The rarest non-coachbuilt 250 SWB of all time.

What is it that makes the 1960 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta SWB with chassis number 2335GT so special? simple; it’s the only RHD aluminium body Lusso trim 250 SWB ever, and to finish it off, it has a wooden dash… another great feature; before the car got its red stripes, it was owned by the mastermind behind the Ferrari SP12 EC; Eric Clapton himself.

The car was originally owned by Frenchman Louis Gamet, the car was supposed to have a competition engine (in 1960, that would be the 260hp engine, except with standard “Lusso” camshafts) and a different axle, however, the car did not arrive in the specification that he had liked, so, due to how angry Gamet was about the state of his car, Enzo Ferrari himself sorted the situation out, offered to fit the car with a 1961 competition engine (full-on, which means 280hp), it was given a 135-litre fuel tank, competition suspension on front and back, and a very special wooden dashboard. However though, in 1982, Gamet died…

just a little thing; I couldn’t find an image of a high-enough resolution that I could download to show you, the image is very tiny and would be extremely distorted, hence there is no image here. If you do want to see the dash for yourself, you can click this link: http://www.barchetta.cc/english/All.Ferraris/Detail/2335GT.250GT.htm

After Gamet’s passing in 1982, the car was sold to Henri Shambon, who showed it at the 1983 “Modena Ferrari Days” event, after Shambon, it was bought by Mac Blanc (who just so happened to live in the same town as Shambon, Cagnes-Sur-Mer), after Blanc sold the car for €500.000,-, it ended up in the hands of its first UK-based owner; Anthony Bamford, who had the car restored and respecified briefly after buying it, originally, the car was flat grey with a black interior, Bamford had the car re-upholstered in red but kept the original colour, and in 2001, the car was bought by Eric Clapton.

After Clapton sold it, the car went to a bloke named “Shamir Deen”, and after Deen it went out of the EU entirely, in 2004 the car was bought by someone who goes solely by the name “Imaoka”, who lives in Japan, after that, it went to Australia, when it was bought by Bruce Goddard, who ended up offering the car for AU$3.500.000, but it ended up being sold to Talacrest for $5.000.000 instead. Talacrest had the car certified by Ferrari Classiche, and sold it to its current owner: Gerry McManus.

When the car got its red stripes, I donnot know, the chassis number information doesn’t specify, it was after its restoration when it was owned by Bamford, but before Goddard owned it.

What do you think of this car? The car that one could call the “fastest 250 GT B SWB/L ever”, I love the story behind it, and that a person who is as well known as Eric Clapton got to own it is amazing.

• MH