Tag Archives: Competizione

Another Austrian Hillclimber – Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione #2701GT

Today’s Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione chassis #2701 GT was taken by the Ferrri factory it’s debut at the 1961 Le Mans test weekend for Fernand Tavano, Mike Parkes and Jo Schlesser to drive.

After setting the 6th fastest time, fastest in class, #2701GT ended the weekend with accident damage and after being rebuilt Count Carlo & Masalmo Leto di Priolo of Milan bought the car for Masalmo to race in 1962.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione, Rolex Reunion, Laguna Seca,

Austrian Egon Hofer bought #2701GT from German Guenther Peter-Lex for DM 6,000 in February 1967 and is known to have driven it to class victory on the Weerberg and Gaisberg hillclimbs.

Egon then took #2701GT to the 1967 Targa Florio where he shared the car with Anatoly Arutunoff where carrying the #74 it failed to finish.

After the original motor was repaired, sold on and replaced with a Ferrari 330GT unit Anatoly bought the car for $3,900.

Since then it has remained in US ownership and is said to have had an unspecified “American drive train” fitted in the 1970’s, which was replaced by a Ferrari 250 GTE motor in the 1980’s.

Current owner Warren ‘Ned’ Spieker has owned the car since 2004 and he shared driving it at Goodwood in 2005 with Sir Stirling Moss in the TT Celebration race.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton who took today’s photograph at the Rolex Reunion a couple of years ago.

Thanks for joining me on this “Another Austrian Hillclimber” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a 1952 Allard. Don’t forget to come back now !

Au Revoir Le Mans – Ferrari 275 GTB Copetizione #9015

1 Reply

Last Ferrari Friday I left students of the marque a little challenge to find a photo of Ed Hugus driving a NART Ferrari 250 LM to victory in the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hour Race.

Ferrari 275 GTB/C, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

Unsurprisingly none has shown up, so for the time being I will have to continue to surmise it never happened. If it did the Ferrari would have been disqualified because both Jochen Rindt and Marsten Gregory continued driving the car after the alleged incident and replacement drivers were allowed only if one of the two nominated drivers took no further driving duties. On the other hand it would have been quite a coup for NART owner Luigi Chinetti to pull one over the, at times particularly pedantic, race organisers.

Ferrari 275 GTB/C, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

Ed had a driving career that spanned from the early ’50’s to 1969 that included a class win at Le Mans in 1957 when he was driving a Porsche. He competed as a driver in the Le Mans 24 hours in 1964 for the last, known, time driving a ’64 NART Ferrari 250 GTO, a race from which the car retired with differential issues.

Ferrari 275 GTB/C, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

In 1966 NART, Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team took delivery of today’s featured 275 GTB Competizione and appear to have entered it in the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours under Ed Hugus name for Giampiero Biscaldi and Michel de Bourbon-Parme to drive with Ed named as reserve.

Ferrari 275 GTB/C, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

Giampiero and Michel qualified 35th and made it all the way to lap 218, about two thirds of the distance covered by the class winning 275 GTB/C driven by Mike Parkes and Roy Pike, before retiring with clutch and gearbox issues.

Ferrari 275 GTB/C, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

#9015 is only known to have been entered in one other event at Road Atlanta where Bill Harrahs Modern Classic Motors entered Bob Grossman and Denise McCluggage in the ’66 500 mile race in which they finished 12th.

Ferrari 275 GTB/C, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

Ed continued racing another couple of years in the USA with a Porsche 906 and a fearsome Porsche powered device known as the ‘Tricor Special’ with which he won his last, known, race at Daytona in August 1968.

By 1980 #9015 had passed into the hands of New York collector Anthony Wang. John and Heather Mozart of Palo Alto acquired #9015 in 2011 and entered it into last years Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance where Geoffrey Horton took these photographs.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photographs.

Thanks for joining me on this “Au Revoir Le Mans” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the first hybrid to win the Le Mans 24 Hour race. Don’t forget to come back now !

Moka Express – Ferrari 250 GT SWB Competizione #1905

In 1933 inventor Luigi De Ponti patented his design for an aluminium stove top coffee maker known as the Moka Pot for Alfonso Bialetti who sold 70,000 of them locally in Italy up until the start of ’39-’45 war.

In 1946 Alfonso’s son Renato took over the business and focused it’s attention entirely on manufacturing and marketing the Moka Express so that by 2001 over 220 million units had been sold.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Competizione, Concours on the Avenue, Carmel by the Sea,

In 1960 Renato paid 5.5 million Lira for today’s featured Ferrari 250 GT SWB Competizione chassis #1608 which was delivered appropriately enough for someone involved in the coffee industry painted white with a black interior.

Chassis #1905 has no known in period competition history and it was sold to it’s fifth owner RM’s Scottsdale auction in January 2013 for US$18.14 million including buyers premium.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing today’s photograph which was taken at Concours on the Avenue in Carmel by the Sea in 2011.

Thanks for joining me on this “Moka Express” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I be looking at a cabriolet built by Bertone. Don’t forget to come back now !

Le Mans to Hollywood – Ferrari 250 GT SWB Competizione Drogo #2445GT

Today’s Ferrari started life as a 250 GT SWB (Short Wheel Base) Competizione chassis #2445GT in 1961, it was supplied to Garages Francorchamps in Belgium.

Ferrari 250 GT Drogo, Goodwood Revival

Jacques van den Haute drove the car competitively at least three times between May and June 1961 with two 3rds in hillclimbs being his best results.

Ferrari 250 GT Drogo, Goodwood Revival

From July 1961 to May 1962 Robert Crevits drove the car competitively in at least 14 events mostly hillclimbs and is known to have won eight of them.

Ferrari 250 GT Drogo, Goodwood Revival

Gustave Gosselin shared the car with Robert in the 1962 1000km Paris, Montlhery where they finished 11th and drove the car alone to a second place finish in an event run at Zandvoort in the Netherlands.

Ferrari 250 GT Drogo, Goodwood Revival

Georges Berger and Robert Darville shared the driving of 2445GT in its last in period race the 1962 Le Mans 24 hours where the car was heavily damaged at the sharp right hand corner Arnage and retired.

Ferrari 250 GT Drogo, Goodwood Revival

The #2445GT was subsequently repaired by Piero Drogo who fitted the body that is seen on the car in these photo’s, the car was renumbered 1965GT for ‘customs reasons’ during the early 1960’s and for a while in 1964 it was one of several Ferrari’s owned by Nebraskan garage owners son James Coburn.

In the late ’70’s #2445GT returned to Europe and is currently owned by Dutchman Hans Hugenholtz who entered the #14 in the 2011 Goodwood Revival meeting for David Hart and Maserati GT racer Micheal Bartels. Last year Hugenholtz shared the driving at Goodwood with one of former New York taxi driver and Indy champion Danny Sullivan.

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