Stirling Moss called the short-wheelbase version of the Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta “the greatest Ferrari road car, perhaps the greatest road car of any make.” Only 103 such cars were produced, and the very last of them to roll out of the Ferrari factory will be offered for sale at Artcurial Motorcars’ Retromobile sale early next year in Paris.
“Along with the Ferrari 250 GTO and the California Spider, it represents the marque’s Holy Grail,” Matthieu Lemoure, Artcurial Motorcars managing director, is quoted in a news release announcing the offering.
“The Ferrari 250 SWB is without a doubt the most beautiful berlinetta of the 20th century of any marque,” he added. “One only needs to walk around the car to appreciate – from any angle – the perfectly balanced design by Pininfarina.”
Being offered at the auction is chassis 4065, the last of the series, a 1963 left-hand-driven, steel-bodied car originally sold to an American owner but purchased in 1989 by Swiss car collector Antoine Midy, who, as Artcurial described it, “conserved (the car) alongside a California Spider, a 121 LM and a 212 barchetta.”
Midy died in 2008 and the 250 GT SWB Berlinetta is being offered for sale by his estate. Artcurial estimates it will sell for €9-million, or $9.86 million at the February 5, 2016, auction in Paris.
Just before the Christmas holidays in 2011, the VeloceToday.com website asked several experts to identify the car they most wanted a “Super Santa” to bring them. Alan Boe, Ferrari historian, writer and Cavalino magazine contributor’s response:
“As for having any car in the world, for me it would be a 250 GT SWB Berlinetta. The exact car would be s/n 4065 GT, the last SWB built.”
