Beschreibung:

PROPERTY FROM THE PATRICK S. RYAN COLLECTION The ex- Sports Cars Illustrated road test car 1959 FERRARI 250 GT LONG WHEELBASE SPYDER CALIFORNIA COACHWORK BY SCAGLIETTI Chassis No. 1203 GT Engine No. 1203 GT (Type 128D) Black with tan leather interior Engine: V12, single overhead camshaft per bank, 2,953cc., 250bhp at 7,000rpm; Gearbox: four-speed manual; Suspension: front, independent with coil springs, rear, semi-elliptic leaf springs; Brakes: four wheel drum. Left hand drive. Luigi Chinetti, the famous American Ferrari importer and driver, eventually convinced Enzo Ferrari to produce an open version of the highly successful competition 250 Berlinetta. The resultant 'Spyder California' was clearly aimed at the American market, and the first prototype was completed in December of 1957. Its mechanical specification was very similar to the 250GT Tour de France. The incredible Pinin Farina design was built by Scaglietti and provided an elegant two-seater sports car that has to this day lost none of its appeal. Following the initial series of cars, a revised second series was produced, of which only 27 examples were built, with an engine and chassis that were more akin to the 250 SWB Berlinetta. The second series cars were fitted with the improved Type 128D motor with reinforced connecting rods, an improved crankshaft and twin distributors. At the same time a revised chassis (Type 508D) was also introduced which retained the same 2.60 meter wheelbase. Some minor bodywork changes were evident such as a new profile to the rear wheel arches, and a few cars received the uncovered, open headlight arrangement. Some vehicles were also uprated with competition specification engines and a few rare examples were fully bodied in lightweight aluminum for racing purposes. Success on the racing circuits included 8th overall and first in the GT class at the 12 Hours of Sebring for Ritchie Ginther and Howard Hively in 1959. Perhaps even more impressive than this result the same year was the 5th place finish in the 24 Hours of Le Mans by Fernand Tavano and Bob Grossman in the NART entered competition spyder. Chassis no. 1203 GT was completed at the factory in late January 1959 and was we believe sold new to someone in Rome, Italy who used it with Italian plates 'Roma 678950' that effectively belonged to a Fiat 1100! After a brief spell in Rome it appears the car was sold to Luigi Chinetti Motors in New York (presumably as a new car) and it was then sold to Dr. Harvey Schur of Scarsdale, New York. Harvey Schur was clearly a tremendous Ferrari enthusiast and since he was too young to road race he used his new California Spyder in drag races! In the September 1959 Special Issue: THE FABULOUS CARS OF ENZO FERRARI of Sports Cars Illustrated , Dr. Schur loaned his car to the magazine for a double road test, the other car being a much raced Tour De France Berlinetta belonging to George Arents. Although almost inconceivable today, part of the road test of the California Spyder was conducted through Manhattan's mid town, mid-day traffic on a 90-plus degree day. Later both cars were driven up to Lime Rock Park where they were thoroughly put through their paces. As expected the writers marveled at the power and beauty of both vehicles: For one thing, the California and the Berlinetta have the most beautiful bodies this side of the Riviera. We don't know how or why, but the Italians seem to have a nearly exclusive distributorship on auto beauty . It is also interesting to note that the California was quicker in the acceleration tests up to 70mph than the TdF and at 100mph it was just 0.3 second behind. In addition it was quicker to the standing quarter mile at 15.5 seconds. It appears that Harvey Schur was highly successful at drag racing his car and when told of the timed runs he commented, he was quite disappointed in the results of our timed runs, pointing out that he has frequently bettered 14.0 seconds in the quarter-mile. In the early 1960s Schur r