Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France

Cars

We were gobsmacked by the beauty of this rare and precious Ferrari 250 GT ‘Tour De France’.

The first of the 250 Berlinettas rolled out of the factory in March 1956, and were the first real iteration of the genius combination of race-worthy performance with the sort of style and finesse demanded by the European playboy elite.

The ‘Tour de France’ 250 GT Berlinetta nickname owes its moniker to Alfonso de Portago and his win at the 1956 Tour de France endurance race, which was the first for Ferrari’s 250 GT Berlinetta.

Following de Portago’s result in 1956, Olivier Gendenbien led Ferrari to overall victories for the next three years, cementing the car’s nickname into the annals of automotive history with a compelling show of engineering and competitive dominance.

The TdF also picked up an overall victory at the Targa Florio in 1957 and won the GT class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959.




The engine in this example, which was recently auctioned by RM for over £4M, comes with a stupefyingly gorgeous looking engine that produced 225 bhp at 7,000 rpm. It is a 2,953 cc SOHC V-12 unit with three Weber carburettors and was linked to a four-speed -synchromesh manual gearbox. There was independent front suspension with unequal length A-arms and coil springs, a live rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs and parallel trailing arms, and four-wheel drum brakes.

But no matter. Just look at the thing. Sometimes, Ferraris look better in blue.

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