1954-1962 Ferrari 250 GT

Long-Wheelbase

Early Ferraris were typical of low-volume cars in that there was little apparent consistency among them. In any one year of the early Fifties, Ferrari offerings spanned a variety of wheelbases, engines, and coachbuilt bodies, yet all had a certain commonality in chassis and running gear.

In late 1954, Enzo Ferrari began to bring some order to this model chaos with the 250 GT Europa, generally regarded as his first true production car. Though it retained the familiar ladder-type tubular-steel chassis with leaf-spring rear suspension, it broke new ground with a thoroughly modern independent front suspension, via double A-arms and coil springs. Also new was a 3.0-lifer version of the Colombo V-12 (basically, a roadgoing version of the 1953 250 MM competition engine) versus the similarly sized "long-block" Lampredi unit of the previous 250 Europa. (The "GT" suffix was no doubt added to avoid confusion.) At 102.3 inches, the wheelbase was 6.7 inches shorter than the earlier model's. Pinin Farina now moved to the fore, supplying most bodies for the new series, though Vignale contributed some. Virtually all were closed coupes with fastback and semi-fastback rooflines. Though no one knew it at the time, this new Europa would be the first in a long line of 250 GTs that would stretch into the middle of the next decade. And as Ferrari's newest had been greeted with enthusiasm, spin-offs were not long in coming. The first was a handsome Farina berlinetta, bowing at the Paris Show in late 1955. An even nicer-looking evolution appeared at Geneva the following March, and joined the line later in '56. Body production was taken over by Scaglietti in Modena the following year.

By that time, the berlinetta had been approved by the FIA-the Federation Internationale Automobile, the world motorsports governing body-as a production Grand Touring car. With its lightweight aluminium bodywork, it certainly looked ready to race, and did. Competition versions racked up numerous wins and high finishes in 1956, including a memorable third overall in the Tour de France, and inwhen Olivier Gendebien came home third in the Mille Miglia. But it was a string of victories in the French road race that has since earned this model the name "Tour de France." Meanwhile, a smart PF notchback coupe, another 1956 announcement, had gone into production at Carrozzeria Boano (and is thus known today as the "Boano coupe"). By 1958, founder Mario Boano was working for Fiat and his company was in the hands of Luciano Pollo and Ezio Ellena. But the new owners continued production after raising the roofline and making other modifications.. The result was what's now called the "Ellena" or "high-roof' 250 GT coupe.

Geneva 1957 saw a one-off Farina touring cabriolet on the 250 GT chassis. It went into production later that year, thankfully without the show car's notched doors. Partly at the instagation of west coast Ferrari distributor John van Neumann, Farina came up with an even sporter version, an open counterpart to the competition berlinetta. Named Spyder California, it was built by Scaglietti on the same "production line through early 1960.

Next came a replacement for the Boano/Ellena coupe, shown at the 1958 Paris Salon in October. Another Farina creation and long known as simply "PF coupe," it would continue through 1960. It was a handsome car, though almost plain compared with other Farina designs of the period. Some ruder individuals have even dubbed in the "Italian Thunderbird." Appearing at the same time was a Series II cabriolet with revised coupe-inspired styling. It, too, would be built by Farina, but through 1962. With the advent of a short-wheelbase series in 1959, these 250 GTs have since como be called the "long-wheelbase" models, though their 102.3-inch span wasn't the longest in Ferrari history. More significant are the engineering changes that occurred during their production run. Ferrari's first fresh-air heating system arrived in 1959, along with a twin-disc clutch to replace the single dry-plate type. The following year brought tubular telescopic shock absorbers (ousting lever-action hydrolics), disc brakes to replace the 14-inch-diameter drums (which worked pretty well when warm but were usually dodgy when cold), and overdrive for the all syncro 4-speed gearbox.

No doubt about it: Ferrari had come a long way in a relatively short time. Thanks to its fruitful, well publicised competiton efforts and a series of rapidly improving road cars, the marque had, by the dawn of the Sixties, become world famous for exciting elegant high-performance cars of unsurpassed engineering excellence. Such status would have seemed almost impossible when the 250 GT first appeared, but Enzo Ferrari was far from ready to rest on his laurels. Even better days were just ahead.