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During the late fifties, Ferrari was producing automobiles for every sector of the market. The 250 series was maturing as successful racing berlinetta while the large-displacement Superamericas catered to the luxurious side of touring. Combining these two markets, was the 250 Pinin Farina Speciale. Only two were made, chassis #0725GT and #0751GT.

A 250 GT for Royalty

The story of the 250 Pinin Farina Speciale began with HRH Price Bernard of the Netherlands. His appreciation of the Ferrari brand began with the 212 Inter, of which he owned two. As the prince maintained a personal relationship with Enzo Ferrari, when it came to ordering a new 250GT, custom appointments and specification a must.

The Prince's car was built on a type 508C chassis, specifcally #0725GT. It supported a special type 128MMC engine which was a revision of the type 128C having a larger bore of 75mm. This larger bore increased the engine capacity to 3117cc with power ranging somewhere bewteen 240 to 260 hp. With such a setup, chassis #0725GT matched the specification of the 250 GT Berlinettas which dominated the Tour de France.

Pinin Farina Coachwork

During the fifties, Pinin Farina was becoming increasingly confident making custom bodies for the 400 Superamerica and 410 Superamerica. These large displacement Ferraris were produced in strictly limited edition for important clientele. No surprise, when a 250 was ordered for the Dutch Royalty, it received the high level of attention that was usually reserved for the Superamerica.

The Pinin Farina body to adorn #0725 was finished in mid-1957. Although, in detail this body was unique, the overall styling of #0725GT shared much with earlier Pinin Farina designs. As an example, four earlier 250 GT cabriolet prototypes and a single 410, chassis #0719SA, shared the same front end with #0725GT, complete with 'lusso-like' bumperettes.

Later in 1957, another chassis, #0751, was ordered for Princess Lilane de Rethy of Belgium. This chassis became a sister car to #0725GT made earlier for the Dutch Prince. In many regards, especially in styling, chassis #0725GT and #0751GT received similar treatment from Pinin Farina.

Currentely

Both chassis #0725GT and #0751GT are seen above at the 2001 Pebble Beach Concours. The darker car is chassis #0725GT which still retains it's original Dutch AA13 royal plate. The lighter car is chassis #0751GT which was Princess Lilane's personal transport.

Specification listed below is for chassis #0725GT with the Tipo 128MMC engine.