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The Imperial War Museum Motor Car Auction

By H&H Classics Limited

Oct 14, 2015 - Oct 15, 2015

Set Reminder 2015-10-14 07:00:00 2015-10-15 07:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : The Imperial War Museum Motor Car Auction https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/h-h/the-imperial-war-museum-motor-car-auction-958
H&H Classics Limited info@handh.co.uk

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• Lot Description

  BID ON THE-SALEROOM.COM

  
  

  Registering to Bid on the Ferrari 250 GT SWB from the Richard Colton Collection:

  - All Registrations to Bid either In Person, via Commission or on the Telephone must be made by 5pm on Tuesday 13th October 2015

  - We require passport identification and a bank reference for the total amount, including commission, which you anticipate bidding to

  - A £5,000 refundable deposit will be taken upon registering and placed in our Client Account, which will be refunded after the auction

  - Internet Bidding will not be available on either vehicle

  For further information, please contact Colette McKay on +44 (0) 1925 210035.

  H&H are indebted to Ferrari historian and author Keith Bluemel, who has recently inspected chassis 1995GT at first hand, for the following report:

  'The 1960 version of the 250 GT berlinetta was designed by Pininfarina and built at the Scaglietti works in Modena. It was first presented to the public at the 1959 Paris Salon, and bore a body style very similar to that of the late series (which are now termed "Interim" for differentiation purposes) berlinettas produced during that year, apart from the omission of the quarter window in the sail panel behind the door glass. The new model was built on a 2400mm wheelbase chassis, with factory type reference 539, and later 539/61. The designations "passo lungo" or "LWB" for the long wheelbase 2600mm chassis, and "passo corto" or "SWB" for the short wheelbase 2400mm chassis, are subsequently adopted terminology to distinguish between the two series of cars. The chassis construction followed the familiar practice of twin large oval section longitudinal members, with substantial cross bracing and a rectangular section front cross member. Suspension was independent coil spring and wishbone at the front, with a rigid rear end featuring semi elliptic leaf springs and radius arms to locate the axle, and hydraulic shock absorbers all round.

  This model was the first Ferrari production road car to be fitted with disc brakes as standard equipment, and unlike the preceding "LWB" 250 GT berlinetta series, which were all left hand drive, it was available in both left and right hand drive configurations. It was also available in two basic specifications, competition with an aluminium body, lightweight interior trim, and the engine in a higher state of tune, or in "Lusso" (luxury) road trim, when it was normally fitted with a steel body with aluminium opening panels. However, there was a great deal of overlap of the two basic specifications, dependent upon a specific client's wishes, therefore it is not unusual for some road cars to have full aluminium bodies, and/or a higher state of tune engine.

  The power unit was a further development of the original Colombo designed single overhead camshaft per bank V12 engine, with a capacity of 2953cc, via a bore and stroke of 73mm x 58.8mm, and factory type references 168B, 168, and 168 Comp/61, all with wet sump lubrication. The spark plugs were outside the vee of the block, and there was a bank of three twin choke Weber 38 DCN or 40 DCL/6 carburettors, and Solex C40 PAAI carburettors were also homologated, with a twin coil and rear of engine mounted distributors ignition system, to produce a claimed 220bhp to 280bhp, dependent upon specification. Weber 46 DCF/3 carburettors were a further homologated option, and these were used on the special 1961 competition engines, which together with bigger valves, special exhaust manifolds, and other fine tuning details, achieved the upper levels of power outputs quoted above. The engine was coupled to a four speed + reverse all synchromesh gearbox, which drove through a propeller shaft to the rigid rear axle, for which a range of ratios were available. The gearboxes of the competition cars had ribbed alloy castings, and the road cars normally had plain faced cast iron casings with a ribbed base.

  The overall design changed very little during the three year production run from 1960 to 1962. However, there are a number of detail differences that identify the period of production of a specific car. Visually they related to things like the addition of front and rear wing vents, the shape of the door window glass, the location of the fuel filler, size and shape of the radiator grille and myriad smaller details.

  In competition the 250 GT "SWB" berlinettas continued the run of success of the preceding "LWB" models, with three consecutive wins in the Tour de France Auto between 1960-62, winning the Tourist Trophy at Goodwood in 1960 and 1961, winning the GT category at Le Mans in 1960 and 1961, and in the Nurburgring 1000km in 1961 and 1962. These were just a few of the numerous class and overall wins achieved during its reign as the queen of the GT category.

  Chassis # 1995 GT was the second of only nine right hand drive versions of the 250 GT SWB Berlinetta imported into the UK by Maranello Concessionaires Ltd, and was ordered by them, unsurprisingly, on their order # 2 from the factory in March 1960. The invoice details to the original purchaser indicate that it was supplied in Racing Red, with a red leather interior, red carpets, a steel body, 3.77 rear axle ratio, Dunlop RS4 tyres and a limited slip differential. From the factory build sheets the engine was to semi-competition specification with a 9.5:1 compression ratio, 10mm lift camshafts, triple Weber 40 DCL6 carburettors with intake trumpets and cold air box, rather than an air filter box, and an Abarth completion exhaust system. The factory engine test sheet shows that it produced 252bhp when new on their dynamometer, verifying that it had some competition components in the engine.

  It was collected from the factory by a Mr R.E. Horning, the manager of Sea Corner Garage, Highcliffe, Hampshire, and transported to the UK on the Milan-Ostend sleeper train on 18 September 1960. He had collected the car on behalf of the new owner, the proprietor of Sea Corner Garage, a Mr E.R.W. Eyre, and upon its arrival in the UK was road registered on UK licence plate WRU 1. The invoice price to the client was £6,376-2s-6d, less a 10% discount, giving a sales figure of £5,926-2s-6d, in pre-decimal currency days.

  It is not known how long he retained the car, nor how long it was retained by subsequent owners, who included a Mr K. Wilson, a Mr G. Sinclair, Mr Brian Classic, Mr John Broad, Mr David Mulvaney and Mr David Brook, before being purchased by Richard Colton from Maranello Concessionaires Ltd in March 1976, when it is reported to have just had an engine rebuild by Graypaul Motors Ltd, and was showing 49,000 miles on the odometer. The car was owned by him for nearly 40 years, up to the time of his passing in March 2015.

  The car is no concours queen, but being the second of only nine RHD examples of the model originally imported into the UK, and having had a single owner for such a lengthy period of time, it has great provenance. In Richard Colton's own words "The car has never been "restored", but has always been well maintained on an "as necessary" basis. When you have had a car for so long you know all the things that need doing and you do them when they need doing." Between the time of him buying the car with 49,000 miles on the clock, and 2008 when it had 99,999 recorded miles, he clocked up over 50,000 miles, not only in general road use, but attending rallies and gatherings all over Europe, including Ferrari's 50th anniversary celebrations in the car's birthplace, Maranello, Italy, in 1997. The odometer currently reads 01805, so it has clearly not done many miles in the recent past.

   

  Click here for the full description.

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  • Hammer Price	Premium (%)
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