Ferrari 250 GT Ellena Is a Lesson in Perfect Proportions

BOLD RIDE

Copyright © 2015 Bold Ride LLC.

 

Posted by Zach Doell

 

 

When thinking Ferrari it’s hard not to think Pininfarina. The legendary Italian carrozzeria has lent its pen strokes to the vast majority of Prancing Horses over the past six decades.

 But in the early days, the rapidly expanding coach builder couldn’t handle everything, which is why this gorgeous 1957 250 GT Coupe exists. 

It’s called an Ellena because production of this car – one of only 50 – was handed over to Carrozzeria Ellena, formerly Carrozzeria Boano.

 The coupes retained their Pininfarina design origins (the first 82 were coach built by Boano). However company head Ezio Ellena modified these “high roof” cars with a two-inch raised roofline.

Underneath the hood, Ferrari provided the 250 GT with a 220-horsepower 3.0-liter V12, fed through a trio of Weber carburetors. A four-speed manual synchromesh gearbox put those prancing ponies to the ground, and in dramatic fashion

. The Ellena’s tall gearing meant zero to 60mph took just 5.9 seconds, which was quite the heady performance in that day.
 

This car, chassis 0755 GT, was built in December 1957 and made its way to Luigi Chinetti’s New York dealership. Chinetti then displayed the car at the 1958 Chicago Auto Show, where it garnered attention and sold shortly after.

 The 250 GT eventually ended up in the ownership of racing team owner George Reed in the early 1960s, fell off the radar for a number of years, and then reappeared in 1989 in Beverly Hills.

It underwent a thorough restoration in 2005. The Ellena retained its original gearbox and Borrani wire wheels, though a replacement engine from a 250 GTE was sourced.

 It has since proven itself in vintage racing events – said to drive excellently – and will cross the RM Auctions block in Paris on February 4.

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