Sedate Cabriolet Takes the Prize at Amelia Island

A fine addition to Amelia Island this year was this very pleasant and unprepossessing 1960 250 GT Pininfarina Cabriolet of the Series II variety. These cars were a bit more demure in design than the concurrent 250 GT Californias, or the more flamboyant 250 GT Pininfarina Cabriolets of Series I fame. But over time they have held their quiet elegance and people are beginning to realize that beneath that skin it’s all Ferrari, with no compromises, a big V-12 and full Ferrari running gear.

This particular model, s/n 1753 GT, was brought by Garry and Victoria Peters from Canada and they’ve owned it since 2012. The car started life by being sold to a company in Lausanne, Switzerland, and then it had a measure of quiet fame by being owned by Marie-Gabrielle de Savoy, which is not a bad royal name to have on your prominence docs.

In the mid-1960s, it went through several more owners but then something happened to the car and it was scrapped in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 1985 luckily, all the pieces were gathered together and it was fully restored and then went to several more Swiss owners through the 1990s before ending up with Garry Peters in 2012.

At that time, it was fully restored by Fast Cars limited in Redondo Beach, California and it was presented here in all its glory at Amelia Island. As a testimony to its value, it came away with a Best in Class for Ferrari Production 1960 to 1972, no small feat since it was up against great competition in that class.

What is unusual about this otherwise normal PF Cabriolet, however, is that it came with stylish front fender vents in the Super America style, which gives this car an extra note of visual distinction.

Image by Associate Editor Keith Bluemel.