(first posted 9/29/2014) Como Park is located across a narrow road from the very exclusive Royal South Yarra Lawn Tennis Club. So a Ferrari-only day is an apt fit for the environs. In this installment, I’ve got a few of the lesser known models that are interesting in their own right, as well as some more famous examples. So slip on a tux t-shirt and follow me in.
First up is a 250 Testa Rossa. Yes, this is a replica, and a very well-made one. The name derives from the red valve covers used on the 3 litre V12, and translates literally as ‘Red Head’. This is the first series version with a body actually styled by Scaglietti. Most distinctive, but not so obvious in my shots, are the deep body cavities behind the front wheels, nominally to aid brake cooling.
Not quite as famous as the 250 GTO, the Testa Rossa won at Le Mans three times. This first series scored the chequered flag in 1958 with pilots Olivier Gendebien and Phil Hill. Values for the originals are of course stratospheric, being considered the ‘second most collectable series Ferrari’. When the owner of this example is fanging it amongst the traffic, at least they don’t have to worry about an 8-figure repair bill.
This next model, the 250 GTE, is a perfect illustration of the vagaries and progressions of the market. There was a time about 30 years ago when the 250 GTE could be bought for the price of a nice family sedan. To collectors, it was considered a pedestrian Ferrari, by virtue of it being the base model with four seats and having a host of much more desired siblings. It would have been shunned by the cognoscenti at carshows and relegated to the back rows.
Using the base 3 litre V12 engine that was up-specced for the 250 GTO, these were invariably bought for organ donorship. I’m not sure of numbers, but there was a craze in the 80s and 90s for V12 GTO (and Testa Rossa) replicas and these ‘bargain basement’ prancers were the first to be culled. Now things are much changed, and an example like this takes pride of place amongst the 458s and 575s. The coachwork by Pininfarina is an understated but completely assured interpretation of the Florida Line. I really like the look of these cars.
Another overlooked Ferrari is the 330 GTC. It was considered the most streetable during its relatively short lifespan, 1966 to 1968. It’s a tight but commodious two seater; very, very small when you encounter it for real. It was powered by the same V12 as the 250, though enlarged to 4 litres. I realise I’m throwing a lot of model numbers at you. During this period, the model number for Ferraris indicated the swept volume of a single cylinder, but not all the time, if that helps.
A quiet beauty from Pininfarina, the 330 GTC suffers perhaps in lacking a distinctive visual personality. The front end was derived from an earlier 500 Superfast, a top of the range monster that was not as successful overall in its design. It makes for an interesting alternative if you live in a high density suburb with too many Dino GTs.
Same face, completely different effect. Where the little 330 GTC is a cohesive design, this 365 GT 2+2 is a muddled mess. Produced between 1968 and 1970, these models were larger than the GTC in having (relatively) spacious seating in the rear. It was the best selling Ferrari model during its lifetime due in no small part to its owner-coddling power steering and brakes, electric windows and optional air conditioning.
And here is a shot of its rear end. There is no real deficiency in either the front or the rear, but they belong to two different cars. Whereas the 330 GTC continued the use of curvature into its rear, the 365 GT 2+2 is speaking two different languages with its rounded nose and sharp edged/straight lined butt. Incidently, famed collector Bill Harrah grafted the front end of one of these, including the engine, to a Jeep Wagoneer. Seriously.
This is one of my all-time favourite Ferraris. The 365 GTC/4 was the successor of sorts to the above GT 2+2. And a world away from it in design. There’s hardly a misstep in its visual effect; curves and razor edges in harmonious synchronisation. The sloping rear roofline may have given passengers less headroom, but who cares when the car looks this good. I’ve managed to catch one of these curbside, so it’s on my list of CCs for sometime in the future.
Drool.
Como Park is not quite Pebble Beach, being open to the public. Rest assured, though, amongst owners there are those who have a Ferrari and there’s… well, there’s the gawkers. But they’re not all like this. I managed to have a long chat with the owner of this silver example. He works on it himself and loves to take it for a squirt with his mates, but to be honest he seemed to prefer his big block Camaro. His daily driver? A Mitsubishi Verada Wagon. Legend.
The reason the 365 GTC/4 is overshadowed is this. The 365 GTB Daytona. With a more powerful version of the 4.4 litre V12 and a racing heritage, this is the most desirable of the front engined 365 models. It’s a superb design, but I don’t find it quite as appealing as the GTC/4. The first series of these had exposed headlamps behind a clear perspex cover which looked fantastic but was discontinued in order to get the model into the US.
The Daytona was the successor to the 275 GTB. It had the same extended nose/short rear look spawned by the Jaguar E-type. Spotters guide: If that little grille opening has a slightly upturned ‘smile’ like this one, you’re looking at a ‘long nose’. The nose was slightly altered in 1965, a year after its introduction, in order to improve downforce. The easy tell on the long nose are the exposed hinges on the rear bootlid. And if you really want to be impressed, look for a bulge on the bonnet. That’s one of the 4 cam models, the most desirable of the production road cars. This isn’t one of those.
If I might have sounded slightly churlish in my opinion of the Daytona, I’m probably going to come across with complete reverse-snobbery wankeur on the 275 GTB. I just don’t like this bodystyle at all. But I must concede it comes loaded with all the brutish cues of the period. It screams raw power and to many people that is exactly what a Ferrari is all about.
And what a contrast its little sister was. In production around the same time as the 275 GTB, the Dino 206 GT was the Ferrari pointing to the future. In short the Dino was the Edsel of its time. A new marque from an established carmaker named after the prematurely deceased son of the founder. Both marques were shortlived, but whilst one was a dead-end for Ford, the other introduced Ferrari to a successful diffusion range.
How good does that white coat look? One for you, Perry. This example is a later 246, but maintains its Dino badging which is a nice touch. There’s not a bad angle on the car and it’s the very definition of a house job. Aldo Brovarone and Leonardo Fioravanti were both individually instrumental in coming to this final shape, and Sergio Pininfarina was key driver for the whole project. You know that thing about a horse designed by committee? This is the flipside. It was in production for eight years from 1968 and nearly 4000 units were produced.
Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina was a close friend to Enzo; a man who appeared to have no close friends. From 1958 to 1973, all series production road cars were styled for Ferrari by Pininfarina and Battista’s business rarely failed at the task. From the many, many beautiful PF contributions, this was their best seller and an out-and-out masterpiece. And Enzo, inscrutable as ever, gave the next Dino to Bertone.
Nuccio Bertone had been hungry for a Ferrari series commission for a long time. In the early sixties he had his top stylist, Giorgetto Giugiaro, design him a 250 coupe with a sharknose like the 1962 GP racers. It was a very beautiful car, and he was most eager for Enzo to see it. Enzo was pleased with the result, but ten more years passed before he finally gave Nuccio a factory job. The 1973 Dino 308GT4.
Much criticism is made of its angular styling, but within that idiom it’s a real success. Instead of comparing it with the 246 it replaced, picture it alongside the chisel noses across the rest of the Ferrari range at the time. Bertone was certainly trying to make it brand-distinct, sharing obvious kinship with the Lancia Stratos and Lamborghini Urraco. This example has the updated grille, intake and chin spoiler used on the later models.
Yep. That’s a functioning towbar. Notice most of the number plates here are burgundy in colour. In Victoria, Australia, burgundy denotes club registration. Plates like this white/green 70/80s version indicate full road registration. And it’s used to tow bikes. Curbside props.
In 1976, the Dino marque was discontinued and the V8 range officially became Ferraris. The first new scion to enjoy this openly declared paternity was the 308 GTB. But it threw a spanner in the model numbering system. The Dino system was size and no. of cylinders. The 206 was a 2 litre V6, the 308 was a 3 litre V8, etc. And there was also a 2 litre 208 GTB version of this body with a smaller engine to circumvent Italian tax thresholds.
When I was growing up, I never considered this as good as the fifties and sixties Ferraris, but now I think it’s at least the equal of many of them. From Leonardo Fioravanti’s peak period, the detailing is rendered more solidly than that of its predecessor. It’s an excellent adaptation of the Dino 206/246 ‘amidships-cockpit’ style, but with the added wedginess and general dynamic of the imposing 365 BB.
The 365 BB. Berlinetta Boxer. Propelled by a 12 cylinder horizontally-opposed unit, it was the top of the range Ferrari and lasted from 1973 until the arrival of Miami Vice. Another peak Fioravanti, it was the Dino writ large and wedge. The engine was positioned longtitudinally behind the driver. Even with that extended nose, it still suffered from a 56% weight bias at the rear.
During its long run, the 365 BB became the 512 BB. The 4.4 was enlarged to 5 litres, and if you do the maths, you’ll realise someone decided twelve cylinder Ferraris would use the Dino model numbering system. Power up to 360bhp, a quoted top speed of 188mph and a 0-60mph of 5.2 seconds. The body was available in two colour schemes; split with a black (or silver I think) lower tub and same colour all over.
I’ve got a shot of Enzo Ferrari gesticulating proudly over the engine of one of these. He played with engine configurations down to two cylinders, but the history of Ferrari is dominated by 12 cylinders. He never really cared for the road cars; they were just a means of financing his racing. This flat-12 was used for sports car and Formula 1 racing, and despite his recalcitrant nature it appears he enjoyed taking the V12 into this new phase.
Best for last. A 1958-60 250 GT Coupe Pininfarina. Enzo’s first genuine attempt at a series road car. It is so unbelieveably clean in its execution. Size-wise, it was above the race-bred SWB variants and beneath the supercar stratum of the Superamericas and Superfasts. Long-legged, lithe and serene, this is one of the greats of the greats.
There’s been discussion on CC about how styling houses crib their own style. Back then, the competitive edge for carrozzerie was to have an appealing signature style. The best of the styling houses had multiple simultaneous styles, so their offerings contained more variety. And more depth; they could take a rear end like this and re-interpret it successfully many times over, such is the strength of the styling conceit.
Well, that was Ferrari at Como Park. Feeling a bit consumptive? Next up: the raw fibre of an SBC 327.
Anyone seeing a strong resemblance between the Chevy Monza and the 365 GTC/4, or is it just me? (c:
The B-pillar looks similar, but beyond that – no.
I was also just thinking that the side window lines of the Monza 2+2 fastback came from the 365 GTC/4.
I saw that too. Chevy wasn’t alone in copying a classic Ferrari design – think Rover SD1 vs Daytona.
And if you want more Ferrari-Rover pollination, check out this custom-built Rover coupe!
looks like Maserati Biturbo at the rear.
I was thinking Ferrari 400i. But yes, Biturbo if you insist! 🙂
Maybe you’re more right, though, Old Pete. I wouldn’t want to come across as Bitter.
So, so many GM coupes used that DLO. Monza, Manta B, ’88-94 and ’95-06 Cavalier coupes, right up to the Cobalt coupe. That’s why it jumped out at me.
And the 365 GT 2+2’s greenhouse was cribbed for the Vega hatchback coupe.
Bill Mitchell went to Italy once a year on a shopping trip for inspiration, and always brought back several of his favorite finds which he would then display prominently in the Design Center. A person with a good eye could write a long picture book with all the cars and details that GM cribbed from Pininfarina and the other Italians. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but sometimes the GM Design Center even in its glory days wasn’t all that original or creative, in terms of where so many of the ideas came from. But that’s how it was done back then.
Very true Paul, and it would be an interesting book too. Even things like the 63 Stingray could have taken inspiration from the BAT Alfas.
Even the most creative people have influences, though, and genuinely original ideas are rare even in fields that aren’t specifically business-focused (and often have a very rough time of it when they do come along). A lot of the time, I think the biggest test of creativity is whether you can synthesize the influences into something unique rather than just a knockoff.
Successfully translating a theme or design element into a different type or size of vehicle is also a skill in itself. We’ve talked here before about how tricky it is to turn a sedan into a station wagon, and some things just don’t scale well.
But yeah, I imagine even Bill Mitchell would say something to the effect of, “Steal from the best…”
“That great poets imitate and improve, whereas small ones steal and spoil.”
W. H. Davenport Adams, later appropriated and reframed by Stravinsky and Picasso.
My neighbor has a 330 GTC, took me for a ride. Lousy back roads it just thudded over the pavement. No squeaks, rattles, and other indications of something pretty loose. I was impressed it being a 45 year old car.
He also has a ’58 250GT, never got a ride in that one….
Yup, that last one does it for me. Actually, either of the 250s you saw could make me happy. Or is it that it is just so refreshing to see a Ferrari in a color other than red?
Although I will never own a Ferrari, even if I had the money, I consider all their GT coupes as pinnacles of car design.
Just look at the last one, it even looks better than a contemporary Facel Vega. Italian GT cars and coupes always look so spot on from all angles.
Of course red is THE Ferrari color,but they also look good in silver, yellow or black, but thats about it. No browns, purples, grays or blues on these babies!
Notice that the blue GTC4 has the bumper painted to avoid the “clown lips” black plastic finish.
About 15 years ago I could have almost afforded one, definately not now..
My finest automotive moment was when the Ferrari Club of America had it’s 2008 national event in Toronto. I went to check out the cars and was mistaken for a judge by some of the organizers because I was modestly dressed and not dripping with Ferrari swag and cameras…
Call me a philistine but Ferrari never did much for me until the Daytona and 308s, most of the 50s/60s road cars all look basically the same(which pretty much sums up my feelings of Pininfarina designed road cars as a whole), the true race bred Ferraris were the lookers.
I quite like GTC/4 as well, really for overall styling I’d probably pick it over the Daytona, and that’s saying a lot because I do place the Daytona on a pedestal. The Front end is kind of anonymous though, whereas the Daytona had a very pretty mug, which by the way I actually prefer the US pop ups to the originally designed perspex covered fixed quads, the large amber triangular corner lights just look so radical on their own like that. That detail made it the first recognizable Ferrari to me when I was a little kid.
Yeah, I love the Daytona. There’s a guy whose family has an amazing collection who lives around the corner and he has a plexi.
I have an interview with Fioravanti where he says the only part of the Daytona he regrets is making those side indicators a couple of inches too long.
With all due respect to Mr. Fioravanti, the Daytona is like a great album or movie, it can be an iconic work of art but there’s always bands or directors that think they need to boost the bass/vocals or add more CGI Ewoks in after the fact to “improve” upon their creations. Most of the time it’s best to just step back and accept their masterpieces as a masterpieces. Those side indicators are beautiful!
I agree. It’s a bit like Barbara Streisand’s nose; on its own it may be a bit long, but in context it just adds to the beauty.
I remember well the 1980s era when the 250GT/330GT were cheap Ferraris, and I still have the period Road & Track and Classic & Sportscar issues that told me about this now-vanished world. I have always preferred big GTs like the 250GT and Aston Martin DBs to the small wedges like the Dino or 308 (not that I am likely to ever own any of the above), even as a teenager, so the idea of a 250GT that cost less than $25,000 was splendid. Of course, reality would involve frequent expenditures of thousands of dollars to keep it running, so it is a good thing that I was too young to experience that era.
Stunning cars never been in my price range or my limited mechanical ability.Thanks for another great read and pictures
This post is a soothing balm after viewing that hideous Skylark earlier. Beautiful cars–by anyone’s standard.
Many thanks Don!
Uh-oh! I start at the other end of the day’s posts. I’ve only seen these lovely Ferraris so far. Thanks for the heads-up, Tom!
Thanks Tom. I’ve been really busy so I have been able to look at CC much. You’ve been writing a lot so at some point I’ll be able to have a read.
A very rich meal you’ve served up here, Chef Don. There’s some primo horsemeat here, and I’m not sure I can digest it all fully at bed time, so maybe I’ll have to comment in more detail later. But I’m looking forward to meeting them again in my dreams.
Nice post Don, really good replicas like that Testa Rossa are just amazing because of the level of fabrication. I wonder if it has the driveline from a 250GTE like you mentioned?
I’m another fan of the GTC/4. The other way to avoid the ‘fish lips’ is to have a black one, and there is such a car regularly participating in the non-race category (regularity) at local historic races. There is just something a bit awkward about the styling around the rear wheel area, but I can’t really put my finger on what it is. Perhaps if the rear wheel was moved back a bit it would help, so that it was nearer the rear of the side window?
The 330GTC is an under-rated car. The 275 GTB just seems a bit bloated in photos but not so much in person, it suffers in comparison to the Dino or GTO that share the style. The variety of 250 era cars is just huge, even without getting into coachbuilt bodies, my favourite is the 330LM, which combines the 250GTO front and Lusso rear. It doesn’t matter that they only built 3 or 4, there is no difference in attainability.
I met a guy with a 328GTS at a track day, he had bought it on the basis that the retained value, or lack of depreciation, against say a Golf R or other new performance car would cover the extra cost of maintenance.
Thanks John. The TR replica had a V12 with red valve covers under the hood; I’m assuming it was a 250 or 330 based on the level of detail on the rest of the car.
Lusso is top of the tree for me for any model from any marque. I saw a few at Duttons when they were in Richmond and, incredibly, saw one on the road in Adelaide being driven by its mechanic. Also saw one that was flown in for the Classic Adelaide. Interestingly, Battista Pininfarina’s own example had a rear end ‘spoiler’ treatment a bit like that of the DB6. Not as pretty.
Agree that the 275 GTB doesn’t photograph as well as it looks in person. Maybe not the equal to some of its near compatriots in beauty but still an impressive car–a quad-cam version turned up at a show I attended a few years back.
Maybe this marks me clearly as a child of the 80’s, but my favorite Ferrari design is still the 308/328. (GTB, not GT4). It may not be the most beautiful objectively but that shape just says “Ferrari” to me like no other. The example in the photos is stunning in silver!
Although not exactly a Fezza fan, those are beautiful cars.
Any F40 or 288GTO there?
I wish on the 288GTO – what a stunner and in my opinion the last beautiful prancer. I’m not such a fan of the F40/50/Enzo so I can’t remember if there were any there or if I just bypassed them.
Actually, Athos, now that I think of it; there was an F40 on display at the Ferrari dealership in Richmond recently. It might still be there.
I’m not a F50/Enzo fan either. The F40 is special… maybe because I spent many afternoons playing with it in TDII.
I saw the one in Richmond some months ago. Dunno if it’s still there.
I used to walk past that dealership during our first year here. From time to time, after coming off the train, I’d walk all the way to the Saab dealership and then back home.
I think the Peugeot repair shop that is nearby got demolished when the built the new Audi store.
Yeah the F50 and Enzo do nothing for me either, but the F40 gets my juices flowing. And like the Daytona, Testarossa and 308, it was one of the Ferraris I truly recognized as Ferraris at the age of 5, so I have a pretty natural association with it.
Seems a common opinion. The F40 was *the* supercar of my youth (I was 7 when it appeared) and I still think it retains its beauty despite being very purposeful. The Enzo doesn’t do it for me and i actually find the F50 homely.
I think you and Matt are correct. I’ve been a bit harsh on the F40.
To see the Ferrari supercars the best place to go is the Fox Collection in the Docklands. I went there earlier in the year and saw the three below, I asked about an Enzo – apparently it was in Queensland for a charity event or similar. It is a pretty incredible collection, everything from the last VW off the Clayton production line to Ringo Starr’s M-B 600.
ps the two cars beyond the Ferraris are a Jaguar XJR-15 and XJ-220!
Still haven’t made it there. You’ve reminded me to visit this summer.
I didn’t even know it existed. Time to get the little boy to a walk.
This is far afield from the norm for CC posts—and wonderful. Thanks, Don. Really enjoyed the post.
I’m in the minority, but I tend to prefer some of the more luxury-oriented V-12 four-seaters to the GTs. I really like that 250 GTE, for instance. The classic GTs impress me more as ideas than as something I’d actually want to own — I appreciate that they exist, but adoring these cars is almost too much of a cliche for enthusiasts, if you see what I mean.
Of the GTs, I’m most fond of the early Dino 206 and 246, which look spectacular in a way time and imitation have not diminished. I particularly appreciate their lightness of form. Modern GTs have ended up following more in the footsteps of the Porsche 928, which with the recent fetish for gigantic wheels makes even most sports cars look really bulky. The Pininfarina-styled Dinos manage to look both delicate and aggressive, which is quite a trick — kind of the automotive equivalent of a finely detailed but very sharp stiletto.
Yep. I agree about the cliche thing which is why I was in two minds about maybe just putting these pics on the cohort. Ultimately I figured there were some nice stories to tell and some not-so-well-known cars to show; the towbar on the Dino is my favourite.
Still, beauty can be absolute. Considering Sophia Loren beautiful may be a cliche, but damn she is so beautiful!
Yeah nice collection of exotics these have never been in my price range but they are good to look at, investor classics and rarely driven mostly that one with the towbar I think Ive seen towing a motorcycle trailer could be wrong but there cant be too many around so equipped.
Motorcycle trailer, huh? I spoke to the couple who owned it and the wife mentioned that her husband used it to tow his bike(s?). I assumed pushbike but maybe it has even stronger curbside props.
I like old Ferraris, in fact, I’ve always liked most Ferraris, but the crazy prices that some of these have climbed up to by the “Wayne Carini” crowd is a bit….no is really, f-ing disgusting, $10 million? $20 million? For a car? really? And all they talk about is what its “worth worth worth” nothing about the passion, or how it drives, meaning that these have now crossed into the realm of object d’art for rich bored weirdo wankers.
I’ll take the Dino, thanks. It’s so light and breezy compared to its big brothers, in a way that’s, I dunno, flirtatious? Como esta? Up for a little ride?
I prefer the Cayman to the current 911s, for similar reasons.
Just in case anybody needed a visual for Bill Harrah’s Jerrari…
That was the first one, which lives on today with SBC power. The second one looked like a stock Wagoneer but still has its 4.4 liter Ferrari V12 and 5-speed.
I’m with the folks who love front-engined, four-seat ferrari GTs! My favorite is the 400/412 even with the automatic!
For some real indigestion, all I have to think about was my neighbors red Ferrari 250 GT Coupe. This was in Southern California, around 1986. Don’t remember the year of the car, maybe around 1960. The first time I saw it I looked underneath and saw a upright VW engine in the trunk area. I thought, nice looking kit car. My neighbor saw me in my work uniform with VW badge, and asked if I could get him VW brake parts. He lifted the front hood and there was a few welded tubes sticking out and a VW beam axle mounted at the end, along with a long column to the steering wheel, He was pissed because he just had it repainted, and the paint was blistering on the trunk lid, from the heat of the engine. He opened the trunk and there was the VW 1600 stock engine and a 69 VW IRS transaxle in front. The body was steel, not fiberglass. He then told me this was the real deal hacked up with VW drivetrain. I was in shock. I got him his VW parts, and he wound up bringing the car into the dealership I worked at to have them installed, brake master cylinder, wheel cylinders, shoes, bearings, etc. The service manager didn’t want to touch it, and threw out some crazy labor prices. He didn’t bat an eyelid, just told them to get it done. He lived in the apartment next to a house I was renting, the rental house got foreclosed and he bought it, cash. I know he bought the Ferrari the way it was, that’s about all I know of the history. If I hadn’t of seen it, I never would have believed someone would do this to a car such as this. I moved after the house was sold. I wish I took pictures. I would think by now someone must have rebuilt it back to stock.
Great story. On my pinboard at home is a photo of a discarded 330 GT body, just left in an industrial zone on a pile of dirt. VW internals… insane, but if the original car was a donor almost all mechanical parts would have been migrated to the new entity so what the hey, whatever floats your barchetta..
I thought I was the only one in the world who thought the 275 GTB was super overrated. Everyone talks about how it’s one of the most beautiful cars of all time, and I just don’t get it. It has a goofy front end and the rest just isn’t all that special. Of course, styling is totally subjective, but I’m glad someone else said it! 🙂
On the flip side, I think the 308 is one of Ferrari’s best looking cars, no mean feat from an era where beautiful cars weren’t exactly on every street corner.
Great piece Don. I try not to get too excited about Ferraris since I will never be able to afford one. These are all beautiful but for me the white Dino GTB is the pick of the litter. Mine would have to be a ’74 US version with side marker lamps. Also wanted to say that I love just about any Ferrari in a blue color like the one on that 250 GTE.
Only on Curbside Classic would the first post in a Ferrari thread be about the Chevy Monza 🙂
Awesome cars, a truly wonderful collection.
Had a mate with a Dino one time who said at that at 2am and 140mph, the M4 was all bends..
New another chap who took me for a spin in his early 308GTB, the one with the GRP bodywork. That was seriously quick and an unforgettable experience.
Is it just me or does it look like MG cribbed the rear end design for the MGB here?
I forgot to add, compared to the 1958-60 250 GT Coupe Pininfarina.
Seeing all these beauties bought back to mind the Ferrari that came into the small independent repair garage where I worked many years ago. It might have been a 250 or 330, or something akin to them, but it was the real thing complete with V-12 power. What I’m curious if any of you afficionados know about is this: the car in question had a GM Turbo-Hydramatic 400 from the factory (so said the local owner.) The claim was that there had been only a few so equipped cars originally built as automatics, and it was clear to me that this might have been the case, since the car came to us with a failed front pump in the transmission. The owner said that this had happened before and speculated that the engine revved too quickly for the pump to “take it” and the damage to pump seemed to validate that theory. Does anyone know if this all makes sense and how many GM-automatic equipped Ferraris were actually built, and the backstory if there is one? I’d like to confirm my memories of close to forty years ago.