Ferrari 250 GT Bertone

The Ferrari 250 GT SWB Speciale, chassis 1739GT, received a one-off coupé body from Bertone in 1960, designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro for the Genoese businessman Enrico Wax. It combined the short-wheelbase 250 GT mechanical platform with bespoke coachwork and carried engine number 1739. The car was the first of two Bertone-bodied SWB specials; the later chassis 3269GT was a separate commission with its own design and history.

Wax had requested a special-bodied Ferrari from Enzo Ferrari while the first short-wheelbase chassis were under construction. The account attributed to former Ferrari executive Amerigo Manicardi describes 1739GT being reassigned from intended works-team use to Wax. Although RM catalogued the chassis as a 1959 Ferrari, its Bertone exhibition history belongs to 1960. Giugiaro was then working at Bertone, which undertook the construction of the body.

The exterior combined a low roofline, slender pillars and wraparound glazing with a fine-mesh grille and covered headlamps. Brushed stainless steel contrasted with the painted body, including a prominent roof panel. The bonnet and front wings opened together as a forward-hinged assembly, exposing the engine and front chassis. Badges reading Prototype E.W. identified the commission through Wax’s initials. The cabin had adjustable folding seats, electric windows, fitted luggage and a pistol-grip gear lever. The speedometer and rev counter occupied the centre of the dashboard above the transmission tunnel.

The original finish was Bianco Perlato with a brushed stainless-steel roof and turquoise-green Connolly leather upholstery. Later restoration changed the colour combination to silver with a red leather interior. The surviving descriptions therefore refer to different moments in the same car’s history, rather than to a single unchanged colour scheme.

Bertone exhibited 1739GT at Geneva in 1960, when its mechanical completion was reportedly still pending, and again at the Turin Motor Show that November before delivery to Wax. A restoration in the early 1980s preceded its Most Elegant of Show award at Pebble Beach in 1983. Further restoration and concours appearances followed during later ownership. The car was offered at RM’s Maranello sale in 2009 without selling. At the Art of the Automobile auction in New York on 21 November 2013, it sold for US$7.04 million, including the buyer’s premium.