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<\/a><\/p>\nThe appointed date arrived a few weeks later along with perfect late Spring weather, pleasantly cool and partly cloudy. The plan was to meet up in Greenwich, drive out to Bedford Hills, New York, in a 250 GT long wheelbase berlinetta, commonly referred to as a \u201cTour de France\u201d due to the model\u2019s success in that grueling French race\/rally in the late 1950s, and then hook up with the two short wheelbase Ferraris that would be waiting for us in Bedford Hills. An excellent way to start off the day. Although we hadn\u2019t yet turned a wheel in either short wheelbase Ferrari, 25 teaser miles had already been racked up in the glorious TdF. Things were definitely looking up!<\/p>\n
The Ferraris <\/strong><\/p>\n Our two SWBs were both completed in late 1962, oddly enough on the same date (fraternal twins?)\u2014December 20 according to the cars\u2019 factory build sheets\u2014probably the only two Ferraris finished that day. The silver-grey berlinetta, bodied by Sergio Scaglietti to a Pininfarina design, was sold new in January, 1963, through Renato Nocentini\u2019s Garage La Rotonda, Ferrari\u2019s dealer in Florence, Italy, to first owner Mrs. Mirella Caccia of Pistoia, Italy. It is the next-to-the-last SWB berlinetta built, number 163 of 164, and, although it is steel-bodied, it came with several special competition features such as flared rear wheel fender arches, an instrument fascia with a black wrinkle finish, no bumpers and a \u201csoup dish\u201d sized competition fuel filler in the left rear fender. <\/p>\n The car was also delivered with a cold air pan around the carbs and Snap exhaust tips, both of which have gone missing over the years and will be added back shortly. Its ownership trail took it to England in the early 1970s, then back to Italy in 1977, before coming to the U.S. in 1989. After a brief stint in Japan in 1996, it returned to the States and has been here ever since.<\/p>\n 250 GT SWB California <\/strong><\/p>\n The red California spider, also styled by Pininfarina and bodied in Scaglietti\u2019s Modena, Italy, shop, is the sixth-from-the-last example built, the 49th of 54, and the next-to-the-last SWB California with covered headlights. It was sold new by San Francisco Ferrari dealer, Charles Rezzaghi Motors, to Edward Schenck of Santa Rosa, California, on February 19, 1963. The car has never left the U.S. and, until coming to its current East Coast owner in May 2007, it had previously never left California.<\/p>\n Credit for convincing Enzo Ferrari to build the California spider, when his company was already building the more luxurious soft top 250 GT cabriolet, goes to Luigi Chinetti, Ferrari\u2019s agent for North America who was then located in New York City. However, the seed for the California spider had been planted with Chinetti by John von Neumann, Ferrari\u2019s West Coast distributor in the late 1950s, hence the mutually agreed to \u201cCalifornia\u201d name. Von Neumann wanted to be able to offer his warm weather Ferrari clientele an open, two-place grand touring car that had more in common with Ferrari\u2019s competititon berlinettas than did the cabriolet.<\/p>\n The short wheelbase California spiders, while designed primarily for high speed highway touring, did have some success in competition. Three examples were built with lightweight aluminum alloy bodies, the most successful being chassis 2015 GT which finished 12th overall at Sebring in 1961 and was 2nd in its class. The same car ran as high as 11th overall at the 1960 Le Mans 24 Hours, only to expire with three hours to go with engine woes. <\/p>\n LWB to SWB <\/strong><\/p>\n The first California spiders were built in 1958 on a longer 2,600-mm wheelbase chassis, but by early 1960 Ferrari had switched to a shorter 2,400-mm wheelbase chassis, beginning with serial number 1795 GT. Ferrari continued to build the model until early 1963 when the last California spider, serial number 4137 GT, left the Maranello factory.<\/p>\n Mechanically, our two SWB Ferraris are identical. Both are powered by Ferrari\u2019s legendary single-overhead-cam, V12 engine displacing 2,953-cc, which was developed over many years and can trace its history back to a 1.5-liter displacement 12-cylinder design drawn by Engineer Gioachino Colombo back in 1947. In dry sump form with six Webers on top, it was used by Ferrari to power the 250 GTO, which won the World Constructors Championship in 1962, 1963 and 1964.<\/p>\n Each of our SWB engines is fed by a trio of 36 DCS\/3 Weber carburetors, each uses a 9.2 to 1 compression ratio, and each produces a maximum of about 250-hp at 7,000 rpm. Their engine blocks carry consecutive internal numbers\u2014758\/62 for the California and 760\/62 for the berlinetta.<\/p>\n Both Ferraris ride on a husky tubular steel chassis, type 539\/61, both are equipped with four-speed synchromesh transmissions using a standard \u201cH\u201d shift pattern, and both employ four-wheel disc brakes. Their front suspensions are independent with coil springs, Koni shocks and A-arms, while their live rear axles use semi-elliptic leaf springs, radius rods and Konis. Tires originally were 185 x 15 Pirelli Cinturatos mounted on RW 3690 Borrani wire wheels. On Board The view on board these Ferraris, whether from behind the steering wheel or in the passenger\u2019s seat, is both familiar and compelling. Immediately ahead of the driver are the tachometer, reading to 8,000 rpm in each car, and an optimistic speedometer, which winds to 300 kph in the berlinetta and 180 mph in the spider.<\/p>\n Marching off to the right in the spider are five lesser gauges showing oil pressure, fuel level, water and oil temperature, and the time. The berlinetta has only four smaller instruments lined up to the right of the speedometer, with the oil pressure gauge centered ahead of the driver between the tach and speedometer. A series of unmarked switches that activate such things as the fuel pump, wipers and lights reside at knee level along the bottom of the instrument fascia in both Ferraris, and require driver familiarization to get them to operate. <\/p>\n The Route<\/strong><\/p>\n Time to roll. Leaving Bedford Hills on board the California spider with the top down, we headed the two Ferraris north up New York Route 22 to connect with Interstate 684 near Katonah. Not exactly a winding, hilly, rural two-lane road, but I-684 presented an opportunity to explore, traffic permitting, the Ferraris\u2019 performances in fourth gear. The berlinetta was faster.<\/p>\n Of course, as we motored along the Interstate the two Ferraris attracted plenty of gawks and stares from fellow travelers, plus many smiles, thumbs up and digital cameras. The silver and red pair were attention-getters and head-turners wherever we went, whether on the road or in parking lots, getting noticed by everyone from SUV moms to long-haul big rig drivers. It\u2019s hard to hide in these cars and next to impossible to remain blas\u00e9 and unimpressed. Shrinking violets need not apply.<\/p>\n New Milford, Connecticut <\/strong><\/p>\n We exited I-684 east of Brewster, New York, taking routes 22, 65, 39, and 37 north and east through New Fairfield and Sherman, Connecticut, toward U.S. 7 and New Milford. We had now connected with some good Ferrari roads\u2014winding, hilly, and lightly traveled\u2014a nice test for both cars and drivers, but bumps, cracks, holes and heaves (Connecticut had a lousy winter) took a little of the fun out of it.<\/p>\n Traffic on a Saturday morning in New Milford had come to a stop-and-go crawl thanks to shoppers, left-turners and stop lights. The two Ferraris handled the dilemma admirably, although the California required activation of the autoflux electric fuel pump to maintain adequate fuel pressure.<\/p>\n North out of New Milford, U.S. 202 took us to state route 109 and our destination near Washington, Connecticut. A visit had been scheduled at Bill King\u2019s 75-acre organic farm that grows everything from kale to corn, and supplies produce to several area restaurants including King\u2019s eatery, Back 40 Kitchen, in Greenwich.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Ferrari\u2019s short wheelbase berlinetta met the world in October, 1959, at the Paris Auto Show as the successor to the company\u2019s long wheelbase example, the aforementioned TdF, which had been in production since 1956, beginning with chassis 0503 GT. Intended for racing\u2014the SWB examples built in 1960 were almost all alloy-bodied\u2014its shorter wheelbase gave improved handling at speed, plus it was lighter, quicker and more powerful than its long wheelbase predecessor. As a result, the newly minted GT Constructors Championship, which began in 1961, went to Ferrari that year thanks to the SWB and drivers such as Mike Parkes, Graham Hill and Stirling Moss.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Chassis, Gearbox, Brakes and Tires <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n