Ferrari has produced a few 2+2 models during its illustrious history, and the styling of some has been better than others. One of the more successful was the 1960 Ferrari 250 GT/E because the company extended the coupe’s wheelbase without destroying its beautiful styling. This GT/E has fallen on hard times and is a “what you see is what you get” proposition. That begs the question of what someone might do with an exotic that is little more than a bodyshell with no title of VIN. The Ferrari is listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Plymouth, Indiana. It could be yours for $9,500, and I must say a big thank you to Barn Finder JimA for spotting this bare exotic.
Ferrari added the 250 to its model range in 1952, but buyers had to wait until the Paris Motor Show in October 1960 for the GT/E variant to join the party. It was the company’s first volume-produced 2+2 model, with 955 cars rolling out of the Maranello factory between then and 1963. The history of this car is unclear, but it has unquestionably fallen on hard times. There are brief glimpses of its original Blue paint in areas like the door frames, but most of the car sports Gray primer or consistent surface corrosion. On the plus side, there appears to be no penetrating rust. However, with the cowl, firewall, and hood now gone, the new owner faces the mammoth task of sourcing the steel to return the shell to a complete state if a restoration is their intention. The doors and trunk lid are present, but the shopping list will include glass and almost every piece of exterior trim.
This Ferrari’s interior consists of a set of bucket seats, and that’s it. Once again, locating and purchasing the items required to return it to a complete state will burn a serious hole in the new owner’s pocket. It is the same story with the mechanical components. This car originally featured a glorious 2,953cc V12 engine that produced 237hp and 193 ft/lbs of torque, fed to the rear wheels via a five-speed manual transmission. The ¼-mile ET of 15.6 seconds was considered pretty respectable for a vehicle of this type in 1960, but its party piece was the ability to top 140mph. Sourcing the correct components for a faithful restoration will be expensive, but they are out there for purists considering that approach. However, the most pressing question is whether the potential return justifies the expense.
Most passionate enthusiasts will look at this 1960 Ferrari 250 GT/E, and their hearts will ache. Finding an exotic of this caliber reduced to this state is hard to accept. However, it isn’t the first or last, to suffer this fate. If it were a completely original vehicle that received a Concours restoration, the potential value would be north of $400,000. However, even a faithful refurbishment utilizing the correct parts would see it fall short of that figure due to the loss of its numbers-matching mechanical components. That begs the question: Would someone tackle that type of build? Or has this car’s fate been sealed as a parts car or a relatively expensive piece of Man Cave art? It will be fascinating to gauge your opinions.
This has got to be the Barn Finds record for most outrageously priced junk. Ferrari or not, this is a parts car on its best day.
All I can think about right now is…… How on earth could such an expensive exoctic car get reduced to this??? I can understand if it was in an accident but I dont think this was. But I could be wrong. Theres virtually nothing left. Not even a whole body shell. It looks like it was a parts car for someone. What a shame.
Bare Exotic: 1960 Ferrari 250 GT/E — where?
So to be clear these 250GTE and 330GT 2+2 bodies (and related bits) come up as you see here because the original frame, drivetrain and importantly the VIN have been harvested to build a Ferrari-based 250GTO, California Spyder, TR or other “rebody.”
This has occurred since the 80’s when these 2+2s were a few thousand for a project and maybe $10k for a nice driver but the more rare and desirable GTOs, TRs and Spyders were $75k and more.
Fast-forward to today, the 250GTEs are in the $450K range, 330GT 2+2s are $200k-plus and the GTOs and TRs are fetching $50 million and more. And the California Spyders are in the range of $10 million.
So..for some, and businesses like Norwood in Texas are built on this, these 2+2 cars are still being used as donors for rebodies.
Some Ferraristi think this is an abomination and these are Frankenstein “non-cars,” some just see them as rebodied cars but still “real” (heck the Ferrari factory often rebodied cars and sold them off–once such GTO just sold at auction for record millions) and so the debate continues.
But, back to the potential buyer of this body; the chances of finding another GTE frame are close to impossible (again, the frames are in demand for more pricey rebodies), so a new one must be fabricated and that’s not even getting into sourcing a drivetrain, interior and all the trim.
One of these cast-off bodies was built into a Chevy-powered hotrod but that’s not everyone’s cup of tea:
https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1112139_the-chevy-v-8-powered-ferrari-250-gte-is-for-sale
I can only think at some point, it was a theft & strip, and this is what’s left, hence no title
What you see here is what’s left after someone cannibalized it for a GTO recreation. You have to remember that just a few years ago these cars were worth NOTHING…especially when compared to a GTO. Many GTE’s were sacrificed to make GTO recreations.
The VIN & Title will now be clothed in bodywork resembling one of the most valuable cars on the planet.
Pretty sure this is the one out of Texas that was sold at a guys Estate sale….it went for crazy money then….have a picture somewhere with me beside it.
This has got to be the Barn Finds record for most outrageously priced junk. Ferrari or not, this is a parts car on its best day.
Driveinstyle, how this can happen is because perhaps out there somewhere is a 250GT SWB clone that someone may or may not know it’s origin.
Or even a GTO!
You can’t say it’s non matching numbers. With no vin who’s to say you didn’t find the original drivetrain once you source one? (Tongue in cheek)😂. Props to whoever saved this mess for all these decades. I’m thinking their asking price is only to try and recover storage fees.
I dunno, those rust bucket wadded up 356’s are less of a car than this. I can see making a bar out of the front dog house…love seat out of the trunk…
You can make a car out of this, but you’d be a fool to put the money it would take to make it back into a Ferrari.
My exact thought was you could make it into a cool bar
What you see are the leftovers from a build. Get a frame running gear and vin and build a race car.
Cosmetically restore it on a different frame, drop in a sbc, and make the purists crazy.
Or a Monster Truck 4×4 with a Cummins diesel and spin donuts and ruts on the grass at Pebble Beach . Rollin’ Coal !
If I ever won the Power Ball? I would definitely pay someone to do exactly that! Except you’d have to have an EMS crew follow you, with a couple defibrillators on hand.
Back in the late 80’s Ferrari prices skyrocketed and many of the lesser valued ones were sourced for the VIN numbers to create replicas. This may be the remains of one. Far too gone for any attempt at a restoration, as this model is still on the low end of values. Maybe drop the remaining body panels on a wrecked Tesla chassis.
It will buff right out!
Obviously back when this car was chopped up, old Ferrari’s were not valuable. I’ll bet it wasn’t cut up in the last 25 years when the values of these started going up. I wonder if it still has a vin on it. With the vin, someone might be able to track down the rest of the car and put it all back together; or at a minimum, piece together a history on the car.
$9500?….rotflmao.
My son got a 3D printer for Christmas. If I buy the Ferrari, he could print out ALL a of the missing Parts.😀
The $9,500 is just the down payment on the $9.5 million minimum, you’ll need to complete it
Or a Monster Truck 4×4 with a Cummins diesel and spin donuts and ruts on the grass at Pebble Beach . Rollin’ Coal !
Pretty sure this was a parts car that was cannibalized in the 80s to build a GTO replica or something like that. There was a time when these could be had in running condition for well under $50k, when more desirable Ferraris were selling in the millions.
In 1989 I was offered a 250 GT/E in good condition for $10,000. And even then it wasn’t a steal.
Does it even run?
No title…no vin…no way.
Can’t even track down….anything.
Will need a nurse tank until you can get a new fuel cell
This is a donor for a Testarossa clone or similar. These cars were pretty unloved and cheap for some time and back then these conversions probably made financial sense. I once visited a Ferrari collector and he had one of these 250 GTE coupes on a rolling stand with all the mechanicals missing (otherwise complete and fairly nice). I asked him what he planned to do with it, and he said “sell it to you for $300”! Needless to say, I opened my wallet and became a Ferrari owner that day… Later I sold it to a man in Switzerland that wanted to convert it into a salad bar in his restaurant-has anyone been there to see it?
I wouldn’t be surprised if the VIN from this is running around on some other Ferrari. Can’t think of any other reason to remove the cowl except to reidentify another car.
Actually the Ferrari community is a very knowledgeable group (not counting flippers and younger people that own Ferrari’s). So there may be a computer hard drive out there with information on this very car. Whomever chopped this car may still be alive too, I’ll bet he has an interesting story to tell.
I’m sure I know exactly what happened to this car. I did various work for a coachbuilder that built many 250SWB (4 for 1 dealer), 250GTOs including 2 GTO spiders. Often there were bodies sitting out back that were complete and nicer than this. The VIN, title, drivetrain, chassis, most every mechanical part, headlight buckets etc.t that could be used from a 330, 365 or 250 to build a 250 GTO or SWB was removed from the donor. GTO in the photo is titled as and built with 330 chassis/drivetrain and the brakes that I’m working on.
THANK THE LORD THE WORD “PATINA” was not mentioned at all in the ad or the write up.!!!
or ” it’ll buff.”
If somebody needs the body panels to restore another car you might find a buyer.
damn, there is a real story in those old pieces of metal I would think ……
The owner can sell it to Gullwing or Beverly Hills, and those guys will turn around and ask $95K for it as is.
The only good GT/E is a dead GT/E. They were trash when new. Only good as engine donors for questionable restorations.
Be an interesting conversation to have with the folks at Ferrari Classiche… shouldn’t be impossible to find what the VIN was, how’s that legally all work? Seems like this car was, as pointed out, a VIN victim decades ago, and is now some form of legally registered but different model Ferrari. I guess without a chassis or engine this is just a collection of sheetmetal right? Bummer, buts that’s how it went back in the old days.
Love the Fair condition & 5 speed, is this another fake??? the guy Brad Sherk has nothing on his FB page, no info no pictures of himself or friends or posts
LOL, here is what Barn finds considers a car in Fair condition Fair. This means the vehicle has some cosmetic defects that require repairing and/or replacing.
The vehicle requires some mechanical repairs.
The paint and bodywork may require refinishing and body repair.
The engine compartment has leaks and may require repairs.
The vehicle may have some repairable rust damage.
The body has dents, chips and/or scratches.
The interior has substantial wear and may have small tears.
The wheels may be warped or bent, have major scratches, scrapes, or pitting and require replacement.
The tires may not match and need replacing.
The vehicle needs servicing, but is still in reasonable running condition with a clean title history.
A few service records are available.
is it just me, or is there just something missing from this?
Buy a front engine model, 599 or even a 400 and resto mod it, it will sell to the Ferrari crowd.
I doubt it!
I dare you to do it.
I wonder if this car were shipped back to Italy, would it be accepted? Can see them now, flipping off their chins that this is an insult.
Find a late model mustang 5.0 standard and body swap it a little stretch & nip & a tuck here and there then with both vehicles it’s titled as the mustang so for about 35 to 50+ thousand some bloody knuckles you’ve got yourself one nice ride