1958 Ferrari 250 GT Speciale Coupe by Pininfarina

It is no secret that Enzo Ferrari had no desire to pursue building road cars for the masses, instead choosing to narrow the company’s focus on race cars- however, it became clear that road cars would be vital to the future of the company. In the early 1950s, Ferrari had built a very small number of road-going coupes and cabriolets built on their racing car chassis, mostly for special customers and typically with one-off bodywork from coach builders Ghia, Vignale, or Touring. The Ferrari 250 GT represented a milestone for the marque, not for its prowess in competition but instead as the first model constructed with the intention of being a volume-production road car. It was also the model that influenced Ferrari to use Pinin Farina over Vignale for its coachwork going forward. Between 1958 and 1960, 353 examples of the Pinin Farina 250 GT coupes were built, within the sequence ‘0841’ to ‘2081’. Within that production a small number of custom examples for special clients, competition versions, and one-off Speciale examples were produced.

This example was built during the initial run of the 250 GT Pinin Farina in late 1958 and sold to engineer Emanuele Nasi. Nasi was the grandson of Giovanni Agnelli, the founder of FIAT. Emanuele Nasi was taken by the styling of the 410 Superamerica and requested that Ferrari replicate those lines when building his 250 GT Speciale. The first two of 410 Superamerica in the third series in particular inspired the styling on this car, chassis 1187 GT.

On November 22, 1958 a bare, standard long wheelbase 250 GT chassis arrived at the Pinin Farina factory in Turin. It was equipped with the three-liter Type 128 D V-12 engine paired to a four-speed gearbox, a live rear axle, drum brakes, and double wishbone suspension at the front.

Pinin Farina began building the custom coachwork with elements of both the coupe and cabriolet models. A long accent slash running between the wheel wells on each side, and a five-window design were cues taken directly from the first two Superamerica models from the third series of production. Two quarter windows replaced the blind quarters of the roof and pillar of the original Pinin Farina 250 GT design. Hot air vents behind the front wheels were also inspired by the last Superamericas from the same series, albeit smaller in diameter and with two horizontal strakes rather than three on the Superamerica. In just three months, its custom bodywork was completed and painted in a special Max Meyer color Grigio Metallizzato Speciale (LC16503 MM) with a black Connolly leather and plastic interior in preparation for the 1959 Geneva International Motor Show in Switzerland, where it was displayed alongside a 250 GT coupe and cabriolet, as well as a 410 Superamerica series III which its styling was inspired by.

A few years later, it was sold and exported to the United States to H.C. Boerner Jr. of Berkeley, California. A handwritten letter from Boerner dated January 26, 1975 stated that he was offering the 250 GT Speciale for sale after being featured in Dick Merrit’s Ferrari book, and notes that Merrit called the car’s styling “The purest expression on the 3-liter chassis”. In 1977 it was sold to Dr. Michael Russel, another California resident, who owned the car until 1986. It was sold to its third owner, Greg Garrison, a television producer in Thousand Oaks, CA for $15,000. Garrison had been building a very special collection of coachbuilt one-of-a kind Ferraris, and chassis 1187 GT was his next addition. He drove the car throughout his ownership at his homes in California and Montana and displayed the car at the 53rd Annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elégance in the M-1 Ferrari Grand Touring class. The car remained in his ownership until he passed away in March of 2005, and was sold in 2007 by the Garrison estate to the Caballeriza Collection.

Bob Smith Coachworks in Gainesville, Texas was commissioned to perform a complete Concours restoration between 2008 and 2009. Following its completion, it was shown at the 59th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elégance in Class M2-04 for GT and Competizione Ferraris where it rolled across the podium with a second-place award, and later at the Palm Beach Cavallino Classic in January of 2010 where it was awarded the Judges’ Cup and a Platinum level trophy awarded to cars scoring 95 points or higher. Later that year, it graced the cover of Cavallino magazine and was featured in a ten-page spread. It was then displayed at the 49th Annual Ferrari Club of America National Field & Driving Concours at Palm Springs. The car once again passed through the ownership of a handful of collectors in the Northeast between 2012 and 2014, eventually arriving in the collection of Tom Peck who displayed the car at numerous events, such as the Ferrari Club of America International Meeting and Concours where it was awarded a Platinum award and the Forza Ferrari Award for The Outstanding Ferrari built in the 1950s or 1960s. It was shown again at the 21st annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance where it received a Best in Class award in the Ferrari Gran Turismo class, and finally, the Ferrari Finali Mondiali Concours d’Elegance held at Daytona Beach FL. It was sold to its most recent owner in 2016 as part of an impressive collection of significant road cars where it has remained and been meticulously cared for since.