1961 Ferrari 250 GTE Series I

2947roadItaly

Engine: Colombo V12
Colour: Blu Dauphine (deep blue) over red interior

The Ferrari 250 GTE was the marque's first series-production four-seater, introduced at the 1960 Paris Salon after a public debut at Le Mans as a course car. Chassis 2947, a Series I example built in November 1961, left the factory in Blu Dauphine over a red Peugeot cloth interior. After an early history in southern Italy, the car spent several decades in New Mexico before being exported to the UK in 2008, where it underwent a comprehensive bare-metal restoration encompassing full bodywork and a thorough engine rebuild.

Ownership

—Auction sale
Sold £404,375 (≈ $505K)
RM Sotheby's catalogue lot →
1961-11-01 →Acquisition unknown
Customer in southern Italy
none documentation
Believed to be the first owner based on regional sale, though early history is largely undocumented. The car eventually left Italy and was shipped to the United States.
1978 → 2008Acquisition unknown
Francisco C Lombardo VII
partial documentation
Registered in McIntosh, New Mexico; the dry local climate helped preserve the bodywork. Ownership confirmed by a US state title document.
2008-12-01 →Private sale
Current owner
full documentation
Acquired as a running but unrestored project after export from the US to the UK. A comprehensive restoration was subsequently undertaken covering bodywork, paint, and mechanical rebuilding, with substantial documented expenditure.

Competition

No competition history extracted from the catalogue.

Maintenance & restoration

2016Engine rebuild
GTO Engineering
The original Colombo V-12 engine was dispatched to a specialist workshop and subjected to a thorough full rebuild completed over approximately two years, with invoices on file exceeding £85,000.
Rebuild spanned from 2016 to 2018.
—Bodywork
Quest Restorations
Following a bare-metal strip, the bodywork was assessed and found largely intact owing to the dry New Mexico climate; targeted remedial work was carried out around the nose and floor areas, followed by a full repaint in the original factory colour.
Paint and bodywork element of the broader restoration programme.
—Restoration
Classic Performance Engineering
A comprehensive recommissioning and final-assembly phase was undertaken at Bicester Heritage, completing the overall restoration project in July of the year of cataloguing.
Final assembly concluded in July; numerous supporting invoices and receipts are included with the car.

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