1958 Ferrari 250 GT Pininfarina
Owner: Haynes Motor Museum
This Ferrari 250 GT Pininfarina coupé is the first-ever Ferrari road car sold in the UK, and as such it is an important part of British and Italian automotive history. After Mike Hawthorn won the 1958 Formula 1 world title, he signed a deal with Enzo Ferrari to sell Ferrari road cars in Britain. The deal was made despite Il Commendatore refusing to sell Mike the machine in which the racing star had won the World Championship.
The first Ferraris that Hawthorn’s Tourist Trophy Garage in Farnham, Surrey imported were two 250 GT Pininfarina coupés, with a sale price of £6500 each. One was white with a black interior, which is the car you see before you – chassis no. 1083. Registered 5 HPD, it was later repainted gold, and then finally black in the 1980s. The other car, chassis no. 1081, was metallic blue, and is now believed to be a 250 GTO replica.
Hawthorn exhibited both cars at the London Motor Show in 1958; this example was originally sold to Major Desmond Fitzgerald, a wealthy Irish landowner who would become a leading light in the preservation of the country’s historic castles. It is now part of the Haynes Motor Museum collection, and is being presented after some slight mechanical restoration by Haynes Heritage Engineering.
Power: 240bhp | Top speed: 157mph | 0-60mph: 5.9 seconds