![]() RongĮarlier this year, a 275 GTB/4 sold at Bonhams for a record, $3 million, the highest anyone's ever paid for such a car. When the four-cam engine debuted, the 275 saw a corresponding facelift. Just be careful not to hit a bump mid-corner or it really will spit you out." One contemporary review: "Hit the tightest horseshoe corner at a decent lick and it can become hard work to keep that long nose tucked in but, as the car starts to wash away across the track, you can bring it back into line using the responsive foot-long-but barely more than an inch wide-organ throttle. "I swear," said Jason Barlow of Top Gear, "you can feel every single one of them saddling up and charging off." The Lamborghini Miura could do 170 mph, but the classically styled 275 could hit 160 mph-who needed to win the top speed war, anyway? In 1965, Autosport deemed it "close to perfection." Road & Track called it "the most satisfying sports car in the world."īy all accounts, it even handled pretty well. Pininfarina redesigned the body to match this new engine 300 hundred hp, nearly 100 per liter. The /4 is what makes this car special: four cams for the high-strung 3.3-liter V12, six Weber carburetors, a dry sump that necessitated 17 quarts of oil. Sergio Pininfarina claimed that his designers turned to the 250 GTO for inspiration, and the haunches and tail speak volumes about that. Compared to the earlier 250s, the 275 is a little pudgy, but it still evokes a maturity in its long, subtle lines. The 275 GTB/4 is much smaller than you think the photos make it look larger than life-so low to the ground it's a vacuum cleaner, a curvaceous little thing, but just one big curve stretched taut across its flanks. Mister Anonymous Race Car Driver took it to Ferrari in 2010 for a full restoration, and the Classiche department-paint at the ready, certificates of authenticity in hand-finally put the roof back.įerrari restored this car in 2010, and displayed it in its museum in 2013. The car eventually wound its way into the hands of a famous race car driver who prefers to remain anonymous. This happened sometime in the 1980s, of course there was no accounting for the tornado of questionable taste which defined that decade. It changed hands a couple of more times after that, and along the way some ignominious fool-envious of McQueen's blue Spider, perhaps-cut the roof off in a NART conversion. Regardless, both Ferraris were gone by the end of the year-the NART went quietly to a Californian collector, but the coupe sold to fellow actor Guy Williams, who famously played Zorro in the television series. McQueen, of course, had no objections to Jaguar ownership. We were at the mega-cool office and showroom of RM Auctions, in Culver City-exposed beams, heavy midcentury desks, a bomb hanging from the ceiling-when we heard a story about this: Right after McQueen got back his newly-repaired NART Spider, he drove it to the studio and the security guard said, "How're you doing, Steve? Why, that's a nice Jaguar you got there!" McQueen sold both of his Ferrari 275s in 1971, right before he made Le Mans, pledging allegiance to the Porsche. Steve McQueen with Neile Adams, leaning against his Ferrari 275. The driver's side mirror was streamlined, a retractable radio antenna added, Borrani wheels from his NART installed-the GTB/4 was the first Ferrari to swear off wire wheels-and seats reupholstered by Tony Nancy, who had done the same for the Jaguar XKSS. It's not the straight-up Ferrari red, but it is instead deep and luscious, capable of changing its mood from dark red to a classic brightness coincidentally, it also pops up on a few Volkswagen buses. ![]() Brown, who prepared most of McQueen's cars (including the ones used in "Bullitt") painted it a subtler chianti red. ![]() In this case, the car was delivered to Neumann in an airy shade of nocciola, Ferrari parlance for metallic gold-a shade resembling toddler effluvia barely worthy of Brown Car Appreciation. McQueen parked it at a gas station in the Pacific Palisades, then promptly ordered another one-a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 coupe, delivered to Hollywood Sports Cars, the first Ferrari dealer in America.Īs with his Jaguar, McQueen had a knack for winding up with cars in colors he didn't like. (Some say he crashed first, into the car in front some say he was rear-ended.) The car was nearly totaled, hit with such force that both doors bent outwards. McQueen had been cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway when a pair of guys in a truck, their attentions turned toward some ladies, drove into the back of him. Why the SF90 Stradale Is the Greatest Ferrari Ever. ![]()
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