Autoworld organized another brilliant temporary exhibition, this time to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Ferrari. Belgium proved to be a secret hotspot for Ferrari lovers again and again, but this time, the “75 anni di Ferrari” exhibition is organized also in collaboration with Interclassics Brussels. You may have guessed, the Interclassics exhibition will also feature the “Scuderia” in the limelight by exhibiting an impressive range of Ferraris (to be held between 18th – 20th November at the Brussels Expo area).
The exhibition also marks a second, Belgian anniversary, as 70 years ago, Belgium accommodated the official Ferrari importer for the Benelux, becoming the first Ferrari-importing country in Europe and the second in the world after the United States.
Ferrari is such an automotive icon that every single Ferrari-anniversary could be a red-letter celebration for petrolheads. We still recall Autoworld’s 2017 exhibition celebrating the 70th anniversary of the brand.
Thanks to the avid collectors gathering, showcasing magnificent vehicles bearing the iconic stallion. Just give them an excuse…
Indeed, the Ferrari story officially took off in 1947, with the first 125 S. Ferrari was a big name in racing long before, his Scuderia was the official racing team of Alfa Romeo for many years scoring many great victories. The 125 S was followed by other race cars, the 159 S and the 166 S, Corsa, MM and Sport.
As Enzo had to take care of his new company on his own, and thus he had to raise cash, by selling road-legal versions of his race cars. The 166 MM Barchetta is an essential milestone of the marque, as it is the first road-going Ferrari. We have seen some early models at various locations, but the oldest car of this exhibition was from 1949, a white 1950 Ferrari 195 Inter Ghia, that we pretty well covered during this year’s Antwerp Concours. This car was powered by a 2.0 V12 (no mistake here), and could reach a speed of 180 kph. Here we jump to another podium to stay in the timeline.
With increasing demand, Enzo also revived the legendary prewar tradition of tailor-made cars. Some of the most prestigious Italian coachbuilders and designers ventured to create unique models. Vignale, Ghia, Touring and Pininfarina made sure, that hardly any two Ferraris are alike from these early years. This is best illustrated in this exhibition with a brilliant selection of the ’50s and ’60s models, with rarities like the Boano and Drogo versions.
The 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Boano was called to life by the success of the 250 series. As a result, Pininfarina had a hard time catching up with demand, and a few dozen cars were built at Boano with tailor-made bodywork. For more photos, again, we recommend visiting the Antwerp Concours report.
The 1960 Ferrari 250 GT Coupé Pininfarina Series II was made for Prince Charles (the Belgian regent, not the British royalty). HRH Prince Charles of Belgium had many names, though he was far from a secret agent. He also bore the title Karel, Count of Flanders, and for a short while during WW II, he was given the covert name of General du Boc in the British Army. As brother of Belgium’s King Leopold III, he was not expected to take the throne, but he was declared Regent from 1944 to 1950, when King Leopold’s role in WWII was cleared. Not being Belgian, I am happy to draft this article, already for the quick history lesson I had to dig up.
The next red car is a bit tricky. One would think it’s the iconic California, but it is actually a 1960 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Pininfarina Spider, a 250 GT, later converted into a cabriolet.
The California Spyder is reputed to be “one of the most beautiful of the Ferrari cars and one of the most gorgeous convertibles in the history of the automobile”. Here we quote the press material, but suffice to say, the California versions score really well at actions, even by classic Ferrari standards.
There is a lot to admire from this epoch as we approach the next car, a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France. This car spent its early years as a race car participating in alpine hillclimb races. The TdF versions are among our personal favourite Ferraris of all time. Each car was a bit different, but this is undoubtedly the most elegant of them all.
1965 250 GT Drogo is a heavily modified 1960 250 GT Pininfarina, partly inspired by the 250GTO Le Mans homologation cars.
The ‘60s are crucial years for the marque. In 1960, the Ferrari 250 GTE was the first Ferrari to be produced in series, and Ferrari became a public limited company (SEFAC). The finances did not keep up with the company’s racing pedigree and grand tourer prowess, and in 1969, Enzo Ferrari sold 50% of the PLC’s shares to Gianni Agnelli, CEO of the Fiat group. These years are illustrated with several models.
The blue 1964 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 is an embodiment of the traditional Ferrari virtues, but nothing illustrates better the lavish ’60 than the golden 1965 Ferrari 500 Superfast owned by Peter Sellers.
The highly successful comedic actor was a recurring customer of Enzo Ferrari and this car stood for the excess that characterized him throughout his life beyond the silver screen, that was more drama and tragedy than comedy. We are still unsure if we should envy him more for his cars or his affairs. The Superfast made no empty promises, its 5-litre V12 could bring up to speeds as fast as 280 kph. The model was developed for the American market, and some 36 specimens were produced (a green one is in the Louwman Collection).
The seventies marked the end of coachbuilding, as the modern chassis no longer allowed tailor-made bodyworks (though Alfa Romeo tried with the 1900 series).
This decade brought the experiment with the Dino sub-brand, a pet project of Enzo’s highly talented son Dino, who died tragically young. Back then, Enzo did not want to see his name on a car with a six or eight-cylinder engine. Later the model line was integrated into the Ferrari lineup, spawning the sporty entry-level mid-engined V8 bloodline that still exists today. A 1967 Dino 206 GT marks this period. Its first owner was Eric Clapton, an iconic rockstar and long-time Ferrari collector.
Jumping to the next stage to keep up with the timeline, there is a special Daytona from the 70s. Its maiden name is 365 GTS/4, but Ferrari designations were somewhat confusing back then: the number usually referred to the engine, and thus a 250 or a 365 could mean many-many different cars, as long as they used that engine.
This 1969 Ferrari Daytona was competing with the mid-engined newcomers, and these years also marked the fierce rivalry with Ferrucio Lamborghini and his raging bulls. This specimen is a rare open-top version, that also won this year’s Antwerp Concours.
Even more rare is the 1974 Daytona NART Spyder with a bespoke design by Michelotti. Designed by Italian star designer Michelotti, this car started its life as a 365 GTB/4 Daytona Coupe in the US. Following an accident, it was sent to Carrozzeria Michelotti Torino to be reconstructed as Michelotti NART Spider, according to US requirements (the massive bumpers were obviously removed since then). Last year’s Zoute Concours offered an excellent opportunity to photograph this car inside out. The novelty here is the sight of the textile top with the roof closed.
The next car is a red 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB with Alloy bodywork. This car is one of our all-time favourite, they are all traded for millions (as in over 5 million easily). The only, thing that surprised us, was that we never saw this car, while we encountered 3 different ones at the Belgian autumn Concours events.
You might think that the blue 1969 Ferrari 365 GTC 2+2 did not fit very well in our photos. It was thanks to its nearly 5 metres length, filling any pictures and also earning it the nickname Queen Mary.
Back to the timeline, the exhibition features the essentials from the ‘80, including the Testarossa with its unmistakable lining. The 1992 Ferrari F40 market the end of Enzo’s leadership, as the very last model that was still developed under the watchful eyes of the “Commendatore”.
After Enzo’s death, the Fiat group became the majority shareholder in 1988, but the conglomerate could not bring any improvements in sales. This downward spiral was also paired with a few dire years in F1. With drivers like Prost and Mansell, you could easily call the Scuderia the graveyard of campions.
In 2004, Agnelli appointed Luca Montezemolo to the helm. He had been a former assistant of Enzo Ferrari and brought back the Scuderia to the championship game with Niki Lauda.
This time he accomplished a similar miracle with the car company, with new, more competitive models in each “bloodline”. Within a few years, he was swiftly increasing turnover and the company became so sturdy, that Fiat decided to let it go from the corporate structure and capitalize itself with an IPO in 2015.
Technically, Ferrari is no longer a part of the Fiat group since the beginning of 2016, but a minority owner (with the Agnelli family’s investment fund and Piero Ferrari having extended voting rights). Unfortunately, Mr Montezemolo has been removed from the leadership by the power-hungry Agnelli grandchildren, but company still walks the path laid out by him. The company maintains distinct “bloodlines” of certain cars, and a 488 is the same racy mid-engined sportscar, that was first introduced with the 308 (to some extent already with the Dino 206).
The 812 Superfast is not just a worthy successor to the old 500 Superfast, but follows the same bloodline of V12 grantourismos that you could acquire with the 166 Inter in the late ‘40s.
Ferrari has been offering a hypercar almost continuously since the 288 GTO of the 80s (there was a truly excellent Hypercar exhibition in Maranello a few years ago about hypercars). In fact, Ferrari’s very first cars were such road-legal race cars.
Almost forgot, never leave Autoworld without a tour of the gallery, as the museum always finds a corner for a new temporary exhibition. The race car segment is almost like a revolving door, where you will find new cars every month. This time, a special exhibition was dedicated to Belgian designers.
