Current Price: USD $901,957 – Source
Auction Ends: Friday, November 28 at 10:05am PT
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This 1955 Ferrari 250 Europa GT is the 16th of approximately 43 examples of the inaugural model in Ferrari’s line of road-going cars carrying the Grand Turismo designation. Custom ordered by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, chassis 0387GT is said to be one of two GT Europas built with alloy Pinin Farina coachwork and one of two underpinned by a Tipo 508/513 “Competition Prototipo” chassis with coil-sprung front suspension. At the prince’s request, the car was re-stamped by the factory with the chassis number 0139E to match the number of a Ferrari 212 Inter he owned previously. Chassis 0387GT/0139E was sold in 1960 to an English owner and subsequently remained in the UK until moving to Switzerland in the mid-1980s and then to the Netherlands in 1994. After being purchased by a French owner in 2001, the car underwent a refurbishment that reportedly revealed competition-style components including lightweight engine internals as well as an all-synchromesh transmission, a limited-slip differential, a competition-type steering box, and 375MM-style magnesium alloy drum brakes. Following a further refresh in 2010, the car was purchased in 2015 by its current owner, who brought it to the US and commissioned a mechanical refurbishment that involved overhauls of the 3.0-liter Colombo V12 and four-speed manual transmission. Finished in its original color combination of black over beige leather, the car also features triple Weber carburetors, 16” Borrani wire wheels, Houdaille shock absorbers, and Marchal fog lamps and reverse lights. This alloy-bodied 250 Europa GT is now offered on dealer consignment in Waltham, Massachusetts, with correspondence from Ferrari and historian Antoine Prunet as well as a 2014 Marcel Massini report, invoices dating back to 2016, and a clean Montana title listing the chassis number as 0139.
The 250 Europa debuted at the 1953 Paris Auto Show as Ferrari’s first grand tourer and was superseded the following year by the 250 Europa GT, which featured a shorter 2,600mm wheelbase allowed by a shift to power from the Colombo V12 in lieu of its predecessor’s Lampredi unit. Most examples of the 250 GT Europa rode on the first iteration of the long-running Tipo 508 chassis and carried over the Pinin Farina three-window coupe profile initially penned for the first-series Europa. Two GT Europas, including this example, were instead built on a chassis that combined the 508 and 513 frame types and wore an all-alloy version of the Pinin Farina coupe design.
The body wears an older repaint in its original shade of black and is said to have undergone paintwork freshening in 2010. The paint and brightwork were polished in 2023, at which time the former was coated with ceramic wax. Yellow Marchal headlights and fog lamps up front are paired with elliptical taillamps and Marchal reverse lights out back. Additional details include a driver-side mirror, a three-piece panoramic rear window, sail-panel-mounted turn signals, chrome bumpers, and quad exhaust outlets.
Borrani wire wheels are secured by two-eared knock-offs and are wrapped in 6.00-16 Michelin Pilote X tires, as is a matching spare housed in the trunk. Stopping is handled by four-wheel hydraulic brakes with finned magnesium alloy drums that are said to be shared with Ferrari’s 375MM racing platform. A 2019 refresh of the brake system included rebuilds of the master cylinder and wheel cylinders as well as replacement of the proportioning valve and hoses. The steering box is noted to be a competition-style unit and was rebuilt and adjusted in the course of a refurbishment performed by Grand Touring Enterprises of Frederick, Maryland, between 2020 and 2023.
The cabin features beige leather over seating for two with matching upholstery extending to the door panels as well as the rear parcel shelf and bulkhead. Color-coordinated carpets line the floors, and further appointments include a Clayton heater, a glovebox, an oval dashboard-mounted rearview mirror, quarter-vent glass, and roll-up windows. The seat tracks and levers were repaired during the 2020-2023 refurbishment, which also included repairs to the dash lighting and blower control rheostats. Areas of creasing and other imperfections are present in the leather seating surfaces.
The riveted-wood-rimmed steering wheel sits ahead of Veglia instrumentation including a 300-km/h speedometer, an 8k-rpm tachometer, and an oil-pressure gauge along with centrally mounted readouts for water temperature and fuel level. The five-digit odometer shows 57k kilometers (~35k miles), approximately 1k of which have been added under current ownership.
Upon disassembly in 2001, the 3.0-liter Colombo V12 was reportedly found to have competition-style internals including a lightweight crankshaft, wider-bore pistons, and competition connecting rods. The engine was overhauled between 2020 and 2022 by Patrick Ottis of Berkeley, California, with work including surfacing of the block, boring and honing of the cylinder sleeves, machining of the cylinder heads, and grinding of the camshafts. Also installed were custom Carillo pistons, Carillo connecting rods, and a replacement crankshaft with .030”-over main and rod bearings as well as a replacement timing chain, valves, and valve guides. The triple Weber carburetors and water pump were also rebuilt in the course of the project, and the engine hardware was black-oxide coated. Additional work during by Grand Touring Enterprises from 2020-2023 included repair and refinishing of the fuel tank, installation of a rebuilt voltage regulator, and repairs to the exhaust headers.
The front suspension incorporates a double-wishbone independent setup in lieu of the transverse leaf spring utilized for other early 250 Europa GT chassis, while the rear suspension features a leaf-sprung solid axle with a limited slip differential. Houdaille shock absorbers are utilized all around. The all-synchromesh four-speed manual transmission is said to be a competition-type unit and was rebuilt in 2021 by Spencer Restorations of Canterbury, Connecticut, with work including replacement of the main shaft and bearings. The clutch assembly and driveshaft were also rebuilt in the course of the 2020-2023 refurbishment, which also included installation of a replacement belly pan as well as fabrication of a replacement exhaust system.
The frame is stamped with the number 0139 E below a partially readable stamp of chassis number 0387 GT.
A copy of the factory assembly sheet notes the chassis type as “508/513” or “508/MM55,” as does a production ledger shown in the gallery. Included 2021 email correspondence with Angelo Amadesi of the Ferrari Classic Department notes the chassis re-stamping for Prince Bernhard.
The October 2014–dated Marcel Massini report lists the factory 0387GT chassis number and notes the re-stamping to chassis 0139E after delivery to Prince Bernhard. A Ferrari 212 Europa owned by Bernhard (chassis number 0269EU) was also previously re-stamped with chassis number 0139E and later changed to 0387GT. Also included in the gallery is a 1997 letter from historian Antoine Prunet further detailing the history of the chassis.
The current Montana title lists the VIN as 0139 and the Model as Europa 250GT.
