Count Giovanni Lurani drove a Lusso Berlinetta through Milan, the Mont Cenis Pass, Lyons, Tours, Le Mans, Orleans, Basel, Lucerne, the St Gotthard Pass, Lugano and returned to Milan. He described the car as “the best in the world” and wrote the following excerpt from Auto Italiana; “The 250 GT Berlinetta ‘designed by Pininfarina’ thoroughly confirmed its right to be considered as the most exceptional high performance sports car in existence today. It showed the excellence of its mechanical base, refined by an incomparable competition tradition, and a remarkably brilliant aesthetic conception which bore the signature of the greatest body builder in the world.”

The beautiful Ferrari 250 GT/L offered here, chassis 5143, was completed in Maranello in November 1963 with the Certificate of Origin dated the 27th of November. The car was originally fitted with engine 5143 and gearbox 145, both of which it retains to this day and completed on December 13th 1963. The car was also originally finished in Grigio Argento with a Pelle Nera interior.

The car was delivered new through the official Ferrari dealer in Rome, Autofficina Vari, to Fratelli Borra S.P.A on 2nd January 1964 at a cost of 5,750,000 Italian Lire. The car was registered on the Italian license ‘Roma 694566’ before passing to its second owner in early 1964. The next owner, Franco Venturi, a Rome resident, bought the car in November 1964 and paid 800,000 Italian Lire. It is understood Mr Venturi had a great interest in Ferrari, having previously owned a 212 MM Export Berlinetta by Vignale, chassis 0070M, and a 195 Inter Coupe by Vignale, chassis 0181EL. However, Mr Venturi sold chassis 5143 to Giuseppe Caldarone in December 1964, yet another resident of Rome, who reportedly paid 4,300,000 Italian Lire!

The car passed through one further Rome resident before passed to Mr Giacomo Vitali who resided in Palermo. In December 1965 the car was registered on Palermo license ‘PA 157190’. The car is then noted by famed Ferrari Historian, Marcel Massini, as being serviced and maintained at Ferrari’s factory Assistenza Clienti at Viale Trento Trieste in Modena, factory order number 97, on July 12th 1971. Mr Vitali retained the car for many years until February 20th 1973 when it is noted as being sold through Alberto Carpanelli to Mr Simon Burt Avedon, a resident in Woodmere, Long Island, New York, USA. At the time Mr Avedon was a temporary resident at the Automobile Club of Rome.

In 1974 the car was exported to England and offered for sale by Richard Curtis, C/O Maloney & Rhodes Limited in Cambridge and was now registered on the English license plate ’28 EVE’. In May 1975 chassis 5143 was advertised in ‘Thoroughbred & Classic Cars’ magazine by Terry Frost, with 70,000 kms and an asking price of £4,250. The car was then sold to noted collector and connoisseur, Sir Anthony Bamford. During the late 1970’s the car passed through another owner, Mr John Fazackerly, before being sold to Mr P.G. Ludlam who enjoyed 5143 until January 28th 1984 when it was sold to Mr Francois Leiser in Belgium and registered on English license plates ‘WFH 956M’.

Chassis 5143 was next seen at the 1990 Ferrari Club Nederland meeting where it was painted red with a black interior. The car was seen at respected Ferrari specialist Piet Roelof’s restoration shop in Holland in 1998 before being purchased by Tony Van der Velden who immediately embarked upon a total and thorough restoration. The restoration consumed almost four years, and during this time every aspect of the car was thoroughly researched with the utmost detail. The car was repainted light metallic green with a fabulous new green leather interior by Henk van Linth.

The car was issued with its highly coveted Ferrari ‘Red book’ Classiche certification on May 7th 2008 before being sold to its current Swiss owner later that same month. The car was then UK registered on license ‘BHK 199A’ and in 2011 was driven by its current owner on the Grand Tour Charity Rally from London to Barcelona. As a result of this cars exacting restoration and stunning colour combination, the owner was offered the opportunity to display the car on the Ferrari Owners Club stand at the 2012 Classic Motor Show in Birmingham, which he graciously accepted.

The car is offered today in stunning condition, and will be freshly serviced by leading Ferrari specialists prior to delivery.