Here’s the perfect understated sports car for your next road trip: with a V12 upfront and enough luggage space for a few soft bags, you’re looking at your next Ferrari 250 GT/L Berlinetta, with one-off coachwork by Fantuzzi and significant celebrity ownership. Don’t worry, they’ve not left any pesky Champagne stains, because this Ferrari 250 GT/L has been so fully rebuilt and restored that it is, if anything, better than when it first rolled out of the factory gates in Maranello in April 1963.
We’ll leave you a moment to examine the svelte bodywork. Nice, isn’t it? The Ferrari 250 GT/L was the last iteration of Ferrari’s long-running 250 series, which includes its 250 GTO cousin, long regarded as the world’s most expensive car at auction. First keeper of this Ferrari 250 GT/L Berlinetta was Tecno Formula 3 team owner Luciano Pederzani who decided Pininfarina’s hard work for Ferrari needed modification. He turned to his race car designer, Medardo Fantuzzi, whose surprisingly subtle modifications transformed this particular Ferrari 250.
Headlamps were moved backwards and housed in clear plastic, grille is smaller than on any of the other 349 Ferrari GT/L models made and two chrome bumpers were added. The three air intakes on the front of the Ferrari 250 GT/L were added by a Texan millionaire owner in 1976, and reference those on the 250 GTO sports cars. Vents behind the rear wheel arches were created and the Ferrari 250 GT/L gained its classic colourway of Ferrari Red.
Admiration at Monterey Car Week followed, and then, in 2011, that full rebuild of the Ferrari 250 GT/L Berlinetta by specialists DK Engineering. Original moulds were used, which illustrates just how thorough this meticulous body-off restoration was. Interior was fully retrimmed in tan leather, original Veglia instruments refurbished and - above all - the V12 engine, a faster non-original unit installed as part of the Fantuzzi restoration, was rebuilt. Result is the engine bay is a work of engineered art.
But life was still beginning for this extraordindary car. Radio DJ Chris Evans added the Ferrari 250 GT/L to his collection in 2013 and under subsequent ownership, the Ferrari was invited to Goodwood's Cartier Style et Lux concours lawn, a highlight of the annual Festival of Speed.
Given all this, it’s hardly surprising that this stellar 1963 example of the super-rare Berlinetta attracted a keen selection of well-heeled bidders at RM Sotheby’s, who had the signficiant responsibility of auctioning this magnificent sports car. While you might now regret that you weren’t among those bidders, you may be relieved to know that at least the Ferrari didn’t go cheaply. Winning bid on this better-than-new Ferrari 250 GT/L Berlinetta from an anonymous and very fortunate collector, RM Sotheby’s tell us: £1,130,000. A million pounds for a car? This one, surely, is worth every penny.
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