This is the most valuable car in the collection, a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta. The 250 GTO is the most coveted jewel in the classic car world’s crown, a beauty in which an owner can show his prowess on track one day, and then go touring beside a comfortably seated companion the next..
This car, chassis number ‘3851 GT’, was the 19th 250 GTO Berlinetta built, and was completed on September 11, 1962. It was delivered to the leading French racing driver Jo Schlesser, to be co-driven by himself and French ski Champion Henri Oreiller in the 1962 Tour de France. The pair challenged for victory and finished an honourable second overall.
The car was then crashed during a race at Montlhery Autodrome, just south of Paris, France. It was repaired immediately by Ferrari in Italy and was sold to gentleman driver Paolo Colombo in time for the 1963 competition season. At the time of ‘3851 GT’s re-emergence the latter half of Ferrari 250 GTO production was still in full swing at Maranello and in the Scaglietti body plant in Modena. Paolo Colombo enjoyed a very successful season in ‘against-the-clock’ Italian national hill climb events, before selling it to Ernesto Prinoth for 1964. He then used the car widely in both hill climbs and circuit races, again with fine results.
In 1965 a young Fabrizio Violati bought the aging car. He would recall: “I saved the car from scrap and hid it from my parents. I only drove it at night so nobody would see me”. For almost 40 more years, Fabrizio Violati then enjoyed his fabulous Ferrari 250 GTO in classic car and Historic racing events – and it became one of the last to compete regularly right into the 2000s, maintained in the Maranello Rosso Collection until his passing in 2010.