Enzo Ferrari recognized the need to fund his racing efforts with a line of a premium performance-oriented road and grand touring cars. Additionally, he understood that the success on the world's racing circuit would lead to more sales of road-going cars. The first foray in the grand touring segment was the 166 Inter, which was essentially a racing car with a coachbuilt, custom-ordered body. The long-wheelbase 250 GT car, however, was the company's first true grand touring car of volume. Wearing a design by Pinin Farina, the Ferrari 250 Europa GT made its debut at the 1954 Paris Motor Show. Nearly all the Ferrari 250s received the lightweight, Gioacchino Colombo-designed V-12 engine, which had begun its life as a racing engine.
Pinin Farina was unable to keep pace with the swept-back Europa GT beyond the first few prototypes, so Ferrari turned to Carrozzeria Boano, founded by Mario Felice Boano and his son, Gian Paolo, after they departed design house Ghia. Boano had purchased Ghia after the death of the firm's founder in 1944. The carrozzeria bearing his own name was founded in 1956 and was co-manged by his son.
After proving their abilities with a one-off 250 GT Cabriolet completed in 1956 and shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 1956 (along with a similarly designed 410 Super America and a Pinin Farina built coupe), the job was officially theirs and more than five dozen 250 GTs followed. Boano essentially left the Pinin Farina design intact, except for lowering the wing line. Both steel and aluminum-bodied 250 GT Boano coupes were built.
In 1957, Mario Felice Boano accepted an offer to head up Fiat's design department. Once again, production was transferred, this time it went to Boano employee Ezio Ellena, who formed Carrozzeria Ellena. Five examples were built nearly identical to Boano's designs, while the remaining 45 examples had an elevated roofline.
Boano would build approximately 88 examples of the 250 GT coupe through late 1957. by Daniel Vaughan | Aug 2019
Related Reading : Ferrari 250 GT Boano History
The Boano and Ellena coupes of the late 1950s are considered the first series-built Grand Touring cars produced by Ferrari. These 250GT-based cars were designed by Pinin Farina and made their debut at the March 1956 Geneva Auto Show. The first 250GT completed was chassis number 0429GT. Pinin Farin did not have the capacity for series production at the time, and after just eight units were produced.... Continue Reading >>
Related Reading : Ferrari 250 GT History
Production of the 250 Series began in 1954 and continued on through the early part of the 1960s. There were numerous variations of the 250 and would ultimately become Ferraris most successful line of vehicles to date. The 250 is also recognized as the first Ferrari to ever receive disc brakes. This did not take place until the end of the 1950s. Also, the 250 was the first four-seater. Ferraris.... Continue Reading >>
At the 1956 Geneva Motor Show, Pinin Farina unveiled a prototype built on a 250 Europa GT chassis. The new body made the car look longer than the Europa, with a crisp beltline and only a small notch in front of the rear wing. The grille was lower a....[continue reading]
At the 1956 Geneva Auto Show, The 250 Ferrari GT Coupe with coachwork by Pinin Farina was presented to the public. Carrozzeria Boano built the bodies for Ferrari at their factory in Brescia. The new GT shared the same 2600mm wheelbase and aluminum al....[continue reading]
The 250 Europea GT was Ferrari's first true production model and made its debut at the 1954 Paris Motor Show. The bodies were built by Pinin Farina who quickly found themselves struggling to keep up with orders. To alleviate the pressure on Pinin Far....[continue reading]
This Ferrari has a type 508 chassis that is shared with a 250 Europa GT. The engine is from the original Colombo series V-12 'inside-plug' engine (tipo 112) that was first installed in the Europa GT model. The engine is essentially a lightly detuned ....[continue reading]
This is a steel-bodied 250 GT Boano, chassis number 0625 GT. It was sold new in 1956 to Ettore Contini in Italy. A year later, ownership was transferred to Swedish Ferrari importer. By the summer of 1965, it had passed into the care of Swede Bjorn Co....[continue reading]
This Ferrari 250 GT Low Roof Coupe was built by Mario Boano for Ferrari and raced only once at Caracas, Venezuela, in 1956. It is one of 17 alloy bodied 250 GT Boano's built in 1956 and was delivered to Mario Pasquini Raspolli direct from the Ferrari....[continue reading]
Around 64 examples of the low-roof Boanos were created before the production facility was passed to Mario-Felice Boano's son-in-law, Ezio Ellena. The vehicles that followed, approximately 50 examples, are known as 'Ellenas'.....[continue reading]
There were 63 'Boano' produced and characterized by their low roof line. These were built by Carrozzeria Boano. By the close of 1957 Mario Boano left his company to his son-in-law Ezio Ellena who took over with old partner Luciano Pollo. Boano left t....[continue reading]
- May 1956 Factory completion date - May 6, 1956 Certificate of orgin issued - August 20, 156 Sold by Ferrari to first owner Giuliana Guerrazzi, residing in Torino, Italy. The price paid was Italian Lire 5,500,000. (Guerrazzi was the mother of ....[continue reading]
First seen at the Paris Auto Show in 1954, the 250 GT Coupe was Ferrari's first production model specifically designed for the road. This 250 GT, completed in 1955, was delivered to the newly formed Carrozzeria Boano in Grugliasco just outside Turin.....[continue reading]
There were between 68 to 80 Boano-bodied Ferrari GT Coupes produced, including the prototypes and pre-production cars. However, it is known that 14 examples were all-alloy bodied cars, including this Boano bodied car with chassis number 0613 GT. It i....[continue reading]
The Pinin Farina-designed Ferrari 250 Europa GT debuted at the 1954 Paris Motor Show, where it officially launched spec car builder Ferrari into the world of low volume production cars. The demand for the 250 GT came so feverishly that Pinin Farina c....[continue reading]
These three cars showcase Ferraris lineage of competition GT cars. Selections include the 1966 Ferrari 275 GTBC, the 1959 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France, and the 1950 Ferrari 166 MM195 S Berlinetta Le Mans.
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