This most unusual Lot comprises a two-cam aluminium-bodied Ferrari 275GTB which was damaged in its shipping container during the transAtlantic voyage to the UK. It was subsequently completely stripped down into component form and the damaged aluminium body panels stripped of all paintwork preparatory to full restoration, repainting and reassembly. The project was never progressed and as offered here this Lot has been in storage for many years.

Ferrari 275GTB chassis serial ‘08249’ was ordered via the Milan Ferrari agent Crepaldi and was completed by the Ferrari factory at Maranello in February 1966. Its ssembly sequence number was ‘337’ and its Scaglietti body number was ‘342’. This was an alloy-bodied lightweight car from new and appears to have been ordered with ‘gentleman’s motor sport in mind, being completed as a three-carburettor car finished in silver with black full-leather upholstery, special padding to the driver’s seat, and sporting a “chromium-plated roll bar”. We understand that Mr Lees was advised upon purchasing the car that it had been fitted “perhaps from new” with six carburettors, and six twin-choke Weber carburettors are amongst the plethora of parts now offered with this Lot.

The car’s first owner was a Signor Pessina, in Italy, but it seems to have been exported relatively quickly to new owners in the United States. Mr Lees acquired it there from “Contemporary Classics AKA Joseph Alphabet - Ferrari 275 GTB6C, Dry Sump, Aluminium-bodied serial number 8249 engine number 8249”. The price was $20,000 and the sale was made on July 21,1980.

This restoration project includes – for example – the chassis and substantial (damaged) lightweight aluminium body paneling, 3.3-litre V12-cylinder block, front engine chest, valves, new boxed cylinder liners, pistons, distributor, complete exhaust manifolds, transaxle, steering system components, crankshaft, camboxes, airbox and air filter assembly, six Weber twin-choke carburettors, front screen surround, front and rear screens and side-windows, window frames and quarter lights, dashboard, two seats, cockpit trim, handbrake lever and mechanism, chrome vents, items of internal trim and headlining, instrumentation, as-original left-hand drive assembly, right-hand drive conversion bracketry, pedals, door trims, cigarette light and switches, battery box, radiator core, door locks, radiator header tank, fuel piping, hoses, diff, suspension components, Borrani wheels, brake components, etc etc.

The Ferrari 275GTB is one of the best liked and most respected of all the front-engined V12-cylinder Ferrari Gran Turismo designs and here we offer a very comprehensive restoration project from which a committed enthusiast could rescue an outstandingly well-specified grand touring classic.