| Category | GT coupe |
|---|---|
| Designer(s) | Bizzarrini and Giovanni Volpi |
| Technical specifications | |
| Chassis | alloy body over Ferrari type 539 (250 GT SWB 1961) chassis |
| Engine | Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa 3 litre V12 NA |
| Transmission | 250 SWB four-speed |
| Tyres | Dunlop Racing 600 L 15 & 650 L 15 |
| Competition history | |
| Debut | 1962 Nurburgring 1000km |
The Ferrari 250 GT SWB Breadvan is a special Ferrari made in 1962 from a 1961 Ferrari 250 SWB Short Wheel Base, chassis number #2819GT. It was built to compete against the new 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and other FIA World Sportscar Championship races.
In 1962, the engineer Giotto Bizzarrini was hired by Count Giovanni Volpi, owner of the SSS Scuderia Serenissima Republica di Venezia, to uprate a Ferrari 250 GT SWB to GTO Specs. Ferrari was upset with Volpi and had refused "on personal grounds" to sell him a GTO.[1]
Bizzarrini applied all the ideas from the GTO and together with the car body specialist Piero Drogo developed an aerodynamically advanced body, even lower than GTO, with the roof line dramatically extended to the rear end following Kamm aerodynamic theory. The resulting shooting-brake appearance prompted the moniker "Breadvan".[1] Bizzarrini moved the engine further back to the center of the chassis than the GTO, and lowered it by fitting a dry sump system.
The car was completed in 14 days. Several other 250 GT SWB cars were developed by Bizzarrini, Drogo, Neri and Bonacini, some to GTO spec, and distinctive bodied with similar shapes. The car was reported to be 7 km/h faster than GTO at Le Hunaudières straight at Le Mans.[1]
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The 250 GT Drogo's unusual shooting brake design was used on some concept cars and limited production cars such as 365 GTC/4 and 456 GT Venice. The Ferrari FF, the company's first full production shooting brake, also uses this design.