Mark Cella On The 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione
Mark Cella and His Favorite 60’s era Ferrari 250 SWB Berlinetta
Building on the successful history of the V12 GT racing engines that made the GTOs so substantial, brought the 250 Berlinetta sport coupe about. GTO stands for Gran Turismo Omologato in Italian, and in English means Grand Touring Homologated. Homologated means Official Agreement. So, the GTO was Officially Agreed to be a Grand Touring car. Anyway, the 250 simply is the measurement in cubic centimeters of each of the cylinders.
Mark Cella’s Official Agreement is the 250 is all Race
From 1953-64 Ferrari built the SWB model which truly put Ferrari on the center stage. It was their most acknowledged line. It was the first Ferrari to have four wheel disc brakes. It had a model which was the first four seater for this sports car. It had a V12 weighing half as much of competitors, cranking out up to 280bhp at 7000 rpm. It’s 4 gear race engine rocketed its victories at so many races the list is endless so here’s just a few:
The first four places in its class at the 1960 Le Mans 24 hour race, leaving Chevy and Aston Martin far in its dust. With three consecutive Tour de France wins, taking the first three places at the 1960 Tour de France, 5500 km race. Later that season the SWB won outright, at Goodwood when Sterling Moss lapped the entire field in it, making it the second consecutive win. Then in England, Monza in Italy, Spa, Nurburgring, and Monthlery.
The Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione weighed in at only 2,314 lbs., giving it a very high power to weight ratio. Top speed was approximately 152 mph, and 0-60 was done it 6.2 sec. Great numbers for this era.
Mark Cella Officially Agrees One of the Greatest Ferraris of all Time
Enthusiasts envied the fact that owners of this car could show up, unpack and race in the same unmodified car, occasionally changing tires. The only thing necessary was to paste on numbers. The competition models were lighter and had 30-40 more horsepower, regardless of which one you were in other manufacturers didn’t stand a chance.
Out of the ten Greatest Ferraris of all time, Motor Trend ranked this one 5th. Sports Car International placed it at 7 Top Sports Cars of the 60’s. Mark Cella gave it first place of his 1960’s Muscle Car Picks, second is the 67 Corvette Sting Ray and third being the cherished 1968 Chevy Camaro.
Ferrari And Other Super Sports Cars
Sports cars are fantastic are they not? But the conception of sports cars for the public has not been around since the beginning of the modern car industry. In fact, the idea of modern sports cars is pretty new. It was the Italian manufacturer, Enzo Ferrari, who thought of the idea and produced the first sports car for the public in 1929.
Enzo Ferrari was the pioneer of the modern sports car industry, but it soon caught on as wealthy men all around the world wanted to own a distinctive, speedy car, to set himself above the general public, who still cannot afford new modern sports cars.
Ferrari’s modern sports cars are famous all around the world. People are fascinated by the designs of Ferrari’s sports cars and racing cars. Ferrari has been in Formula One racing since it began and they are the most popular racing team of all time. The Ferrari team has included such celebrated names as Michael Schumacher and Alberto Ascai, who rapidly became popular heroes.
The flagship of the Ferrari sports cars is the F430, which is a two-seater coupe. It is continuously being improved and re-engineered. In fact, it has recently undergone a major revamp and now it is the most sought after modern sports car of the year. It is not only exceptionally beautiful, but it has great performance statistics as well. The price tag is very affordable for a car of this class. However, at $160,000 plus, most people could not afford a new set of tyres for it.
The latest Ferrari is the Superamerica hardtop convertible, which sells for $300,000. It became immediately sought after when it appeared in Ferrari showrooms across America. It has a fearsomely powerful V12 engine, which produces incredible performance. The engine is based on their Formula One racing cars and comes with gear changing paddles on the steering wheel.
The roof of the Superamerica is beautiful and pragmatic. It is made from electro chromic glass and carbon fibre and can be removed to convert the Superamerica from a smart coupe into a chic open top sports car in a matter of minutes. The drop-top Superamerica is one of the most beautiful modern sports cars on the planet.
Ferrari acquired another leading sports car company, Maserati, in 1997. Since then Maserati’s output from their production lines and the popularity of its cars has grown rapidly. The public just cannot get enough of Maserati’s modern sports cars like the Quattroporte at $95,000 and the Spyder GT drop-top, which costs a very affordable $83,000.
There are other manufacturers of modern sports cars such as Dodge with it’s Viper, Chevrolet with its Corvette, Lamborghini and the Murcielago and Porche with its Boxter and $440,000 Carrera.
If you cannot afford any of these modern sports cars, you could buy a kit car. With a kit car you can remove the shell of a relatively cheap sports car, like a Boxter, and replace it with an exact replica chassis of say a Lamborghini Murcielago in fibre glass.
