1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta

Ferrari says a car is “more authentic” if the non-original but correct type engine is replaced with a new casting, made in their foundry

by John Apen

Sold new in Italy to A. Demetrialdi in May 1961, this 250 GT SWB “Lusso” was imported into Switzerland in April 1963 and entered for its first race by its new owner, Daniel Siebenmann of Switzerland, at the “Auvergne 3 hours” in France, where it finished 23rd (pictured in Jess Pourret’s “Ferrari 250 GT Competition,” page 132). In 1963 and 1964, Siebenmann raced the car at several hillclimbs in Switzerland.

Siebenmann sold the car and it was exported to the U.S., where it remained until 1979 when Swiss broker Charles Gnädinger re-imported it to Switzerland. It was in this period when a replacement engine (#4467, from a 250 GTL Lusso) was fitted. (Additionally, a newly-cast block from the Ferrari Classiche center is included. See below for details.—SCM.)

In 1984, it was acquired by a Ferrari collector in Geneva and continued its race history (1998 Tour Auto). In December 2001, the car was sent to Tony Merrick’s GTO Engineering Ltd. for a...