Confusions
Just recently we had it from the two Ferrari 250 GT “Tour de France” with chassis numbers #0619GT and #0805GT. Where the chassis numbers have been swapped. Which causes some confusion today. Or at least question marks. And now we have another case: the Ferrari 250 GT SWB with chassis numbers #1931GT and #2021GT (and a bit of #2035GT). Interesting: Pierre Noblet is involved in all these stories.
Let’s start from the beginning. The Ferrari 250 GT SWB (for connoisseurs: Comp/60) with chassis number #1931GT was built in Maranello with the goal of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1960. This meant the latest development of the 168B 3-litre V12 with outboard valves, a Testa Rossa cylinder head, the sharper Tipo 130 camshafts, a compression ratio of 9.7:1 and three Weber DCL6 carburettors. The car was delivered to Luigi Chinetti, bore the export number plate “EE 02015” and the starting number 18 for the race on 25/26 July. The Americans George Arents and Alan Connell Jr. were entered as drivers for Le Mans. They also did quite well, finishing 5th overall and second in their class. Afterwards #1931GT returned to the factory in Maranello.
And was joined there in mid-July by #2021GT. This car had also competed at Le Mans, finishing 6th overall with #22 and in the hands of Pierre Noblet and Léon Dernier, also completing 300 laps like #1931GT. Shortly afterwards, however, in a 6-hour race in the Auvergne, the Ferrari rolled over and was in urgent need of repair.
Now, apparently, this is how it happened: there in the factory, with the two cars standing side by side like that, #1931GT was renamed #2021GT, for whatever reason (why, actually?), painted in grey metallic and sold to Frenchman Pierre Dumay. And the repaired #2021GT was given the new chassis number #2035GT (this car is now owned by Ralph Lauren, so it’s beyond doubt anyway…). Finally, #2035GT apparently became, perhaps, #1931GT.
The fact that #2021GT is actually #1931GT was – apparently – only discovered a few years ago. The only stupid thing is: #1931GT still exists, it is the former #2035GT. Oh yes, something else is astonishing: At some point #2021GT got the engine from the 250 GT SWB with the chassis number #1875GT. The real engine is now missing, so we have two cars without the “matching numbers” that are so important today. All clear?
A quick overview:
#1931GT became #2021GT (engine today: 1875GT).
#2021GT became #2035GT
#2035GT became #1931GT (engine today: ?)
An overview of all Ferrari 250 GT SWB we have: here. And more beautiful cars in the archive.
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