The Ferrari 250 GTO Makeover

A fair old debate has been going on in the world of historic cars. Should cars be restored or preserved? We profess to liking our historics careworn and with a certain degree of patina, as if they were lovely old contraptions. Ever seen a scruffy vintage Bugatti, where every grease nipple is oozing with fresh lubrication but the paint is wretched and chrome has been wantonly rubbed through to the brass?

Of course, this sort of debate intensifies when a rare and important machine like this Ferrari 250 GTO is concerned. Just like every one of the 39 Ferrari 250 GTOs built between 1962 and 1964, chassis number 3527GT's history has been detailed in various books. So when the current owner purchased it in 2005, he had to decide: leave it as is or restore it?

A tough decision, made more so when you factor in that a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO is now worth north of $15 million.

The Patina Quotient
While 3527GT had been a lovely original car, it has survived a tough racing life. It was sold new to Gottfried Koechert in May 1962 and was promptly entered in the Nürburgring 1,000 Km, but then sold right afterward — probably because the owner realized he had more car than he anticipated.

Next the car came into the hands of racer Lucien Bianchi (later a great friend of Mario Andretti), who entered it in the 1962 Tour de France. Bianchi and navigator Claude Dubois led this fierce combination of high-speed road rally and circuit-based road race until the last day, when they collided with a milk truck. The lightweight aluminium nose of the Ferrari was stove in, but the pair leaped out and cut most of the front of the car clean off and got going again, although they could only manage to finish 7th.

By 1965 the GTO had been retired from racing by its new owner, Swiss banker Armand Boller. He had raced it extensively since 1963, but when his Swiss friend Tommy Spychiger was killed in a Scuderia Filipinetti Ferrari 365P2 at the 1965 Monza 1,000 Km, Boller withdrew his GTO from the race and retired from driving.

Think 1,500 hours in the body shop, 200 with the trimmer and 750 hours for mechanical work and setup

Then Boller commissioned Graber, the Swiss coachbuilder, to turn the old racer into a more comfortable touring car. Graber installed acoustic insulation and carpet, lined the exposed metal surfaces, replaced the plastic side windows with glass, and upholstered the racing seats in leather.

A Little Cosmetic Touch-Up
After several more owners over the next 40 years, Irvine Laidlaw, a member of British Parliament and a frequent racer in historic competition, added the GTO to his collection in 2005, but as a touring car. With its history, 3527GT was just the right car for him, a straight and original example of the GTO in need of a little refreshing. The best shops in the U.K. were called upon to do the work, including Classic Performance Engineering, Mototechnique Ltd. and O'Rourke Coachtrimmers. The engine had previously been rebuilt by Graypaul, a Ferrari specialist.

It all started when the GTO went into O'Rourke's for a fresh coat of paint. As we all know, the real problems materialize once you scratch the surface.

Kevin O'Rourke notes, "The non-original paintwork was micro-blistered and cracking, so it had to come off. But first the body and chassis were digitally measured and recorded. Both proved to be remarkably close to tolerance, but not perfect. We applied paint stripper and once the car was in bare aluminium we discovered the extent of all the repairs that had been necessary over the years.

"Unfortunately, there was evidence of electrolytic corrosion where the aluminium skin wraps around the steel space frame. At this point it was decided to remove all the body panels so we could make an informed judgement as to what needed repairing and what could be conserved."

Now Put It Back Together
Once the chassis structure was repaired and lined up, a rollover cage was designed and fabricated. It has adjustable mountings for street-style inertia-reel seatbelts, while concealed mountings for a racing harness have been incorporated as well.

With the chassis refurbished, the carefully repaired body panels were refitted, utilizing all the factory rivet holes. Then the painting process began. Polyurethane primer was baked at 190 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour, then made ready for the polyester primer. This was hand-sanded before a further gray sealer was applied (gray is the best base for a red finish).

"The GTO had been originally finished in Rosso Cina, which is unusual because it is a Fiat color," says O'Rourke. "We gave the client a number of swatches to choose from and he went for this lovely deep burgundy. It's known as Rosso Kev. Four coats of base color were applied and then coated in clear two-pack lacquer for protection. The Ferrari was then sanded and polished, and finally underbody stone protection was installed."

Why Not Do the Engine, Too?
With the GTO's bodywork renovated, reassembled and painted, the car went up to Martin Greaves at Classic Performance Engineering for the installation of the rebuilt mechanical components.

"Our intention was to make the GTO safe, reliable and great to drive," says Greaves. "We knew the engine was in fine condition with good oil pressure, but just to be sure we removed the cam covers and oil sump for a quick look-see and rebuilt all the ancillary components. The gearbox was stripped and we found 3rd gear was cracked. Gears are not generally available but we eventually sourced one through our contacts.

"Once the engine was out, we discovered the linkages operating the six two-barrel Weber carburetors were worn and had to be rebuilt. The exhaust system had to be replaced because it had been patched up rather too often, and special heat shields were inserted between the pipes and the passenger floor.

"All tanks were stripped, acid-dipped and repainted. The aluminium fuel tank — now filled with foam for fire prevention — is a work of art, as are the beautiful Borrani wire wheels, which were refitted with correct Michelin XWX tires. The original Koni dampers were overhauled and the entire braking system was refreshed. We added a fresh wiring loom, too."

Finally Greaves concludes, "The owner intends using the Ferrari for fast road events, so we carefully engineered in some heating and cooling fans. They are completely hidden in the existing cooling ducts and do a good job of increasing the flow of air — cool or hot — at the flick of a switch. When you're touring, a properly defogged windshield is more important than an extra 50 horsepower."

An Interior Makeover
Now the GTO came back to O'Rourke Coachtrimmers, and Kevin O'Rourke says, "As this GTO had been converted to road use years ago, my brief was to do the same but add a few improvements and subtle upgrades to the interior — the sort of thing Ferrari would have done itself. We soundproofed the cockpit and made up new alloy panels for the door cards and interior. The ones for the roof were fine, so we reused those."

A Ferrari GTO has fixed racing bucket seats, which are not a realistic option for long runs down to the South of France. Modern adjustable seats were acquired, which O'Rourke trimmed with sumptuous leather and mounted on floor runners.

With the interior beautifully appointed and the original rear plastic rear window polished to renewed clarity, the Ferrari went back to Mototechnique for final assembly of the hood, doors, side windows and trunk lid.

Then the car made a last trip to Martin Greaves for the final setup. It takes hours of workshop time to get the components to fit together in harmony — things like the windscreen wiper action, the heating and ventilation system, properly bled and adjusted brakes, damper settings and all the other small details that turn a good car into a special one.

Turn It Loose
The final thing to do was to run up the V12 engine, debug it and get the carburetor tuning spot-on. Initially there was a slight misfire at high rpm, but optimizing ignition and carburetion settings ensured clean running to 7,500 rpm.

"The Ferrari is fabulous on the road," reports Greaves. "Running on original-spec Michelins, you drive the GTO with the seat of your pants and it responds beautifully. The engine is remarkably tractable and, being a V12, it's lovely and smooth. But, saying that, it does like about 3,000 rpm showing on the clock to really pull and above 5,000 rpm it really comes alive. It's one of the best GTOs I have yet driven."

Since its restoration the GTO has competed in three Tour Auto events and a revival of the Tour de France in which the car had its most noteworthy event in competition. It's also competed in a GTO-only rally in the U.S., and it's been raced at the Goodwood Revival by Sir Stirling Moss. This year it's scheduled for Tour Britannia and will do the next GTO rally in Italy, so the car is far from being a trailer queen.

The Final Accounting
So how much does a project like this cost? Well, it would be rude to discuss money but you could think along the lines of 1,500 hours in the body shop, 200 with the trimmer and 750 hours for mechanical work and setup. Considering the magnitude of the task, this seems entirely acceptable. (Well, it's acceptable when you've paid more than $10 million for the car in the first place.)

On completion of its renovation, 3527GT was presented at Goodwood House at a special function hosted by Lord March. Martin Greaves then delivered the Ferrari to its new owner. Greaves says, "He had a quick look around the car as I pointed out various controls, then popped his bag and laptop into the boot and disappeared off to the Channel Tunnel. No tentative drive around the car park; he was straight off to France! We did not hear from him for a while and were all sick with worry."

Two days and more than 1,000 miles later, O'Rourke and Greaves each received an e-mail from Laidlaw, the owner: "I have just completed a rather too warm trip to the South of France, arriving Friday lunchtime in the GTO. The car drove faultlessly throughout the trip (including very heavy traffic in Paris) and arrived in perfect order. Everything about the car is splendid. And I am certain much, much better than when it left Modena. Your teams have done a cracking job and I am very grateful. The Ferrari is perfect."

Portions of this content have appeared in foreign print media and are reproduced with permission.