Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet

Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet at a glance

The cabriolet belongs to the large Ferrari 250 family, which also includes the Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France. All Ferrari models are in the Ferrari catalogue.

History and prototypes

Open 250s started with a series of prototypes. In 1953 Pinin Farina built a cabriolet called "Ariowitch" on a 250 Europa chassis with a Lampredi engine. In 1956 a second cabriolet, based on the Europa GT and designed by Mario Boano, was shown at Geneva. The final prototype, built by Pinin Farina on a 250 GT chassis, appeared at the Geneva show in 1957.

Pinin Farina's 1956 Geneva show car was lent to the racing driver Peter Collins. He raced it in England with four Dunlop disc brakes.

Enzo Ferrari's aim was higher output and higher sales. Production of the cabriolet began in July 1957.

Design and production by Pinin Farina

Unusually for Ferrari at the time, the same company designed the car and built its body. Most bodies of the period were made by Scaglietti, but the cabriolet came from Pinin Farina's new, larger plant at Grugliasco near Turin. Ferrari also installed a new raised assembly line at its own factory.

The Series I, which Wikipedia describes as a kind of pre-production, was built until July 1959. It can be recognised by two vertical bumpers on each side of the grille and two long-range lamps in front of it; in 1958 the lamps moved behind the grille. The Series I was based on the 250 GT Boano/Ellena.

The Series II was unveiled at the Paris motor show in October 1959. Like the California Spyder, it was based on the 250 GT Berlinetta "Tour de France". It has a higher, more upright windscreen, larger side windows, more room behind the seats and a larger boot. A change in Italian law replaced the special low-beam headlamps with conventional units, and some cars have chrome vents behind the front wheel arches. From 1961 a removable hard top was available. The Series II was the most expensive 250 GT of its time.

Engine and chassis

The engine is the 60° Colombo V12 of 2,953 cc, with a bore of 73 mm and a stroke of 58.8 mm and one overhead camshaft per bank. Series I cars used three Weber 36 DCL 3 carburettors, Series II cars Weber 40 DCL. The compression ratio was between 8.5:1 and 9.5:1. Wikipedia gives 177 kW (240 PS) at 7,000 rpm and 245 Nm. In 1960 the spark plugs were moved to the outside of the cylinder heads, and the engine received twelve separate intake ducts.

Power goes through a four-speed manual gearbox with overdrive. The tubular steel frame carries independent front suspension with double wishbones and coil springs, and a rigid rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs and parallel trailing arms. Telescopic hydraulic dampers are fitted all round. Drum brakes were later replaced by discs, which Ferrari first adopted on the 250 Testa Rossa racing car.

Wikipedia quotes a top speed of 240 km/h and 0–100 km/h in about 7.1 seconds. Inside there is a wooden Nardi steering wheel with three aluminium spokes and seven round instruments.

Cabriolet or California Spyder?

The 250 GT California Spyder, built from the following year mainly for the American market, looks similar but had a sportier character. The Pinin Farina Cabriolet put more weight on comfort, refinement and a luxurious interior. Wikipedia notes that the California Spyder is better remembered today.

Legacy

The 250 GT Cabriolet sits between the 212 Inter and the 275 GTS in Ferrari's line of open grand tourers. With about 230 cars in two series, it was built in much larger numbers than the earlier prototypes, and Pinin Farina was responsible for both its design and its body. More about the company is in our history of Ferrari.

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