• Year of manufacture 
    1959
  • Chassis number 
    1255GT
  • Engine number 
    1255GT
  • Lot number 
    202
  • Drive 
    LHD
  • Condition 
    Used
  • Number of seats 
    2
  • Location
    United Kingdom
  • Exterior colour 
    Other
  • Drivetrain 
    2wd
  • Fuel type 
    Petrol

Description

1959 Ferrari 250 GT Pinin Farina Coupé
Coachwork by Carozzieria Pinin Farina
Registration no. Not registered in the UK
Chassis no. 1255GT
Engine no. 1255GT

Ferrari production passed a most significant milestone in 1954 with the launch of the 3-litre V12-engined 250 GT series. Between 1949 and 1954 no more than 200 touring Ferraris had been manufactured. Thirty-five of those had been constructed in 1954 alone. In parallel, during the same period, about 250 competition and sports Ferraris had been completed – with around 55 of those leaving the Maranello factory during 1954. Yet by 1964, at the end of the 250 GTs' career, annual production for Ferrari was around the 670 mark, and the 250 GT family of designs had been the driving force behind this twentyfold explosion in Maranello's productive activity.

This particular 250 GT Pinin Farina Coupé dates from 1959. While the early 250 GT Coupés had been bodied by Boano and Ellena, it was into the winter of 1957-58 that Ferrari's favoured production partner, Pinin Farina of Turin, submitted proposals for a new-style model. Despite the overall length of the Pinin Farina proposal being some 6cm – 2.36-inches – shorter than that of the Boano/Ellenabodied Coupés, the Torinese styling house's designers achieved a longer, more sleek appearance by the simple expedient of lowering their proposed car body's waistline and increasing the glass area of the 'greenhouse' cabin superstructure. This roof section was itself little changed from Ezio Ellena's preceding model treatment, with a generous wrap-round rear window.

A second pre-production prototype of this Pinin Farina Coupé design was then launched at a press conference held in Milan on June 25, 1958, and production of the new 'PF Coupé' began even before the opening of the Paris Salon de l'Automobile exhibition in which the car was shown during October, 1958. Body manufacture was launched in the Pinin Farina company's then brand-new works at
Grugliasco and it was around that same time that the great Torinese styling house changed its name and brand from 'Pinin Farina' to 'Pininfarina'.

At the Paris Salon the French importer Cattaneo & Cie exhibited three Ferraris fresh from the new Grugliasco works – the 410 Superamerica, a 250 GT Cabriolet and the 250 GT Coupé. The example of the latter was finished in metallic dark-grey with black upperworks. At the following London Motor Show a right-hand-drive version of the new Pininfarina Coupé was launched by World Champion Driver-in-waiting Mike Hawthorn, whose family business – the TT Garage in Farnham, Surrey - was billed as the British Ferrari agent.

In November it was the turn of Italy's national Motor Show at Turin, at which a 250 GT Coupé in metallic grey was displayed by Ferrari, and a special-order 250 GT Coupé variant by Pininfarina themselves.

The 250 GT Pinin Farina – later Pininfarina - Coupé initially used the Ferrari Tipo 128C V12-cylinder engine, most with single distributor and with offset gearchange lever and reversed shift pattern. The 128D engine soon superseded the 'C' version, and later the 128F would follow with 'outside' spark plugs between the exhaust headers. At that time a new overdrive gearbox would also
be adopted, providing an effective fifth speed. Beginning in 1959, most Coupés would also feature disc brakes in place of the model's original drums.

The June, 1960, edition of the American journal 'Road & Track' road tested a Coupé with 128D engine and four-speed gearbox without overdrive. Weight ready-to-run was 1,370kg – 3,014lbs – and the Coupé covered the standing-start quarter-mile in 15.5 seconds. The American road testers verdict was entirely enthusiastic, exclaiming: "This is a car designed by enthusiasts for enthusiasts, and it shows...".

Production of the Ferrari 250 GT Pinin Farina/Pininfarina Coupé spanned three years and totaled around 350 examples. This particular car – chassis No '1255 GT' – is offered here direct from the Maranello Rosso Collection in which it has been preserved for at least 25 years.

It is the 121st of the total 353 units built and one of 51 originally painted in the contemporarily popular Grigio Conchiglia MM 16249 code exterior colour scheme. It is also one of 89 such units originally completed with Rosso VM 3171 coloured interior trim and furnishing.

The car's chassis was first consigned to Carrozzeria Pinin Farina in Turin on January 9, 1959, and its Certificato d'Origine was issued by the factory on April 10 that year. On May 14,1959, it was sold new to first owner Giorgio Perucchetti of Rome, Italy. In June 1959 it was road registered 'ROMA 350390' and on April 28, 1960, the car was sold to second owner Gianfranco Enzico of Genoa. He had it reregistered 'GE 132789' on May 20, 1960, and on February 20, 1961, it passed to third owner Mario Candrini of Modena, its declared purchase price being Lire 1,000,000.

On March 2, 1961, it was re-registered in Modena as 'MO 63529' and soon after it was repainted red and fitted with black interior. On February 14, 1969, the Italian Automobile Club cancelled the Modena registration and license plates, using a term often applied to cars that had been exported. We have no details of possible export of '1255 GT' now offered here but in the 1970s it was plainly acquired by Fabrizio Violati to join the personal collection which became his Collezione Maranello Rosso, on public display within the Republic of
San Marino.

We can confirm that the car survives today as a matching numbers example – 'inside-plug' engine and chassis number stampings matching – and that all these number stamps are good, clear, uncompromised and demonstrating the correct Ferrari fonts, absolutely as used in period. The engine breathes through three
correct-specification Weber twin-choke carburettors. The distinctive Ferrari data plate on '1255's firewall as offered here is also correct and authentic. The car has the correct drum brakes fitted, as new, and its odometer upon delivery to Bonhams showed 53,560 kms, which is considered perfectly likely to be genuine.

The car has the non-original exterior color of red, probably as adopted upon its return to Modena in 1961, and it has a stylish combination of black leather-upholstered seats and red carpeting. The car also has an individualized nose treatment, in that the bonnet air intake with chromed lip is not original (the bonnet as new would have been smooth, uninterrupted by the air intake), and entirely consistent with a later-life incident in which the front end was
damaged, possibly giving rise to the RACI cancellation of its Modena registration just prior to Fabrizio Violati acquiring '1255 GT' perhaps still in damaged condition. He had a reputation for being quite careful with how much he paid for certain of his Ferraris...

Amber turn-signal blinker repeater lights have also been added at some stage to the car's front wings. The car's nose has also been reprofiled at some stage, probably during repair work as discussed above. After its many years on display in the Collezione Maranello Rosso premises in San Marino the car will plainly need expert inspection and re-commissioning but it is yet another representative
and essentially well-preserved (matching numbers) example of this another extremely significant Ferrari model.

Please note this vehicle is subject to import tax should it remain in the EU.


Bonhams 1793
101 New Bond Street
London
W1S 1SR
United Kingdom
Contact Person Kontaktperson
First name 
Bonhams Collectors’ Car department

Phone 
+44-2074685801
Fax 
+44-2074477401