Tag Archives: Lusso

Which Verde Pino ? – Ferrari 250 GT/L #5097GT

I’ll let farmer Hugh James the owner of today’s featured 1963 Ferrari 250 GT/L chassis #5097GT tell you about his car at the end of today’s blog personally.

Ferrari 250GT/L, Auto Italia, Brooklands

While looking for details about the car I stumbled across an old thread at Ferrari Chat that listed over 1000 colours, many with codes that have been offered and or used on the cars from Maranello.

Ferrari 250GT/L, Auto Italia, Brooklands

The list includes several variations of the same code but it was interesting to find that there have been as many as 8 variations of the Verde Pino seen on Mr James car at Auto Italia Brooklands a couple of years ago. If you happen to know which Verde Pino #5097GT is painted please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Ferrari 250GT/L, Auto Italia, Brooklands

Here is Mr James’s story of how he acquired the car :-

Thanks for joining me on this “Which Verde Pino ?” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the second model to be offered by Gilbern. Don’t forget to come back now !

Almost A Complete Set Of Tools – Ferrari 250 GT Lusso #5143

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A couple of years ago I looked at Tim Lewis’s ’64 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso taking part on Tour Britannia, today’s featured ’63 example, seen at the Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham, chassis #5143 has been prepared to Concours d’Elegance standard.

Ferrari 250 GT Lusso, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

#5143 was originally sold through official dealer Autofficina Vari in Rome to a customer at the end of 1963, by the 1970’s #5143 had found it’s way to the UK where well known collector Anthony Bamford was one of it’s owners.

Ferrari 250 GT Lusso, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

There after the car went back to Europe through Belgium to Germany where a refurbishment was undertaken by official Ferrari dealer Peter Rosenmaier in Germany.

Ferrari 250 GT Lusso, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

After a period in storage #5193 received a body off 4 year restoration which included sending the body to the best body restoration specialist, the motor to the best motor rebuilders and so forth resulting in a car finished to the highest Concours d’Elegance standards.

Ferrari 250 GT Lusso, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

Once the restoration was complete the German owner sold the car at R&M Auctions at MAranello in May 2008 for just over 1 million US$ including buyers premium.

Ferrari 250 GT Lusso, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

Amongst the items the new owner acquired with the car were a spare set of original Marchal headlights, the original handbook, two Lusso brochures, a framed Pininfarina Lusso advert, a first edition copy of Kurt H. Miska’s book The Berlinetta Lusso and an almost complete set of original tools.

Thanks for joining me on this “Almost Complete Set Of Tools” 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

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 !

Lovin’ Spoonful – Ferrari 250 GT Lusso Pininfarina Berlinetta #5953

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The first of a final total of 350, 250 GT Lusso Pininfarina Berlinetta’s, known more commonly as the 250 Lusso, was shown to the public at the 1962 Paris Motor show.

The Lusso is immediately recognisable by it’s graceful lines and unusual three piece front bumper.

Hiding under the bonnet / hood are 250 of Maranello’s finest horses from an all aluminium 3 litre / 183 cui Colombo V12, the sound of which goes something like this.

The 250 Lusso, which translates as luxury, came with a Pininfarina designed steel body manufactured by Scaglietti.

Steel being far heavier than aluminium used in the production of the racing versions of the 250, like the 250 GTO, would normally not make a 250 GT Lusso a competition car of choice, however some customers and later owners like Tim Lewis, seen in this car at Castle Combe with his son Daniel co driving, did not hesitate to strap themselves in and head for the nearest competition.

Today’s featured car chassis #5953GT was one of the last 250 Lusso’s produced in 1964, it was originally sold to Austrian Wolfgang Denzel, note this is a left hand drive car (LHD) not RHD as stated by barchetta cc, among it’s former owners somewhere between the late 80’s and early 90’s was former Aston Martin chairman Victor Gauntlett.

Anyone who likes a mystery might be interested to know that according to Wiki Steve Boone, of the band Lovin’ Spoonful’ owned one of these cars chassis #4237, said to be the the very first production Lusso, that was subsequently stolen from a repair shop in Queens New York. The stolen vehicle is probably not worth quite as much as the $2.3 million that Steve McQueens 250 GT Lusso fetched at auction in 2007 but tracking it down might make an interesting tale. At the time of writing I am still checking the veracity of the Wiki claim.

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

Perfect car for a wedding #3 – FIAT 500 Lusso

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Mindful of the fact that in a weeks time much of the TV watching world will be tuned in to the nuptials Mr William Windsor and Miss Kate Middleton, I thought it might be fun to look at a wedding mobile that will almost certainly not feature in next Fridays Royal extravaganza.

The FIAT 500 Lusso (Luxury), produced from 1968 to 1972, was externally distinguished from its base F (or Berlina) models by its extra chrome nudge bar.

The original Nuova Cinquecento (500) was launched in in 1957 and replaced the delightful Topolino which had also been designed by Dante Giacosa.

With a 6 ft wheel base carrying a body 4″ shy of 12 feet the 500 is considered to be one of the first city cars.

Like the Volkswagen Beetle and Renault 4CV the Cinquecento has its engine in the boot, this particular model was originally fitted with a 17 hp 499cc / 30.4 cui two cylinder motor.

As one might expect from a vehicle less than 10′ long and just over 4′ wide the space inside might best be described as intimate, in fact just perfect for a couple of newly weds.

Wishing everyone getting married in the coming week all the best.

Hope you have enjoyed todays wedding edition of ‘Getting a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and hope that you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Also in the Perfect car for a wedding series :-

Citroen Traction Avant

Humber Super Snipe MK IV

When is a redhead not a redhead ? Ferrari 500 TRC #0690 MD TR

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The other day Rowdizen jr Cracker asked if I had ever seen a Ferrari Testa Rossa driving around town the answer to which is no, but a couple of months ago I did see this Ferrari 500 TRC chassis number #0690 MD TR which came from the second batch of Ferrari vehicles with the Testa Rossa name.

Having noticed that the Alta engines of the HWM Formula 2 team had noticeably superior fuel efficiency compared to his own Colombo designed V12’s which dominated the Formula 2 class Enzo instructed Aurelio Lamperdi to design a 4 cylinder 2 litre / 121 cui engine.

The Lamperdi alloy four pot featured double over head cams acting on 2 valves per cylinder. Installed in a Formula Two car this engine powered Alberto Ascari two world championshops in 1953 and 54. This 4 cylinder engine was also used in the successful 500 Mondial Sports Cars of 1954 – 56 which scored numerous class wins.

Towards the end of 1956 Vittorio Jano completed work on his update of the 500 Mondial which featured red cam covers on its Lamperdi 2 litre 4 cylinder engine and so the Testa Rossa legend was born, the TR scored a maiden win at Monza in the hands of Brits Collins and Hawthorn.

The first batch of 500 TR’s were rendered almost instantly obsolete by new sports car regulations, written and introduced after the disaster at Le Mans in 1955, known as Appendix C which required sports cars to race with full width screens, a passenger door, and fuel tanks mounted outside of the cockpit. The second batch of Testa Rossa’s became known as the 500 TRC of which #0690 MD TR is one of less than 20 examples.

This particular car has an unfortunate history, it was entered in the 1958 Cuban GP, an event during which pole sitter Juan Manuel Fangio was kidnapped by Castros forces and he ended up watching the race on television. Armando Garcia Cifuentes was at the wheel of #0690 when he lost control on a patch of oil, hit a curb and promptly ploughed into a spectator area. Seven spectators were killed in the accident over 40 were injured, miraculously Armando survived after being taken to hospital on the bonnet of a competitors TR.

It is not clear what happened to #0690 after that crash but the Indiana Jones of finding forgotten cars Colin Crabbe located it and it has now been restored with a non standard 12 cylinder engine allegedly sourced from a 250 GT Lusso, one of the more expensive 250 GT variants ! It is not known what happened to the original 4 cylinder Testa Rossa engine.

Note uniquely for a 500 TRC #0690 now has a large central perspex bonnet scoop for the V12 carburettors.

In order to not disappoint jr Cracker entirely here is a photo by Ed Arnaudin of a 500 TRC compete with a 4 cylinder red cam cover engine and without the large central bonnet scoop. The vehicle in this photo taken at Lime Rock possibly 24th April 1959 appears to be chassis number #0706 MD TR entered by the MJ Garber team and driven by Swiss driver Gaston Andrey.

Thanks once again to Steve Arnaudin for letting me share one of his father Ed’s photos. Hope you enjoyed todays edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ hope you’ll join me again tomorrow, don’t forget to come back now !