Page 1 of 1 By the early 1960s Pininfarina had evolved from being a custom coach-builder in the classic sense to cater to companies like Ferrari as a designer and manufacturer of standardised coachwork. Fortunately, the roots had not been forgotten and the Turin-based carrozzeria still welcomed commissions from individual customers and also produced one-off show cars. One of these was a Ferrari 250 GT based machine first shown at the 1961 London Motor Show.
Initially the show car had been intended to be open, so Ferrari supplied Pininfarina with a 250 GT Cabriolet in rolling chassis form. This Type 508 E chassis was the latest evolution of its type and also used by the 250 GTE 2+2 Coupe. Still very conventional in its design, it was built around two tubular side members, reinforced by several cross-members. Suspension was by double wishbones and coil springs at the front and a live rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs.
The Type 128 E engine used was also very much the product of years of refinement as it could be traced all the way back to the first Ferrari V12 designed by Gioacchino Colombo back in 1946. Displacing just under three litres, the all alloy engine had powered Ferraris to successes on the race track for many years, including numerous outright and class wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In road trim, the lovely V12 produced around 240 hp. It was mated to a four-speed gearbox with overdrive.
Although intended to be an open car, the plans changed while the car was at Pininfarina where it was fitted with a unique Coupe body instead. The front half of the car reflected its 250 GT Cabriolet / GTE origins while the rear sported an altogether aerodynamic tail also used for the 400 SuperAmerica Aerodinamica recently introduced by Pininfarina. It was finished in an understated light metallic blue and flown to London along with a 250 GT SWB and a 250 GTE.
While this 250 GT Coupe Speciale combined styling cues from several Ferrari models, it remained strictly a one-off. Pininfarina did cloth other 250 GT with a similar bodies but these were all on a short wheelbase chassis. One of these was the 250 GTO prototype. Page 1 of 1
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250 GT Pininfarina Coupe Speciale
By the early 1960s Pininfarina had evolved from being a custom coach-builder in the classic sense to cater to companies like Ferrari as a designer and manufacturer of standardised coachwork. Fortunately, the roots had not been forgotten and the Turin-based carrozzeria still welcomed commissions from individual customers and also produced one-off show cars. One of these was a Ferrari 250 GT based machine first shown at the 1961 London Motor Show.