15 replies to this topic

[tonyb]

This thread comes from one started on The Book Thread regarding a 250 GT body that I've been sent some photos of. Many of you will know that two 250 GT Pinin Farinas were on sale from the TT Garage in the months before Mike Hawthorn died and there has always been doubt as to how many were produced in RHD - some say just these two and others that there were up to eight. I was originally looking for possible published memoirs of Colonel Ronnie Hoare that might have shed some light on this.

Adrian Donovan has 5 HPD, the white (in 1958) car that Romolo Tavoni drove while at the TT Garage. There are some pics of his car and a scan of the original log book plus a few comments on my Mike Hawthorn site - when we learned of it, it was too late to include it in Golden Boy unfortunately. It's shown below when on show at the Golden Boy book launch:


5 HPD - still with original log book - manufactured in white and driven by Romolo Tavoni while he was at the TT in 1958

Recently, someone has come forward (Bob) who owns a body that appears to be another RHD car and he believes it could be one of the TT Garage ones (although a photo I have of the other car that Mike was photographed with at the 1958 Motor Show shows that it was a dark colour originally). So the question is, what exactly is this car?

I have put the photos below plus comments from Adrian and from Bob, the owner of the other body. Any information as to what this car might be and its origins are very welcome. A clue may be the number '488' that is stamped on the bonnet if anyone has data that can place this.

Adrian Donovan who owns the only known surviving ex TT Garage car says:

"There was always some doubt about how many RHDs were built, but what does seem fairly certain is that only the two were sold in the UK - both by the TT Garage.

"As you know, mine is the one survivor and the other was converted in to a Testa Rossa replica - I suppose the body in the photos could have come from that?

"There are a number of other coupes that were apparently made in RHD for Sweden or Australia but it seems unlikely that one of those bodies would have made the way back here - especially in that condition! The body number is a clue worth following up."

Bob says:

"You can see the white paint work which was the original colour, also there is a foot rest on the right hand side were the clutch pedal is. The holes in the body for the steering wheel are on the right hand side. The only number I can find on this is on the bonnet '488', and if you look at the wipers, they are on the right side too. So it was definitely a right hand drive Pinin Farina Coupe so any thing you can come up with would be of great interest. If there were only two built then this was one of them."



Thanks in advance.

Edited by tonyb, 29 March 2010 - 22:15.

[jtremlett]

I cannot identify the body in question at the moment but I will make enquiries.

Just to be clear, there were more than two RHD 250 GT PF Coupes. Indeed, I know of three currently in the UK although the Donovan car pictured is the only one of those three that still has its original body. I believe the TT Garage supplied two cars. These were probably s/n 1081, which was displayed at the 1958 Motor Show and was blue originally but subsequently rebodied as a 250 TR replica and 1083 which you have pictured.

I believe Maranello Concessionaires, when they took over the UK franchise, subsequently supplied two more RHD cars.

Jonathan

[jtremlett]

I am reliably informed the body in question is from chassis number 1975. I believe this car was supplied to the UK by Maranello Concessionaires. Certainly, it was originally white with a silver-grey roof. The chassis was subsequently re-bodied as a 250 California LWB replica and remains in the UK. Separately, Tony Willis from Ferrari says he is going to make enquiries for you.

Jonathan

[Arjan de Roos]

Cannot help with the exact number of RHD's. At least many of the 250 GT Pf went to Italian and US customers (at that time already Ferraris main markets, with UK undeveloped). A reason why most are LHD.
Indeed some Swedish and Australian have been RHD, like 1973GT that went downunder. But not all, Prince Bertil of Sweden ordered a LHD.

Many PF's have been transformed to a GTO replica (at least 2), 250TR, LWB California, or modified by Nembo or Drogo (not bad!). Some have been broken up for parts. It was really Ferrari's first 'mass-produced' car and never got rid of its (unrightly) cheap image.

If the red body is 1975 GT it was built in 1960. I expect the two cars shown at the TT Garage to bear chassis number 1000 up to 1300.

[adriandonovan]

Jonathan - I don't think Maranello Concessionnaires imported any 250 PF Coupes !! - I have an old copy of their booklet that lists all the cars they imported - from 1959. This records two 250 cabriolets ( both RHD) but no coupes. And Paul Baber who worked there for a long time also confirmed that. So, I've always thought that any other RHD cars would have been made for other markets.

[tonyb]

Thanks for all the info - especially that there were definitely more than two RHD cars in the UK originally. I do have some more info on the 1975 body but I'll wait until any further data comes in from Ferrari. TIA.

[tonyb]

Jonathan - I don't think Maranello Concessionnaires imported any 250 PF Coupes !! - I have an old copy of their booklet that lists all the cars they imported - from 1959. This records two 250 cabriolets ( both RHD) but no coupes. And Paul Baber who worked there for a long time also confirmed that. So, I've always thought that any other RHD cars would have been made for other markets.

Hi Adrian! You couldn't resist joining in!

[kare]

Following cars are claimed to have been RHD. Not absolutely sure about all of them and it is also possible that some other cars have been converted into RHD using Jaguar parts, especially in Australia. Some 250 GT 2+2s most certainly were.

1081GT - blue/tan - "Salone Londra" (TT Garage)
1083GT - white/black - "Salone Londra" (TT Garage)
1251GT - black/beige - "Inghilterra"
1437GT - white with grey roof/black - "Picanol"
1675GT - grey/red - "Bertoni"
1677GT - silver/red - "Lowe"
1725GT - red/red with grey piping - "Lowe"
1973GT - ivory/ivory - "Lowe"
1975GT - white with grey roof/black - "Picanol"

I have no idea who imported or bought 1251GT "Inghilterra" translates to "England" so...

I have some doubt about 1675GT and 1677GT. Even if 1677GT was sold new in Australia - Lowe was Australian importer.

Bertoni sounds Italian, but who says he lived in Italy? Could as well have been anywhere.

Picanol points towards Belgium, but again, who knows. Some continental customers liked RHD cars; like Italians did in the early 50's - a gentleman may rather step on clean sidewalk than ruin his shoes in muddy/dirty road.

Swedes had left side traffic til 1967, but there were hardly any RHD cars in the country. Swedes too liked to keep their shoes clean, it seems.

Pininfarina body numbers can be viewed on my site: http://koti.welho.com/kpietil4/

Best wishes, Kare

Edited by kare, 01 April 2010 - 07:50.

[starlet]

Warm welcome, Kare. You will find that TNF is the place to be, even for the Ferraris.

[Arjan de Roos]

A gentleman may rather have his lady step on a clean sidewalk than ruin her shoes in muddy/dirty road.

1081GT - blue/tan - "Salone Londra" (TT Garage)
1083GT - white/black - "Salone Londra" (TT Garage)

1251GT - black/beige - "Inghilterra" --> A Speciale with additional chrome
1437GT - white with grey roof/black - "Picanol" --> Likely broken up, at least engine removed.
1675GT - grey/red - "Bertoni" --> In Sweden for most of its life. Different engine. Once used for drugs smuggling!
1677GT - silver/red - "Lowe" --> LHD? Will we ever know :-)
1725GT - red/red with grey piping - "Lowe"
1973GT - ivory/ivory - "Lowe"
1975GT - white with grey roof/black - "Picanol"

[kare]

A gentleman does not walk a lady to his car if there is mud, he drives to get her. A selfish bastard like me also gets to fake a gentleman as long as it remains a secret that it mostly is about my Wilton carpets remaining clean and nice. I've also noticed that I park differently when alone.

There is more to it than that of course. The Swedes driving LHD cars in left side traffic starts to make sense if you think about it. On gravel roads there was no painted center line so you could not steer by it. On narrow roads it was much more important to see how close to the ditch you could go when meeting another car. Passing is difficult, but traffic volumes were low - in Sweden people were also advised to pull over when a car was going to pass them. Strangely this behavior still survives as a "meme" in Swedish traffic more than 40 years later.

I still wonder what kind of a person it takes to scrap a very special Ferrari like this. This was a kind of "double special" being both two-tone and RHD. Less than 30 cars out of 353 were painted in two-tone. On original form this car would be much more exciting than yet another fake kit car built upon its remains. It might even surprice a few specialists!

I think we are very lucky for being able to derive serial numbers from body numbers. These numbers have helped to nail down dozens of scrapped and renumbered cars through the years.

Best wishes, Kare

Edited by kare, 01 April 2010 - 11:17.

[D-Type]

~ The Swedes driving LHD cars in left side traffic starts to make sense if you think about it. On gravel roads there was no painted center line so you could not steer by it. On narrow roads it was much more important to see how close to the ditch you could go when meeting another car. Passing is difficult, but traffic volumes were low - in Sweden people were also advised to pull over when a car was going to pass them. Strangely this behavior still survives as a "meme" in Swedish traffic more than 40 years later.~

I thought that LHD in Sweden was because pre-Volvo most cars were imported from continental Europe, mainly Germany, and were naturally LHD. So Swedes learned to drive in LHD cars so when Volvo and Saab came along they found the market wanted LHD cars.

Coming back to RHD Ferraris - what markets apart from UK and Australia would want RHD, ie which RHD countries had anybody rich enough ? South Africa, Bahamas and Caribbean islands, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand (only one family of potential customers), Brunei (only one potential customer), Indonesia (no potential customers = no market), rest of the Commonwealth (unlikely though one Ferrari did get to Kenya)

[Arjan de Roos]

I still wonder what kind of a person it takes to scrap a very special Ferrari like this. This was a kind of "double special" being both two-tone and RHD. Less than 30 cars out of 353 were painted in two-tone. On original form this car would be much more exciting than yet another fake kit car built upon its remains. It might even surprice a few specialists!

I fully agree.

Thirteen years ago we had a discussion on a Ferrari e-mail group on fake GTO's, TR's build on GT Boano's and GT PF's. Then it was concluded that in the future possibly Boano and PF fakes would be made on 365 chassis... In all the 250 GT PF has risen in market value since, this must be influenced by the 'modification' of many a PF.

[tonyb]

I did receive this from Tony Willis for which many thanks:

I confirm the body is from chassis 1975 and was originally finished in Bianco with Grigio Conchiliglia upper section/interior nero plastica.
Regards,
Tony Willis
The Maranello Concessionaires Archive

Bob also added:

"the shell has an alloy bonnet and doors and boot, I have got badges and the
switch gear and turn signal switches, and the inner boot floor, I've been
trying to buy bits for it but even the trim for the scuttle was wrong, it's for
a lhd car, that's what made me realise it was 100% rhd car."

And I am told this body is now for sale - if you are interested, please PM me and I'll give you a phone number. I have no financial interest in any sale.

[adriandonovan]

Kare - thanks for letting us have the lists for the PF Coupes - and the body numbers. It is good to see a definitive list, was that from Pininfarina? I'm pleased to see mine matches up !

[chrisoooo]

1973GT is in Australia, and was built right hand drive. The car was purchased new by my father from "Lowe" in Melbourne, who was the importer at that time. The colour was and still is Ivory and the car was delivered with a cream interior

 

There is another RHD 250 GT PF for sale now in Sydney at The Classic Throttle Shop 1417GT, this car was converted from LHD. The car has been in Australia since the early 1960s