1958 Ferrari 250 GT Coupé
Coachwork by Pinin Farina
Registration no. 413 UYM
Chassis no. 1195 GT

By the early 1960s, road car production had ceased to be a sideline for Ferrari and was seen as vitally important to the company's future stability. Thus the 250, Ferrari's first volume-produced model, can be seen as critically important, though production of the first of the line - the 250 Europa, built from 1953 to '54 - amounted to fewer than 20. Before the advent of the Europa, Ferrari had built road-going coupés and convertibles in small numbers, usually to special customer order using a sports-racing chassis as the basis. Ghia and Vignale of Turin, and Touring of Milan were responsible for bodying many of these but there was no attempt at standardisation for series production and no two cars were alike.

The introduction of the 250 Europa heralded a significant change in Ferrari's preferred coachbuilder; whereas previously Vignale had been the most popular carrozzeria among Maranello's customers, from now on Pinin Farina ('Pininfarina' from June 1961) would be Ferrari's number one choice, bodying no fewer than 48 out of the 53 Europa/Europa GTs built. Pinin Farina's experiments eventually crystallised in a new Ferrari 250 GT road car that was first displayed publicly at the Geneva Salon in March 1956. However, the Torinese carrozzeria was not yet in a position to cope with the increased workload, resulting in production being entrusted to Carrozzeria Boano after Pinin Farina had completed a handful of prototypes.

True series production began with the arrival of Pinin Farina's 'notchback' Coupé on the 250 GT chassis, some 353 of which were built between 1958 and 1960 within the sequence '0841' to '2081'. However, the relatively small scale of production meant that cars could still be ordered with subtle variations according to customer choice, as well as enabling a handful of show cars and 'specials' to be constructed on the 250 GT chassis.

More refined and practical than any previous road-going Ferrari, yet retaining the sporting heritage of its predecessors, the 250 GT is a landmark model of immense historical significance. Despite this, original survivors are relatively few, as many have been modified and converted into replicas of more exotic Ferraris such as the 250 GTO, Testarossa, etc.

This example was sent for bodying to Pinin Farina's Turin workshop on 28th November 1958 and early the following year was delivered to the official Ferrari dealer Vincenzo Malagò in Rome, Italy. Originally finished in Grigio Argento with Rosso interior, chassis number '1195' is the 98th of 353 built. The car was sold new to one Umberto Furlan, a resident of Rome, and in the late 1960s was exported to the USA. From at least 1970 the Ferrari was owned by Larry Quatrone of Lakewood, Colorado, who kept it well until the 1980s. Circa 1987, '1195' found a new owner in Evreux, France.

In the early 1990s the car was restored and repainted red by Carrosserie Lecoq of Paris, while at around the same time the engine was rebuilt by Charles Pozzi SA of Levallois-Perret, the French Ferrari importer. The car's next known owner was Norwegian shipping and transportation magnate Andreas Ugland, who displayed it at his Cayman Motor Museum in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. The current vendor purchased '1195' at a US auction in March 2015.

Some questions about the veracity of the engine number stamping were raised at time of purchase. To resolve this issue, in December 2016 marque specialists Fosker Engineering removed and dismantled the engine, and happily Ferrari's Certification Committee was able to confirm that the internal number stampings are those of '1195' (see email correspondence on file). While the engine was out, Fosker's took the opportunity to strip, clean, and repaint the engine bay and exposed chassis, and to carry out numerous other remedial works. Prior to that, in August 2015, Hoyle-Fox Classics Ltd had carried out a thorough check-over and overhauled the brakes. Bills on file from these two specialists total £21,603.

A wonderful opportunity to acquire a fine example of this landmark, yet undervalued, Ferrari Gran Turismo that helped cement Maranello's fruitful relationship with Carrozzeria Pininfarina.