Jeremy Clarkson
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From
January 27, 2008
Ferrari 275 GTS (1964)
Rating 
Verdict More Grace Kelly than Gary Neville
See a Ferrari 599 and who comes to mind? Gary Neville? Philip Green? See a 275 GTS and it’s a different picture that fills your head. It’s Grace Kelly in a headscarf cruising down the Promenade des Anglais. It’s Gianni Agnelli stepping off a Riva speedboat in St Tropez and screaming down the Riviera for a dinner date in Portofino.
When I saw one in the flesh for the first time I didn’t really want to get in and drive. Because then I couldn’t look at that gasp-inducing Pininfarina styling any more.
Under the bonnet there’s a 3.3 litre V12 engine. We forget these days that to the Ferrari purist the V8 is a coarse aberration. A Ferrari must have a V12 in the same way that a real guitarist must have a Fender Stratocaster.
Of course, by the standards of the 21st century, it’s a woeful engine, drinking enormous quantities of petrol through its six carburettors and only handing 260bhp back in return. You get nearly as much as that from a Vauxhall Astra these days, and the same sort of performance. Zero to 60 in around seven seconds and a top speed of 149.
This was fine by me, however, because the slower you drive this car the more time it takes to get somewhere and the longer, therefore, you are in it.
Sadly it’s very difficult to buy one. Just 200 were made and only 14 had right-hand drive. They come onto the market from time to time and go for around £200,000 – roughly what it would cost to buy a new 599.
I’d go for the old car in a heartbeat. Possibly, just possibly, this is the most exquisite car I’ve ever driven. Because here, wrapped up in 14ft of steel and glass and wire, we find everything – everything – it was that made me fall in love with cars in the first place. A ton and a half of style, heart, and soul.
Price when new in 1964 £5,699
Price when tested (Jul 2007) £200,000
Engine 3285cc, 12 cylinders
Power 260bhp @ 7000rpm
Torque n/a
Transmission Five-speed manual
Fuel n/a
Top speed 149mph / 0-60mph: 7.2sec
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Topics in this section
JWC: look again! It's a 275 GTS in the pictures, and not a 250 PF Cabriolet as you claim. Maybe you're thinking of the 275 NART Spider? Tony: SWB is sexy, not pretty - at current values they're just silly collectors' items, not to be driven. A serious classic Ferrari for £200k+ is still sensible.
E J Callow, London,
Personally, I think the California SWB (the Ferris Beuller car) is the prettier car. But the 275 GTS is magnificent in the metal. A friend of mine was left one by his father (along with a 212 MM) which is one of the 14rhd cars. It sits in an obscure car museum outside Adelaide and is driven rarely. A real shame. And he won't sell it as a few of us have tried.
Tony Milton, Melbourne, Australia
Great car, wrong photo! The car shown is a 250 PF Cabriolet, not a 275 GTS.
JWC, Monrovia, California
Agree pretty much with everything here. - except that the greatest guitarists either make their own (Santana, May, Clapton (yes blackie was a strat but apart from the body it was a one off.)) or have Gibson. Les Paul 1958 Flame top. (Jimmy Page - can't see 20 million pepole registering for the chance to pay through the nose to see Rainbow can you?)
James, Glasgow,