This car, Lot 153, sold for $7,118,419 (€6,586,250), including buyer’s premium, at RM Sotheby’s Cernobbio, Italy, sale on May 20, 2023.
“The prototype of the new berlinetta made its first appearance at the 24-hour race of Le Mans in June 1959, placing, driven by private owners, 3rd, 4th and 6th overall. The design of this new berlinetta by Pininfarina had as the main object a streamlined body particularly suited for high speeds. We also took into account the requirements for comfort, so that this car can be used as a Granturismo as well as for racing. It provides a sufficient space for luggage, has a heating system, doors giving easy access, comfortable seats, and there is plenty of visibility. The 250 GT berlinetta therefore can be used for both racing and for touring without modification.”
So reads the factory brochure for the 250 GT berlinetta, now known as the 250 GT SWB (short wheelbase) or 250 GT berlinetta Passo Corto if you favor Italian names.
Enzo Ferrari founded his company in 1947 for the purpose of building race cars. His first offering was the 125/159 Sport, of which it is speculated that just four examples were built. He soon found his clients wanted a gran turismo, a road car, to drive when they were not racing. The 166 Inter was introduced in 1948 to meet that demand. With 37 built, it was Ferrari’s first real attempt at series production. The Inters were assigned odd chassis numbers (005S, 007S, etc.) to designate them as production cars, with racing Ferraris given even chassis numbers. Some 166 Spider Corsas have lower odd chassis numbers, but it would be a stretch to call the topless Corsa sports prototype a road car.
A run of 212 Inters would follow, but it would not be until 1954, with the introduction of the 250 Europa, that Ferrari would begin organized assembly-line production of a GT model. It built 73 Europas, divided into three series. (A sister series of Europa-based race cars was also built, but that is another story.)
Some Ferrari race cars were used on the road and some Ferrari road cars found their way onto the track. Ferrari honed in on producing a line of dedicated dual-purpose models that could be driven to the track, raced and driven home again. This would require a well-engineered and well-built car that could withstand the rigors of competition while being practical enough to drive to work.
Dawn of the 250
The 250 GT (alternately known as the LWB and the Tour de France) was the answer. It would be followed by the 250 GT SWB, and then the 250 GTO, although by the time the GTO came along, racing had advanced to the point where a road car could not compete with purpose-built racers. The spirit of the dual-purpose Ferrari lived on through a series of fabulous berlinettas that continues with the 812 Competizione today.
The collaborators behind the 250 SWB included a dream team of young engineers. Giotto Bizzarrini and Carlo Chiti were barely in their 30s when they were charged with designing the new 250 GT. The brilliant Mauro Forghieri was only in his mid-20s when he got the call. The 250 SWB was designed and built during a busy time, as parallel to the SWB’s production, Ferrari was also building the 250 GT LWB California Spider, 250 GT Cabriolet, 250 GTE 2+2, 250 GT/L “Lusso,” 400 Superamerica, and a bevy of different race cars.
The SWB was built in an alloy-body competition model and a steel-bodied “lusso” model. (“Lusso” means luxury in Italian, and is used in this context to describe a more-comfortable roadgoing model.) While the competition SWB featured a hotter engine, an oversize fuel tank with quick-fill plumbing, a ribbed transmission, a painted dash and more, clients could specify competition attributes on a lusso and vice versa, so a professional inspection is imperative when buying an SWB.
In the late 1950s, Enzo Ferrari experienced the downside of his success in the form of negative cashflow. Investment in the expansion of the factory to meet demand meant money was being spent faster than it was coming in. He decided to raise capital by selling shares. The new public company was called Società Esercizio Fabbriche Automobili e Corse Ferrari, or SEFAC S.p.A.
Somewhere around 20 competition SWBs got very special builds that became known as SEFAC hot rods. These were factory-built race cars for Ferrari’s best clients. Enzo Ferrari recognized serious racers and rewarded them with a little extra, these cars being lighter, highly tuned and meticulously prepared. They were the last step in the 250 berlinetta’s evolution before becoming the 250 GTO.
A SEFAC hot rod is rarer than a GTO, almost as fast, and sells for a fraction of the cost. Even a seasoned Ferrari enthusiast often misses the importance of this model.
A $7m deal
Our subject 250 GT SWB was one of 14 cars brought to the Villa Erba auction by the Aurora Collection. Most were Ferraris, ranging from a 1956 Ferrari 500 TR to a 2019 Ferrari SP1. The cars were a mix of old and newer high-end blue-chip collectibles including a Ferrari Daytona Spider, a Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, a Ferrari 275 GTB/4, a Ferrari 550 barchetta and this Ferrari 250 SWB. All the cars in the Aurora Collection brought strong money, with the SWB cashing out at $7.1 million. That was second only to an incredible one-of-12 Ferrari 312 PB that rang the bell at $13 million.
It is important to understand that the price here likely puts this car in the top 100 most-valuable cars to ever sell at auction, an impressive but not surprising result for a steel-body lusso SWB with no race history. Chassis 2347GT brought around a million dollars under its low estimate and just above the low end of SCM’s Pocket Price Guide. It was Classiche certified (though requiring re-inspection), nicely restored and had a good history.
The soft number can be directly blamed on supercar hysteria. There are a limited number of collectors who can afford a car in this price range, and many of them are distracted by modern supercars. This is a great car that deserved a great price. While $7.1 million is nothing to sneeze at, it was the buyer who got the best end of this deal.©
(Introductory description courtesy of RM Sotheby’s.)
