The bespoke or very limited-run supercar has enjoyed something of a resurgence lately. Or we know more about these special commissions than ever before, at least. Think Rolls-Royce Boat Tail, Ferrari SP48 Unica and BR20, Pagani Huayra Codalunga and Aston Martin Victor, just for starters. It’s easy to understand the popularity: customers get something no other buyer has ever had (or will ever have), and manufacturers can recoup the development costs (and a fair bit more) with a multi-million pound asking price for one enthusiast’s vision.
Of course, a new body on familiar underpinnings is nothing new in the car world; the difference in the 21st century is that the modifications are done in-house rather than by external coachbuilders. It can be easy to forget now, decades after their heyday, just how many of these specialists existed. It meant all sorts of weird and wonderful creations were built over the years.
The very nature of the craft means everything made by automotive artisans is special, but coachbuilt classics really don’t come much more exceptional than this. It’s a 1963 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso bodied by Fantuzzi. The 16th 250 GT Lusso produced, the car is described by GTO Engineering - now selling the Ferrari after caring for it since 2012 - as ‘unexampled’. This is a one-off Ferrari 250, without another like it in the world.
As is so often the way with classic exotica, chassis 4383GT has lived quite a life. Originally a grey 250GT Lusso, it was owned first by Luciano Pederzani; he ran Tecno, a company that built F2 and F3 cars, with his brother Gianfranco. The bodies of their race cars were designed by Medardo Fantuzzi, and it was in 1965 that the Ferrari was handed over for its never-before-seen (and never to be repeated) new look. The idea was to create a more aerodynamic design for the 250, hence the faired in lights and a sharper nose than standard.
For whatever reason, however - maybe Pederzani didn’t like the result? - the Ferrari was sold to Venezuela in 1966. From there it travelled all over, including New York and Honolulu, which the previous owner has documented in a three-year search for as much history as possible. Suffice it to say the story is just as interesting as the car.
Having been comprehensively restored in 2011 - when Grigio Metallizzato became Rosso Corsa - the Ferrari has been with GTO Engineering since the end of 2012. In that time, it’s been upgraded with a few bits to make it more usable - seatbelts, mirrors, luggage straps - and kept ready and raring to go. ‘Servicing, moving, caring for the car as if it was GTO Engineering’s own’, reads the ad. Obviously it looks better than perfect; perhaps it’s a shame the original paint couldn’t be retained, though it’s undoubtedly a stunningly preserved Colombo V12 Ferrari. And, red or otherwise, there can’t be enough of those.
Needless to say, opportunities like this don’t come up all that often. At one point in its life this 250 spent a quarter of a century in storage, and it would be no surprise for it to be tucked away one more; driving a Ferrari worth seven figures should be brilliant, but may well be quite fraught as well. Nevertheless, it’s eligible for all sorts of concours events and said to be ‘eminently usable’ on the road. Be a shame the Fantuzzi car not to venture out every now and then, because it really is a spectacular Ferrari - not going to see another one whichever lawn you end up on, either…
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