While the prospect of finishing someone else’s one-off project is daunting, there are some efforts that look so valiant you almost feel obligated to bring it across the finish line. This is a Ferrari 250 GT SWB recreation that uses a body that the seller found in Italy and speculates is a “…exchange/remanufactured aluminum-made one back in the days as a replacement body.” That would be fairly incredible if true, especially since the builder has gone through the effort to mount the body on a shortened chassis taken from a Ferrari 400GT. The engine comes from the same car and as a result, it also comes with a title from the 4ooGT’s home state of New Jersey. Find the unfinished project here on Barn Finds Classifieds.
Wow – when you see projects like these stripped down to the beginning stages, it becomes very clear how much work is involved just to get it to this point. And there’s still years’ worth of work yet to be done! What I’m unclear on is what to call this: is it a recreation? Or is it more than that if the body was actually built in-period as a “kit” of sorts with all the replacement panels necessary to rebuild a car that was otherwise totaled? I’m not sure how a Ferrari collector would evaluate the integrity of a build like this, but it’s certainly going to be a far more affordable point of entry into 250 SWB ownership. The seller notes that the “….subframe skeleton body shape has been re-done to suit body lines and semi-welded together with lots of hours required following the curvatures of the aluminum body.”
Quite a bit of work has already been done to attach the body panels and install the engine. The engine is said to have good compression and comes with a starter motor. A 5-speed manual that goes with this 400GT engine is included but it doesn’t sound like it’s been installed. Some other major parts are included but others are not; for instance, there is no steering box but it will come with all arms springs, shocks, and hubs, and rides on new tires that are mounted on “dummy” steel wheels to determine final offsets before building a set of custom wire wheels that match what the original 250 came with. Still, as you can see – even with all the work done – there is much more yet to do.
As the seller notes, some body panels still need to be made, including the doors. It does come with door handles and hinges, thankfully, but finding a craftsman to form the door skins will be a major undertaking. And while a trunk lid panel is included, the seller admits that it still needs to be formed to ensure there are no gaps where it meets the body. A new custom left-hand drive dash panel is included, along with front glass, Marchal headlights, and the must-have hood scoop just like the original car. This build is truly impressive and will be stunning once complete, but you’ll need deep pockets and plenty of bandwidth to get it across the finish line.
Great craftmanship indeed! Out of my time and price range but this is something I would have tackled a few years ago. Nice.
I have read through the ad 3 times, don’t see a price?
I looked everywhere and couldn’t find it, either. I’d love to know how much it is!
Ditto. Ad says “The price listed is USD, however, some negotiation can be discussed” ???
Anyone figure out the “price”.. it’s a mystery!!..
Beautiful starting point. Replacement or repro – having it made of aluminum is going to add credibility to the end result. However, the doors are going to a big problem. It will need a special steward going forward. I wish them the best.
Unless the new owner has the specific abilities to create exact copies of early Ferrari body panels and entire door assemblies, I would suggest they consider sending the car to one of the better restoration shops in Poland. That country has some of the best “old world” craftsmen who do high quality restoration for a fraction of what it costs in the rest of Europe and north America. I know someone who had a rare 1934 Tatra T-77 restored in Poland, and it looks “as new”.
I suspect that these never used body panels were either made for a similar car that had been totaled, and later rebodied with a newer style body, or a talented craftsman used the original Scaglietti wood body bucks to create another set for a still-born project.
Then again, as so many of these SWB cars were raced, perhaps a well-funded racing program ordered an extra set of alloy body panels to speed up repairs between races, should the race car be in a major accident. This would also explain why there are no doors included; while it’s easy to replace a fender or hood, a damaged door would have been more of a long term repair due to it’s complexity.
As someone who owned a 1963 Ferrari LWB 2+2 five decades ago when no one wanted a 4 place Ferrari, had these panels been available to me back then, my Ferrari might have magically lost 200mm in chassis length!
Bill – I have heard of the Polish connection, but with the currency problems and experience building the Bugatti replica, wouldn’t Argentina be worth checking? I cannot recall the company name. I, too, recall when Ferrari’s were just another – albeit expensive and rare – used car. I have repeated ad nauseum my experience trying to raise $20k to buy a 365 in 1979. Probably good I didn’t get it. I no longer recognize the business I grew up in and spent 40 years toiling at every job known. But, I don’t get Hummel plates or Thomas Kincade paintings, either.
Yes the Argentinian out fit is called PURSANG and mostly Specialized in Bugattis.
The Polish out fit I think works or is owned by Kirkham motorsports that do the Cobras bodies for him.
Both old school . Should check them out on YouTube , interesting stuff.
While I forget the name (could be looked up on-line), there is an outfit in England that can custom-make ANYTHING for a real Ferrari of this era. Given this simple reality, they have branched out into making custom “real” Ferrari reproductions…lacking only an original Ferrari VIN. They would seem like ideal candidates to custom fabricate anything needed. This outfit can even manufacture complete Colombo engines from scratch!
GTO Engineering?
The word is clone.
I think to be a clone it’d have to be all 250 parts not 400 drive train.
Rebodied = Ferrari ID plate, chassis and more modified with a different fitted body.
There were several 250 SWB and 250 GTO rebodied on other chassis not far from here. The last one I worked on was GTO on a 330 chassis with the 330 drive train. I think it was titled as a 330GT.
I have a bunch of the period aftermarket taillamps for the SWBs and GTOs.
I would imagine a clone–while more accurate–would in this case be less valuable. A perfect clone, while only lacking a real Ferrari VIN plate, cannot make the claim of being a real Ferrari…while a less accurate real Ferrari re-body, can obviously make the claim very legitimately…like a 1965 330 that came up for sale recently, rebodied (and with a shortened chassis) to duplicate a 1952 Barchetta.
Anyone get a response yet from seller regarding price? I sent a email about 10hrs ago never got a response-
Dear All, ( NOTE FROM : SELLER /OWNER)
Thank you for your emails. I have been inundated with emails with regards to the SWB project.
I will be sending individual responses via email to all interested parties that have contacted me with more details and would appreciate your patience.
I have not set a price on Barnfinds and or listed it on EBay . To be fair I wanted to get a feel for what people are considering a fair value for this project and then we can take it from there.
It’s been overwhelming to have such interest from all over the world and I would love for the genuine buyer to be an enthusiast such as myself for this
rare Barnfind.
PLEASE MAIL TO : TONY.LUTZU @ORONTIDE.COM.AU as I travel frequently.
Regards
Tony
no thanks, but enjoy your process
Testing the waters to see what he can get. Not a clone, but not a real Ferrari either. Go for it!
I received email from seller
Sure sounds like he wants 500k US .. I always say if a seller can’t give me his price he’s a game player
Not sure if this is the case but who has time to guess what he wants
I am out
And I own a real one