1956 Ferrari 250 GT Speciale

Ferrari used the 250 designations for a succession of both road and track vehicles built from 1952 through 1964. The first road-going variant was the 250 Europa introduced at the 1953 Paris Motor Show and equipped with a 'long block' Lampredi-designed 3-liter V12 engine. All other 250 road-going versions would use the more compact 'short block' Colombo-designed V12. Twenty-two examples of the 250 Europa were built, most with Pinin Farina coachwork, prior to the introduction of the 250 Europa GT at the 1954 Paris Motor Show. This was the first 250 road car to use the Colombo engine and the first to use the Gran Turismo moniker.

At the 1956 Geneva Motor Show, Pinin Farina displayed a 250-based prototype coupe which would later be called the 250 GT Boano. The elegant design was met with overwhelming popularity and would soon enter series production. Pinin Farina was unable to meet the demand, so Mario Boano (formerly of Ghia) was tasked with building the coachwork. A total of 74 examples of the 250 GT wore coachwork by Boano before his son-in-law Ezio Ellena assumed production. Carrozzeria Ellena would build 50 coupes.

During the middle of the 250 GT Boano production, four 'Speciales' were built by Pinin Farina on the Type 513 chassis with a 102.3-inch wheelbase size. They wore Series I 410 Superamerica-style bodies and were equipped with the Type 128 Colombo 3-liter V12 engines that produced 240 horsepower. They had a four-speed manual gearbox and four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes.

by Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2021