Ferrari’s history includes various great machines. However, one of the company's earliest breakthroughs was the Ferrari 250. First released in 1952, its production lasted until 1964 and included various versions designed for racing and road use. A total of 21 different variants of the Ferrari 250 were made, with car auction house RM Sotheby’s putting one with a historic racing pedigree up for auction.
As part of RM Sotheby’s Arizona sale on 24 January, they will be offering a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta "Tour de France" by Scaglietti for sale. It is estimated to be worth between US$3.5 and 4.5 million and was raced in Europe and Latin America. It is only one of 77 of this specific Ferrari 250 GT ever made, and one of eleven ever brought to auction. It is also the only known one with this specific color scheme and interior leather.
Lot 160 | Ferrari S.p.A. | 1958 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta "Tour de France" by Scaglietti
Circa 1958
Chassis 0933GT
Provenance (Compiled by The Value):
- Sold on 17 June 1958 to Casimiro “Miro” Toselli
- Sold to Lino Fayen, Ferrari agent, Caracas, Venezuela
- Brokered in 1958 to Mauricio Marcotulli
- Purchased in 1961 by Lino Fayen
- Seized by French tax or customs authorities
- Bought in 1966 customs auction by Christian d’Epenoux
- Soon acquired from the above by Pierre Bardinon
- Briefly owned between 1975 and 1977 by Comte Frederic Chandon de Briailles
- Since 1983 ownership passed between Dominique Bardini, André Binda, and Michel Seydoux
Estimate: US$3,500,000 - 4,500,000
Auction House: RM Sotheby’s
Sale: Arizona
Date: 24 January 2024
When the Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta “Tour de France” made its debut in 1956, it instantly became one of Ferrari’s classic racing vehicles. It would go on to be a dominant force at circuits, rivaling its contemporaries, such as the Jaguar XK and Mercedes-Benz 300 SL.
In its debut year, the Ferrari 250 “Tour de France” (TdF) won with driver Oliver Gendebien and navigator Jacques Washer winning their race at Giro di Sicilia in April 1956. That same year, the Ferrari 250 GT TdF would claim the win at the 3,600-mile Tour de France endurance rally. It was only after this race that the car gained its “Tour de France” moniker as Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari was so pleased with its performance.
Part of the reason the Ferrari 250 TdF accomplished this was its engine. It had a more refined 3.0-liter Colombo V12 engine that fit into a slightly longer-bodied car. This powerful engine generated 237 horsepower, but eventually, 256 horsepower could be squeezed out of it.
The car also came standard with Pirelli Cinturato 175R400 tires, the first radial-type tires ever designed. These tires were used to amazing effect in motorsport, increasing stability, dissipating heat better, and doing so without generating extra fatigue on the rubber. These tires were such a game-changer for racing that five-time F1 champion Juan Manuel Fangio called them “extraordinary.”
However, another key factor in racing that always comes paired next to the car is the driver. The Ferrari 250 TdF as a series had various famous drivers push it to race-winning glory, with this specific chassis, the 0933 GT, having a rather interesting history of being raced and owned across two continents.
The car's 3.0-liter Colombo V12 engine
The Oro Chiaro color scheme of the exterior of chassis 0933 GT
The Rosso Bordeaux interior of the car
The car’s first owner was an Italian from the Alpine city of Turin called Casimiro “Miro” Toselli. It was sold to him on 17 June 1958, and it was the only car with its specific color and interior scheme, with the exterior of the car painted in Oro Chiaro and the interior upholstered in Rosso Bordeaux.
Miro was a fairly noteworthy racer. He participated in 24 total races in his career and won two races, came second once, came third twice, and won a further three races, specifically in his car class. He raced almost in Italy, most frequently at the famous track at Monza, although in the case of chassis 0933 GT, Miro made an exception.
The car was first raced in the Rocco Cocconato hillclimb in Asti, on 14 September 1958, close to Miro’s native Turin, where he scored fifth. This was followed by Miro’s participation in the Pontedecimo hillclimb exactly two weeks later, where Miro finished seventh. It would take until 10 October for Miro to fully adjust to the 250 TdF when he took it to its maiden victory at Pila Hillclimb in Aosta, Italy.
Ferrari 250 TdF chassis 0933 GT at the 1960 1000 km Buenos Aires race, being driven by Ugo Tosa and Silvano Turco
In November 1958, Miro took the car to South America to participate in the Venezuelan Grand Prix. He had been invited by Scuderia Manunina, an Argentinian-Italian racing program, to participate in the race, which was more of an endurance course where cars raced across a 754 km point-to-point event across dirt roads for around ten hours.
Miro, in his Ferrari 250 TdF, managed to complete the race in five hours, which was incidentally only good enough for fourth place as he was beaten out by other Ferrari 250 TdFs led by Jean Behra, Ferrari’s factory driver, highlighting the strength and speed of this car.
This is where Miro’s relationship with 0933 GT ended, as before returning to Italy, he sold the car to Lino Fayen, the Ferrari agent in Caracas, Venezuela. Fayen then brokered the car to Venezuelan Mauricio Marcotulli, another talented racer who took the 0933 GT to at least six races, where he won the 1959 128-kilometer Gran Premio de Maracaibo on 16 August. Notably, in all the other races that Mauricio participated in with the 0933 GT, he never finished lower than second.
The start of the 1960 1000 km of Buenos Aires race, with chassis 0933 GT being seen in the back right with a single racing stripe and the number 52
Having raced with two champions within a year, Marcotulli would go on to sell 0933 GT to Ugo Tosa, another Venezuelan, in late 1959. Then Tosa, his co-pilot Silvano Turco, and Tosa’s wife Franca, whom he frequently raced with, entered the 1960 World Sportscar Championship at the 1000 km of Buenos Aires. The car performed strongly, taking third place among the GT cars and eleventh overall.
From there, Tosa and his team took chassis 0933 GT to further endurance races in Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia, with the last known race that Tosa used this car in being the Caracas-to-Bogota rally.
Chassis 0933 GT at the 1960 1000 km of Buenos Aires
In early 1961 the car was sold back to Fayen, who sought to import it into France and sell it to a private racing outfit. However, Fayen got into a dispute with the French government, and the car was seized by either the tax or customs authority for four or five years until it was sold at an auction.
From there the car went on to be owned by a host of various European car collectors and race car drivers, with it changing hands several times over the decades. Importantly, the car went through several rounds of refurbishment and restoration over the years. At some point it had been repainted from its Oro Chiaro color; this was restored in the late 1990s and early 2000s in the UK.
Additionally, a common failure among Ferrari cars made during this era was the 3.0-liter V12 engine breaking down, with this unit uniquely carrying not its original engine but one of the exact same type most likely sourced during this car’s time in Venezuela.