MOTOR CARS | 59On March 2, 1961, it was re-registered in Modena as ‘MO 63529’
and soon after it was repainted red and fitted with black interior. On
February 14, 1969, the Italian Automobile Club cancelled the Modena
registration and license plates, using a term often applied to cars
that had been exported. We have no details of possible export of
‘1255 GT’ now offered here but in the 1970s it was plainly acquired
by Fabrizio Violati to join the personal collection which became his
Collezione Maranello Rosso, on public display within the Republic of
San Marino.
We can confirm that the car survives today as a matching numbers
example – ‘inside-plug’ engine and chassis number stampings
matching – and that all these number stamps are good, clear,
uncompromised and demonstrating the correct Ferrari fonts,
absolutely as used in period. The engine breathes through three
correct-specification Weber twin-choke carburettors. The distinctive
Ferrari data plate on ‘1255’s firewall as offered here is also correct
and authentic. The car has the correct drum brakes fitted, as new,
and its odometer upon delivery to Bonhams showed 53,560 kms,
which is considered perfectly likely to be genuine.
The car has the non-original exterior color of red, probably as
adopted upon its return to Modena in 1961, and it has a stylish
combination of black leather-upholstered seats and red carpeting.
The car also has an individualized nose treatment, in that the bonnet
air intake with chromed lip is not original (the bonnet as new would
have been smooth, uninterrupted by the air intake), and entirely
consistent with a later-life incident in which the front end was
damaged, possibly giving rise to the RACI cancellation of its Modena
registration just prior to Fabrizio Violati acquiring ‘1255 GT’ perhaps
still in damaged condition. He had a reputation for being quite careful
with how much he paid for certain of his Ferraris...Amber turn-signal blinker repeater lights have also been added at
some stage to the car’s front wings. The car’s nose has also been
reprofiled at some stage, probably during repair work as discussed
above. After its many years on display in the Collezione Maranello
Rosso premises in San Marino the car will plainly need expert
inspection and re-commissioning but it is yet another representative
and essentially well-preserved (matching numbers) example of this
another extremely significant Ferrari model.Please note this vehicle is subject to import tax should it remain in
the EU.
£250,000 - 300,000
€310,000 - 380,000