1959-1960 Ferrari 250 SWB Berlinetta Competizione
Mark A Cella and His Favorite 60′s era Ferrari 250 SWB Berlinetta
The precursor to the Berlinetta, which means “Sport Coupe,” was the Ferrari 250 GTO. Indeed the GTO was built on the strength of Ferrari’s record producing V12 GT racers. GTO equates to “Gran Turismo Omologato,” Italian for “Grand Touring Homologated,” while homologated means “Official Agreement”. The 250 is the cubic centimeter displacement of each cylinder in the engine.
Mark A Cella’s Official Agreement is the 250 is all Race
The car was built by Ferrari from 1953 to 1964 becoming Ferrari’s most successful line of cars to date. It was the first Ferrari to receive four disc brakes. Versions of it were the first four seater. Having a lightweight V12, 260-275bhp, 4 gear trans., competition engine launched its success at winning so many races recounting in detail would be endless, so here’s a few:
1960 Le Mans 24 hr race, it took 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th, while Chevy and Aston Martin were far behind. It won three repeat 5500 km Tour de Frances, while taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the 1960 event. That season driver Sterling Moss lapped the entire field at Goodwood to take the second consecutive win. SWB won all over in England, Monza Italy, Spa, Nurbrgring, and Monthlery.
The car weighs only 2,314 pounds which equates to a very high power to weight ratio. Its top speed reached 152 and it hit 60 from a dead stop in 6.2 seconds. All of these figures were superb in 1960.
Mark A Cella Agrees it’s One of the Greatest Ferraris Ever Built
Owners of this car back in the day could drive it to the track and race it with very minor modifications if they chose. Of course they’d have to slap on their numbers. The competizione models were built for strictly racing so were even lighter with up to 40 more horsepower and a shorter wheelbase making them faster in curves. Nothing could compete to either version.
Motor Trend gave the 250 SWB the ranking of 5th out of ten of the Greatest Ferraris of all time. Sports Car International rated it 7th Top Sports Car of the 1960′s. Mark Cella rates it his first place 1960′s era Muscle Car, followed by the 1967 Corvette Sting Ray and 1968 Chevy Camaro.
Learn more about Mark A Cella. Stop by Mark Cella’s site where you can find out all about Mark A Cella and his work.
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