One of the greatest-looking Ferraris of all time
If you’re restoring a car, the thing you want most is for it to be as good when it’s done as it was when it left the factory. Especially when it’s a car like this. A Ferrari 275 GTB/C with a history. Like finishing second-in-class at Le Mans. What better way to achieve that then to send it back to the factory for that restoration. Like the owner of this car did.
The 275 cars arrived in 1964. Some of the greatest-looking Ferraris of all time. Of course, since this was a Ferrari, the automaker took the 275 racing. With a series of competition versions called, well, Competizione. For 1966, the prancing horse built 12 lightweight cars. It looked the same, but every panel was different. Thinner, modified, and lighter. Panels so thin that you couldn’t even lean on them. The cars were fitted with a 250 LM-spec 3.3L V12 with three carbs and around 280 hp.
This was one of the 12.
Wearing number 57, and entered by the Ecurie Francorchamps, this car was entered in the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Official Ferrari Magazine, which documented the restoration, says that the car wasn’t quite ready for prime time during the race. It was, after all, finished just four days before the event. Modifications were made throughout the race, including increasing the number of holes in the body to improve cooling as well as adding fog lights.
Despite that, the car finished well. 2nd in class and 10th overall. That meant that the car was well photographed. Something that the Ferrari Classiche department would need to complete this restoration.
After Le Mans, this car kept racing. Including a crash at the Nürburgring just weeks later. There, it was fixed back to original and repainted.
Over the decades, more changes were made. Along with more paint jobs. So when it arrived at the Classiche in-house restoration center, it didn’t quite look as it should. The air intakes were mismatched and in different orientations, there was an added oil recovery tank in the wrong place, the brakes, steering wheel, and interior were all wrong. There were even extra shock absorbers.
Another advantage of an in-house restoration is access to factory build sheets. The ID plaque in this car was wrong. But Ferrari Classiche knew where to get the correct information.
Which is why this stunning 275 is now back in the original Giallo Fly yellow paint that it wore when it left Maranello the first time. Everything the way it should be. Which, when there are only 11 other examples, is wonderful to see.
All photos courtesy of Ferrari magazine
Keyword: Ferrari Restores Stunning Le Mans-Raced 275 GTB/C