Gallery: 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione Speciale by Scaglietti
Not all Ferrari 275s were created equal; some were more equal than others. And a Ferrari 275 Gran Turismo Berlinetta Competizione Scaglietti -- let those pops and peaks fly off the tongue, now -- that won its class at Le Mans, the Spa-Francorchamps 1000KM and the Imola 500KM is very equal indeed.
Ferrari had experimented with lightweight 275s a year earlier, building 10 examples of the GTB/C Series 1 in 1965 and sending them to privateers. They did very well for themselves. Enzo was pleased. So, just a few months before the 275 GTB evolved into the four-cam GTB/4, Ferrari built just 12 examples of the Berlinetta Competizione.
The Competizione looked like a GTB, but nearly everything was far removed. For one, it came with the same dry-sumped, 3.3-liter V12 from the mid-engined 250LM -- tuned to 280 hp, at a lofty 7,700 rpm, at which point someone listening would feel every hair on his body stand stark upright. Engineer Mauro Forghieri, who would go on to design Niki Lauda's F1 cars, designed an ultralight chassis in steel and aluminum. On went stiffer springs, wider Borrani wheels with Dunlop race tires, reinforced wheel hubs and quick-release fuel fillers for its twin tanks. The body panel was cut with aluminum so thin that one could leave a dent in the Competizione's soft aluminum flanks just by leaning on it. Then, they'd presumably have to pay up.
Racing team owner Georges Filipinetti, the Medici of Swiss motorsports, bought this 275 brand-new. Based in Geneva, his Scuderia Filipinetti team originally supported fellow Swiss Jo Siffert but went on to host Jim Clark, Phil Hill and Ronnie Petersen. The team was most recognized by its red-and-white Ferraris -- but it even raced a Corvette L88 at Le Mans and the Tour de France, the motorized kind, where it was dubbed "La phénoménale Chevrolet Corvette," by nervous Frenchmen, who may have flung Gordinis at it. Filipinetti's 'Vette, by the way, holds the record for most consecutive entries at Le Mans, racing for six years in a row, the most of any single chassis -- and all the result of a backroom deal with Filipinetti and Zora Arkus-Duntov, while keeping a wrathful Enzo at bay. But that's a story of a car for a different time. What were we talking about? Ferraris? Ah, yes …
This 275 GTB entered Le Mans three times, from 1967 to 1969, with Dieter Spörry and Rico Steinmann -- who later went to head Porsche's motorsports department. The first year it entered, it won the GT class. In 1969, Filipinetti's 275 won its class at both Spa-Francorchamps and Imola, with with Filipinetti team drivers Jacques Rey and Edgar Berney. That same year, Filipinetti unloaded it into the hands of an American collector for $6,000 -- around $37,000, or a little under the price of a Kia Sorrento SX we recently tested.
Let that sink in for a second. A Ferrari for the price of a Kia! Of course, a time machine will cost substantially more to build.
.jpeg?resize=980:* "Here it is at Spa, 1969.")
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After its tenure with Filipinetti, it spent most of its 1970s and 1980s in America as part of various collections. And in 1985, it underwent the inevitable phase that all Ferraris eventually pass through: It was caught in a fire.
Fire and Ferraris go hand in hand, but this time fire marshals absolved the car of any blame. Thankfully, the drivetrain remained unscathed. The bodywork was express-shipped to Italy and to the doorstep of Modena-based Carrozzeria Brandoli. Founder Egidio Brandoli, who had worked under Enzo's tutelage, restored it to exacting specifications -- and shortly after, Ferrari Classiche confirmed its matching drivetrain, chassis and bodywork.
"In the right hands," says Bonhams, "No. 09079 was a force to be reckoned with." It estimates that when this 275 GTB/C goes to auction in Scottsdale next Jan. 15 at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, it will sell for $10 million -- which would be in line with Steve McQueen's own 275 GTB/4. But, still, less than half the price of another 275 GTB/C Speciale. What price is racing history worth? For a collector who wishes to pry the gravel from the Mulsanne Straight off the tires, $10 million is nothing.
