If you want to buy a V12 Ferrari from the fifties or sixties, the price tag can often set you back millions, or sometimes, tens of millions of dollars. Thus this Ferrari that I saw at the Chanteloup-les-Vignes hillclimb recently is really something of a bargain.
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| The Italian Job! Two Minis and a rather magnificent Ferrari, both fit the description |
It was a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTE 2+2 Coupe with bodywork by Pininfarina. It has a 3 litre Ferrari V12 engine developing 240 bhp and yet recently sold for just €235,200. Quite a bargain for a Ferrari 250 V12! You could buy this and still, maybe, not be a millionaire. OK so I personally would need to sell my house to buy one. Unfortunately, even although there are two small seats in the back there is not enough room to live in it. Perhaps, I need to find a Ferrari 250 camping car conversion! Sacrilege, I hear you say. My mind wandered back to seeing the Ferrari Breadvan earlier in the year; could one possibly fit a bed in the back?
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| Ferrari Camping Van? |
Then I remembered that the Ferrari Breadvan is not quite in the same price range. Anyway, there is only room for a few loaves, not for two people, two dogs and a cat!
Enough, of these musings, here is another picture of the bargain Ferrari. This a real Grand Touring car in the real sense and to be appreciated as such.
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| A Ferrari built to compete with Aston Martin on the road rather than the race track. |
However, the fact that it doesn't have a racing heritage and is a Ferrari of a type that didn't race completely explains its value. People love Ferraris because of their racing heritage.
Having loved Ferraris for over well over 40 years, I finally got to drive one earlier this year. My wife gave me the choice of a drive in a Formula Renault, or a Lamborghini or an Aston Martin etc. It took me a couple of seconds to choose the Ferrari. The Ferrari F430 I drove is also certainly very much a road car, although a 2 seater and with a steering wheel operated sequential gearbox. It was great fun around the Magny Cours Club circuit. Nice present Jane and it didn't cost us the house!
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| Jane's photo of me driving the Ferrari F430 at Magny Cours |
Ferrari 250 GTE was Ferrari’s first several seat unit and the thought was effective enough to evolve right into a series of Ferrari 2+2s that used a similar engineering seeing that the activities cars. As they were made meant for grand visiting, the GTE was publicized as a high-class car.
ReplyDeleteTo support two more seats, Ferrari had to progress the engine and auxileries 12 ins forward and extend the bodywork a simlar amount compared to the earlier 250. The wheelbase continued to be the same, nevertheless the additional mass added 168 lbs for the car.