Delivered in Verde Scuro with Arancio Connolly

1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4

“The unsilenced intake produced almost a pure tone like what you’d expect from a pipe organ with equal length pipes, all playing at once. We timed the Ferrari at 1min 12.3sec. When [ex-Mercedes works driver, John] Fitch came in we knew he’d have something to say.

“This is a car for the business of driving fast, there’s no doubt about it. You might call it a single-purpose car.’” Car and Driver’s group test at Lime Rock in 1968 pitted a Ferrari 275 GTB/4 against an Aston Martin DBS Vantage, Maserati Ghibli 4.7 and Lamborghini 400 GT 2+2. 

The Ferrari was comfortably two seconds a lap faster than the Ghibli, three seconds better than the Lamborghini and just under four seconds quicker than the big Aston Martin. Though the cars were “driven very close to their true potential, a slight margin was left – just in case.” 

The 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 was the logical progression of early 1960s road and racing Ferraris that included Le Mans-winning prototypes and the iconic 250 GTO. Six Weber carburettors, four camshafts, a dry sump, modern alloy wheels from supplier to Scuderia Ferrari Campagnolo – the new car had it all. Enzo Ferrari might have lost out to arch-rival Ferruccio Lamborghini in the race to build a four-cam V12, but in the 275 GTB/4 he unquestionably produced a classic. 

Just 330 were built, 1966-1968, and for bragging rights, not much beats a 275 GTB/4. 

The Ferrari 275 GTB/4

The Ferrari 275 GTB launched in 1964 at the Paris Show was built by Scaglietti and for all the world looked like a road-going version of the 250 GTO. It was sinuously aggressive, with a small spoiler incorporated into the bootlid, and wonderfully smooth, aerodynamic lines. 

Far lighter and simply more overtly sporting than the 250 GT Lusso, its 3,286cc version of Colombo’s classic V12 was both tractable and free-revving. With three Weber carburettors – the most frequent specification – it generated a claimed 280bhp at 7,600rpm. As an option, Ferrari offered six Webers, enough to boost that claim to 300bhp. 

Power was transmitted to the five-speed transaxle by a propshaft turning at engine speed. Ferrari subsequently updated the car with a fixed tunnel bridging the rear of the engine-mounted clutch and the rear axle: the ‘torque tube’. The propshaft ran within this, the tube taking the stress.

Around 450 single-cam 275 GTBs were built between 1964 and 1966, in two series. The first 250 cars had the ‘short nose.’ Later cars had a longer nose and smaller air intake. Both steel and alloy bodies were offered.

The Ferrari 275 GTB/4 was launched at the Paris Salon in October 1966 and it introduced the first-ever double-overhead-camshaft engine in a Ferrari road car. It was also dry-sumped – standard racing practice, as used in the 1966 275 GTB Competizione.

The new four-cam V12 produced 300bhp at 8,000rpm. Six Weber 40 DCN 17 carburettors came as standard and top speed was increased to 165mph. It took just 15 seconds to be travelling at 100mph from standstill. Small revisions were made to the two-cam’s chassis, and alloy wheels were standard, although some cars had Borrani alloy-rim wires from new or as a period replacement.

The four-cam looked much as the later 275 GTB ‘long-nose’ cars, except that there was now a power bulge in the bonnet. All but a handful were steel, and the car was an occasional racer on events such as the Tour de France and Italian hillclimbs. 

Grand Prix and sports car ace Jean-Pierre Beltoise tested a 275 GTB/4 for French publication l’Auto-Journal in January 1967. As part of his road test, the works Matra driver covered 46 miles in 23 minutes during Sunday traffic. This feat included time to stop at tollbooths and it was accomplished “in complete safety and comfort, without once having to use the brakes hard, and while carrying on a normal conversation with my passenger…”

His travelling companion’s comments are not recorded.

This Motor Car

Ferrari 275 GTB/4 chassis 09755 GT was completed in March 1967, had its Certificate of Origin issued on 10 April and was registered PG 112781 (Perugia) on 28 April 1967. On 9 May it was sold to its first owner, Marino Mignini. Official agent of the northern Italian city Romeo Pedini handled the transaction, issuing an invoice to the value of 6,500,000 liras.

Born 15 October 1933, Marino Mignini was an entrepreneur who built up the Ponte pasta brand and went on to develop the business further, making significant investments abroad. From 1978-1979 Ponte was the first-ever ‘shirt sponsor’ of a football team in Italy, AC Perugia. He died in March 2024 and the business is now run by his son, Mario. 

Ferrari Classiche confirms that the original specification of the car was Verde Scuro ref 20-G-186 by Salchi with an interior in Orange Connolly VM 3104 leather. The seats were ‘full leather’ and did not have contrasting panels in cloth occasionally seen on 275 GTBs; the wheels were Campagnolo alloy 7.00 x 14in with 205-series tyres. 

On 23 August 1968, Mignini sold the Ferrari to its second owner, Giuseppe Zappala. The Sicilian registered the car CT 206600 (Catania) on 5 April 1969. According to registration records kept by the Automobile Club d'Italia, the price paid was claimed to be a round 1,000,000 liras. Zappala kept the car until September 1972, having it serviced at least once (14 April 1969, 21,655km) at Ferrari Assistenza Clienti, Modena. Experienced exporter of expensive and exclusive Italian cars Dino Armando Genghini handled the sale of the car to the USA on 15 September 1972. 

By July 1979, chassis 09755 GT was still in North America and listed for sale with a Colorado telephone number. On 8 August 1981 it featured in a small ad in Ferrari Market Letter when owner Ralph V Williams of Beverly Hills, CA, was asking $60,000 for the car, “newly painted black with black interior, mechanicals done by Modena Imports”. The ad ran until 12 March 1983, when it was superseded by identical copy, this time from ex-LAPD detective Walt McCune who traded as Modena Imports in LA. He was a significant player during the explosion in classic Ferrari values in the 1980s. Later, the car was red with Borrani wire wheels and an odometer reading of 56,000.

The next documented owner was Dr José Olivencia, a surgeon from West Des Moines, Iowa, who purchased the car from McCune in 1984. It was listed in the 1984 Ferrari Owners Club USA membership roster owned by José and Beatrice Olivencia. In May 1988, still red with black, the car passed to well-known collector Lawrence T Simon of Pennsylvania who kept it until March 1992, enjoying much success on the concours field in the meantime. The next owner was American media personality Bill Cosby, who owned ‘09755’ from 1992 to 2012 when it was sold, red with a beige leather interior, to an East Coast American dealer who moved it on to the UK trade in late 2012. It was subsequently sent to Ferrari Classiche for certification which it achieved in June 2013, the document noting that the engine was original but the transaxle had been replaced, and it was the wrong colour inside and out and bore incorrect Borrani wire wheels. 

At some stage when in British ownership it was inexplicably resprayed and retrimmed to silver-grey with red leather by Jaguar specialist JD Classics, who then offered it for sale. Our client, working with Kidston and realising its potential as an interesting specification four-cam Ferrari, bought it in October 2018. 

Under our guidance, Carrozzeria Cremonini attended to the bodywork, Autofficina Bonini the engine and all mechanicals, William Gatti the electrics and Stefano Maieli and his team reupholstered the interior to correct Connolly orange. The result cost c.€300,000 and took 12 months.

Ferrari 275 GTB/4 chassis 09755 GT now stands out as a superb example of the sports car builder’s craft in 1960s Italy, restored to its rare and supremely elegant original livery.