I know that vintage Ferraris don’t get the stats here that old semi trucks do, but every once in a while, it’s good to glimpse into another world, where Ferraris where still mere mortals with attendant shortcomings. That made reviews of them more interesting than the endless gushings of someone trying to describe the experience of a new one, since they’ve all been absolutely perfect now for at least 20 years, or damn near close to that. Despite its few remaining imperfections, this 275 GTS was dubbed “The Most Satisfying Sports Car In The World”.
This is a rather unusual Ferrari too, as it was made specifically for its North American importer (“NART”), who was adamant about having a roadster version of that superlative coupe, the 275 GTB/GTS. It’s the Ferrari version of the Porsche Speedster.
For a couple of years in the late 70s my brother and I had an apartment in the Rosedale neighbourhood of Toronto. It is an older and very wealthy part of the city. To go north from the apartment I had to pass though some of the lesser travelled streets. There were many expensive cars, but one house often had a red Ferrari 2 seat convertible parked in the drive. I don’t know the exact model, but it was probably a Ferrari 250 GT, the predecessor to this car. It was such a beautiful car, but not ostentatious. At that time it was probably 15 to 20 years old, and it certainly seemed to be used regularly, given how often I saw it in the drive with the top down, instead of in the garage.
Achingly beautiful.
To think that they were actually driven back then. Today, it’s on an enclosed trailer to Pebble Beach, shown, then trailered back to the climate controlled garage (which probably doubles as a living room extension).
And this one was raced!
They have become such an art piece – and for aesthetics alone, they are in that way most worthy – that the driving excellence of them has drifted into the realm of the forgotten. As Syke (partly) said, to think these were once cars, on the road for moving about the place! It is good to hear from the 1967 R&T that they drove with an aplomb to match the mystique of today.
I have long believed that things like, say, a Bugatti Atlantique SHOULD have Picasso-type prices, if a Picasso is going to have Picasso prices, and for the same reasons, namely, the uniqueness and perfection of an idea. I note that just this week the Mercedes 300SLR coupe sold for $120million, which it should have. Such things are art, and captured history, and deserve no distinction from the objects traditionally revered as such. (The morality of such spends and the avarice and vanity and so on involved in the entire world of the rich and art dealing is a whole ‘nother thing, save to say that if I were amongst the super-rich, I suspect I WOULD pay the price for my Atlantique or SLR. But then, if were such a person, I greatly doubt I would be the same person, and I am anyway digressing).
I have a bit of hesitation in saying the same of a car like this, which is worth awkwardly large amounts right now. Produced in some numbers, isn’t it really like buying a limited print? I’ve never understood limited prints – a copy is a copy is a copy, surely?
To be clear, I would of course not refuse the gift of this sweet, sweet sculpture if it were offered, and I’d drive it as the design intended.
God, who here wouldn’t?!