[Llarry]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

It looks like it was shod with Michelin XWX which were the de facto performance tires at the time before it was de-throned by the Pirelli P7 and the start of the low-profile tires. Yes?

Well, the road test panel says Dunlop but I know that many Ferraris were shod with XWXs at the time.

Which actually brings up an interesting point; if you have a 1960s Ferrari in wonderful condition and live where you can stretch its legs now and again, where do you find high-performance tire sizes such as 205R-14 or 205/70R-15? They are still made in very small quantities for just that purpose; I've seen posts advertising availability on Ferrarichat.com. It would be awful to re-tire a 1960s Ferrari with something modern!

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by Llarry

Well, the road test panel says Dunlop but I know that many Ferraris were shod with XWXs at the time.

That's why I asked. I could not find a thread pattern for the Dunlops.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

That's why I asked. I could not find a thread pattern for the Dunlops.

I'm a big Michelin fan in general; were I fortunate enough to own a vintage Ferrari, I'd put Michelins on without a second thought.

[Llarry]

1930 Bugatti Type 46 "La Petite Royale" Faux Cabriolet with coachwork by Gaston Grummer

The Type 46 was introduced in 1929 and featured a sohc 3 valve per cylinder head on a 5.4 liter straight eight giving 140 hp. 444 were built (of all body styles).

[Llarry]

1948 Talbot-Lago T-26 Cabriolet d'Usine

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by Llarry

1930 Bugatti Type 46 "La Petite Royale" Faux Cabriolet with coachwork by Gaston Grumman

Maybe it's the picture but I only see two pedals.

[3798j]

These two Type 57 Bugatti's drew a crowd at "The Elegance" back in 2019 (Hershey, Pa's Concours)...

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

Maybe it's the picture but I only see two pedals.

You're right. Very strange. The Type 46 had a rear transaxle but that should not make any difference.

[MADBMWX5MC]

Originally Posted by Llarry

floridaorange's posting on the Ferrari 275GTS (#1669 above) reminds me that a 275GTB coupe was introduced at the same time (1964), finally taking the mainstream Ferraris above 3 liters displacement -- to 3.3 liters -- for the first time. The open GTS was rated by Ferrari at 260 hp, whereas the 275GTB was rated at 280 hp. The cars shared the same 2400mm (94.5 inch) wheelbase and much of the mechanicals but were styled differently. The GTB had alloy wheels instead of the traditional Borrani wire wheels -- the latter could be fitted on request. The GTB also had independent rear suspension. A few GTBs were equipped with six dual-choke carburetors.

The 275GTS did not last very long in the lineup as it was replaced by a 4-liter 330GTS. The 275GTB, on the other hand, was given a dual overhead camshaft setup, six carbs and a power bump to an even 300 hp, being designated 275GTB/4. The body was almost identical with the 4-cam having a slight hood bulge.

Which leads me to a very rare and sought-after Ferrari, the 275GTS/4 NART Spider. The American importer convinced the factory to make an open version of the 4-cam coupe: 10 were built -- and all sold in the USA -- and, as you might imagine, they are collectibles of the first degree. Road & Track magazine got their hands on one -- see attached road test summary.

Massive tires...Dunlop 205R14 according to the data sheet

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

(Ferrari 275GTS photos)

R&T data for the 275GTS

[JJ 911SC]

.

[Llarry]

I earlier posted about the Ferrari 365 GT 2+2, some referred to as the "Queen Mother" due to its size. But the first Ferrari 2+2 came in 1960. (There had been some earlier custom-bodied cars with nominal rear seats, but these were few.)

In 1960 Ferrari revealed a 2+2 car in a bid for those who needed a bit more room. "A bit more" is all you got, though; the rear seat was suitable for young children but hardly roomy.

The car was based on the same 2600mm frame as the base 250GT Pininfarina Coupe and Cabriolet, but with the engine moved forward 200mm to provide more room in the cabin. The engine was the usual 3 liter V-12 with 240 hp, driving the rear wheels through a 4-speed manual gearbox with overdrive. The attached Road & Track magazine provides additional details.

The car sold well for a Ferrari, with 955 cars sold from 1960 to 1963.

By 1963, Ferrari was working on a larger V-12 and fitted the 4-liter engine to the last 50 models, calling them "330 America."

The 250GTE/330 American were replaced by the 330GT 2+2 in 1964.

[Llarry]

The next Ferrari 2+2 made its debut in early 1964. The 330GT 2+2 rode on a 2650mm wheelbase, making for more passenger room. For once, Pininfarina's styling was not a hit; the four headlight front provided unpopular. The 4-liter engine of 300 hp carried over from the 330 America.

In 1965, the front end was revised with single headlights; these proved to be more popular than the four headlight look of the Series 1 cars. In 1965, alloy wheels became standard, though the traditional Borrani wire wheels were available at extra cost and remained popular.

In 1966, the 4-speed with overdrive was replaced by a 5-speed transmission. Other running changes were the introduction of optional power steering and air conditioning; Ferraris were become civilized!

The production total of 330GT 2+2s was 1,088. The successor model was the 365 GT 2+2, which I've already covered.

[Llarry]

One more very cool (and important) Ferrari, though only 78 examples were produced from 1956 to 1959. The ancestor of the 250GT SWB, previously posted, was the long-wheelbase (2400mm/102.4 inches) 250GT Tour de France. The Tour de France was the preferred mount of the sports racer or wealthy owner who might race on weekends.

The 3-liter engine was much the same, though not quite as powerful as the SWB, at 260 hp. The tires were 6.00-16. Ferrari did not really have a production line per se at the time, so each car had its own little idiosyncrasies -- some had exposed headlights, some were covered, B pillar configurations varied from car to car.

The last attachment is a brief Sport Car Graphic data panel covering the TdF and its open counterpart, the LWB California Spider.

Edit: The 4th photo illustrates one of the perils of Ferrari. It is NOT an original 250GT Tour de France, but a lesser model -- perhaps a 250GT PF coupe -- that has been rebodied as a TdF. This is the sort of thing that happens when the real thing becomes valued in the millions. It is a nice reproduction so I'll leave it here as a cautionary note: antique collectible Ferraris are not always what they seem.

[Llarry]

I've got plenty more Ferraris to come, but in the meantime, here's an iconic car of 1920: The 1920 Stutz Model H Bearcat. Sporty!

[Llarry]

Enzo Ferrari had a son who at an early age became involved with the automaker's business. Tragically, Alfredo (Dino) Ferrari died at age 32 in 1956 and his father may never have fully recovered from the loss.

In homage to his son, Ferrari introduced a line of smaller cars with V-6 engines. The cars were badged Dino rather than Ferrari. The first of these, the 206 GT, came in 1967. It was the first mid-engine Ferrari road car and was powered by a 2-liter V-6 of 178 hp. 152 were produced in the next two years.

The 206 was succeeded by a Dino 246 model using an enlarged 2.4 liter engine of 175 hp. The 246 was a big seller for Ferrari, with 2,487 coupes and 1,274 spiders sold from 1969 to 1974. I'll attach a Road & Track road test of the 246 GTB.

The Dino V-6 was in turn replaced by a larger V-8; I'll post details of that car in the future.

[Rono63]

Enzo Ferrari had two sons. Dino, who died at age 24 and Piero from a different woman. Piero is still living and is Vice Chairman of Ferrari.

[Llarry]

The long wheelbase (250GT Tour de France) and the short wheelbase (250GT SWB) berlinettas had their counterparts in open cars. While the coupes had very different styling, the open cars -- the California spiders -- were quite similar in styling despite the 200mm difference in wheelbase. As was typical during the era, detail differences could be found in individual cars.

I do not have a magazine data panel for a California spider but the power output -- 260 hp for LWB and 280 hp for later SWB cars -- and performance should be similar to of the coupes. The LWB cars have drum brakes, where the SWB spiders got discs -- just like their coupe counterparts.

California spiders are among the most valuable collectible Ferraris and sell for millions of dollars. Parts of that equation is supply: Just 50 long wheelbase California spiders were built in 1957-60 and just 56 short wheelbase California spiders were built in 1960-63.

The last attachment is a brief Sport Car Graphic data panel covering the LWB California spider along with its close counterpart, the 250GT Tour de France berlinetta.

As in other extremely valuable Ferraris, reproductions based on "regular" Ferraris (or fakes, if you prefer) are on the market. It's simple economics: Buy not-so-rare 250GT for a million dollars, spend perhaps $100,000 turning it into a reproduction/replica/fake rare model and sell it to an unsuspecting mark for ten million. For those in the vintage Ferrari market, serial numbers are the key, although even there some shenanigans have been observed.

[Llarry]

Driving at triple-digit speeds in a mechanically-sound 50-60 year-old Ferrari has the potential to be a nerve-wracking experience due to the tires. Where does one find a new 6.00-16 bias-ply performance-rated tire? How about a 205R-14 tire?

Longstone Classic Tyres in the UK offers new tires in old sizes; there may be other sources.

longstonetyres.co.uk

[///MPhatic]

When a Civic front-end styling is superior to Porsche front-end styling...

[Llarry]

With all these classic Ferraris that I've posted, one might ask: If I won the lottery, which Ferrari would I buy?

Despite my admiration of many years for the marque, I think the answer would be "None!" To own a Ferrari is to make a bold statement to others and I'm just not that kind of person. Had I won the lottery ten years ago, perhaps I would've been tempted to add a Ferrari to my stable, but no longer.

If pressed, I would probably profess my favorite to be the Portofino-M, which was the folding-hardtop front mid-engine model (the least expensive Ferrari available, I think) from 2018 to 2023. The Portofino-M has a 3.9 liter turbo V-8 with 612 hp and listed in the USA for something like $250,000. It has recently been replaced by the Roma Spider, which -- like the 4 series BMW -- has replaced the folding hardtop with a soft top. I'm not thrilled with the styling of the new spider.

It's all academic; I enjoy my modest library of Ferrari books much as I might enjoy a selection of books on any other works of art.

And now a question for readers of this thread: Have I overachieved in all my Ferrari postings? There are still a large number of cars that I have not addressed: Testarossa of the 1980s, Daytona of the late 1960s and early 1970s etc. I have not addressed the V-8 cars at all and they are the top selling Ferraris of all time. Would anyone enjoy more?

[///MPhatic]

Post as many Ferrari's as you'd like.

This is my personal dream car; an Abu Dhabi Blu 458 with black interior and silver calipers (give me the 488 tails though), and will continue to be my dream.