT SWB (Short Wheel Base) Competizione chassis #2445GT in 1961, it was supplied to Garages Francorchamps in Belgium and is known to have won at least seven European races in the hands of Robert Crevits in the 1961 and ’62 seasons. At Le Mans in 1962 Robert Darville crashed the car and it was subsequently sent to Piero Drogo in Modena where the current bodywork was fitted. Apparently James Coburn briefly owned this car in 1964. Dutchman David Hart shared the #14 with 2006 RAC TT winner Michael Bartels at Goodwood.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Beadvan, Goodwood Revival

Readers from Rowdy.com may remember my blog on the Ferrari 250 GT SWB Breadvan, I’ll repost the whole blog here if I find myself getting short of Ferraris to write about, chassis #2819 is a bastard in so much as it also started life as a 1961 250 GT SWB, but Count di Misurata had his car upgraded by Giotto Bizzarrini, the man responsible for designing both the Ferrari 250 GT SWB and the later 250 GTO. The ‘Breadvan’ was driven at Goodwood by Nicholas Minassian and Max Werner.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB, Goodwood Revival

One of my all time heroes Art Merzario shared the #19 250 GT SWB/C with Kilian Koenig. This 1960 model chassis #1811GT was another car originally supplied to Garages Francorchamps and in the hands of Robert Crevits won 3 races outright in the 1961 season.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB, Goodwood Revival

Conrad Ulrich shared his #20 250 GT SWB chassis #3107GT with Frank Stippler at Goodwood. This chassis was originally supplied to M. Auregli in Italy and has no race history, that I can discern, until the current owner acquired it in 1999.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Competizione, Goodwood Revival

This light weight 1961 250GT SWB Compitizione was originally entered by the North American Racing Team in the Paris 1000 kms for the Mexican Rodriguez brothers who won on the cars debut race. Subsequently it was sold to Doug Thiem in the USA who succesfully campaigned this chassis #3005GT in 1962. The #21 car now belongs to Lukas Hueni who shared it with Carlo Voegele at Goodwood.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

Gregory Whitten’s #23 250 GTO chassis #3413 was originally used as a spare car and tested by Graham Hill and engineer Mauro ‘Fury’ Fogheri on the Targa Florio in 1962, later that year #3413 was acquired by Edoardo Lualdi who scored numerous overall and class wins hillclimbing with it. In 1963 Gianni Bulgari raced it scoring a class win on the Targa and an overall win at Monza. In 1964 the car was fitted with ’64 GTO bodywork at the Ferrari factory for new owner Corrado Ferlaino who promptly took another class win on the Targa and at least two more hillclimb class wins. In 1967 Jack Le Fort acquired #3413 for £6000 /@ US$ 15,000 after several further changes of ownership Gregory Whitten acquired it in 2000 for US$ 7 million ! Greg shared his car with 6 time Le Mans winner Derek ‘Dinger’ Bell at Goodwood.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

The #24 Ferrari 250 GTO chassis #3767GT was raced with the #8 by original owner David Piper to 5th place in the 1962 Tourist Trophy at Goodwood. David won races in Angola and South Africa with this car in 1962. In 1963 David shared the car at Sebring with the cars next owner Ed Cantrell who clocked up further class wins with the car through to the end of 1964. Since 1974 #3767 has been the property of heavy plant magnet Anthony Bamford at Goodwood his son Jo shared the drivng duties with Alain de Cadenet.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta , Goodwood Revival

Jose Albuquerque, of Portugal brought his 250GT Compitizione to Goodwood and shared it with Barrie Williams. Chassis #2159GT was originally supplied to Garage Montchoisy, Geneva, CH and Gérard Spinedi won on his debut in the 1000m sprint at Cern, Spinedi scored numerous overall and class victories in races, rallies and on the hills up to 1964. Mr Albuquerque has been the custodian of this car since 2001.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta , Goodwood Revival

Finally Garage Francochamps appears to have acquired this 1960 steel bodied 250GT SWB Berlinetta chassis #2069GT from Baron de Fierlant in 1962, apart from a 2nd place in the 1962 Ardenne hillclimb with Robert Crevits at the wheel, the car has no discernable competition history until the turn of this century when Vincent Gáye acquired it. Vincent was sharing #2060GT with former national hillclimb champion David Franklin in the RAC TT celebration.

My thanks to PauloSF at Ferrari Chat for his contribution to todays blog.

Thanks for joining me on this RAC TT edition of ‘Gettin a lil’ psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

SOT Thanks to a strong alignment of favourable planets I’ll be attending the Bill Boddy Tribute Day at Bill’s spiritual home Brooklands tomorrow, if I had not picked up a copy of Motor Sport, edited by Bill Boddy, in January 1973 I’d never have been bitten by the passion I still have 38 years later for all things motoring.

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