Finding a Lusso

Welcome, if anybody can, this crowd can!

Let's see how long it takes.

Some of them disappear into private collections, but if it's still being driven it'll get "spotted"....

 

From a quick check, Mr. Miller had it in Jackson, MI, and I see no trail after he sold it.

 

Dont think it's in FLA... I did find another that I'm hoping to look at this weekend.

 

Have you seen the silver/black Lusso that is here in Naples? Beautiful car. I have no idea if it is the one you are looking for, but I can say it is one of the nicest Lussos I have seen.

 

I havent seen that one yet...sonds nice though. The one I'm hoping to see is red. Are you sure the one you saw there is silver not light blue?

 

Mike Sheehan is marketing this car.

http://ferraris-online.com/pages/carintro.php?reqcardir=FE-250GTL-5861

 

Great car....what is this car worth? The price seems high in this market...

 

I'm no expert but the price seems ok considering a good history and the $275K resto at Grand Touring. Werent these a million bucks not too long ago?

Cheers,

 

It's difficult to say... the expensive resto is a big plus however they seem to have come down a bit. I believe the only lusso sold over the 1 million mark was the McQueen car. I may be wrong but I dont recall them being that high.

 

Hi Ben, it was a little more. $2.3Mil

 

Oh I know... The owner offered to sell it at the Amelia concourse for 800K. I thought he was nuts. Average was 350K at that time. Whoops!
I meant that that was the only one I knew of that sold over the 1 million mark... I may be incorrect, the Euro to dollar exchange was a bit crazy there for a while. =)

 

Ah ok I understand.

Best,

 

Here is the second highest of all time aside from the Mcqueen Lusso. In May of 2008 at the top of the market : Sold for about $1.1M at the exchange rate of the time...

Ferrari – Leggenda e Passione
Sunday, May 18, 2008


1963 Ferrari 250 GT/L Berlinetta
LOT: 319

Estimate:
€480.000-€580.000
Chassis No. 5143
AUCTION RESULTS: Lot was Sold at a price of €759.000






Fresh from a five-year, concours-quality restoration

Engine # 5143GT
Design:
Pininfarina
Coachwork:
Scaglietti
Specifications:
240bhp, 2,953cc, single overhead camshaft aluminium block and heads V-12 engine, with three Weber 36DCS carburettors, four-speed gearbox, independent front suspension with A-arms, coil springs and telescopic shocks, live axle, semi-elliptical springs, telescopic shocks, Watts linkage rear suspension, four-wheel hydraulic disc brakes. Wheelbase: 2,400mm (94.5 in.)

German Fahrzeugbrief
Ferrari Classiche Certification Package.

This lot is EC taxes paid and originates from Germany.

The gorgeous Ferrari 250 GT Lusso Berlinetta is generally regarded as having been one of the most exquisitely proportioned and most beautiful of all the Pininfarina styling creations upon the legendary front-engined Ferrari 250 GT chassis. These were classic high-performance Gran Turismo cars with a difference, for they combined power and speed with the highest contemporary levels of elegance and comfortable accommodation for two, plus their luggage.
A prototype of the new 250 GT/L, or Lusso as it became known, appeared at the Paris Motor Show in October 1962 and was considered another stylistic triumph for the designer, Pininfarina (the coachbuilder’s name officially became one word in 1961), and builder, Scaglietti. The strikingly elegant lines, blending into a Kamm tail, were reminiscent of the 250 GT SWB Berlinetta. The 250 GT SWB Berlinetta had been Ferrari’s last real dual-purpose road and race car and the difference between the racing cars and road cars was ever widening. The Lusso’s stablemate was the mighty 250 GTO, a pure racer, but the 2,400mm short wheelbase chassis of the Lusso bore a great resemblance to the immortal 250 GTO, as did some of the styling.
The 3.0-litre 250 series of Ferraris began production in the late fifties and the 250 GT Coupé, Cabriolet, Spyder California and GTE 2+2 were all part of the company’s road car production. The Lusso would be the last car to be fitted with the Colombo designed 3.0-litre V-12 engine. With just three Weber carburettors as opposed to the six used on the racing version, the unit used in the Lusso produced approximately 250bhp and was capable of propelling the car to a top speed of 240km/h (150mph) and zero to 100km/h sprint in eight seconds. The Lusso was manufactured from 1963 until 1964, a very short period; only 350 were produced.
The Lusso received a tremendous reception. Car and Driver in May 1964 said, “…its proportions approach perfection”. Road and Track did not road test the car until 1969 but wrote, “…Ferrari’s most beautiful car; a classic at age five”. Ferrari Magazine called it “one of the all time classics”. And the German weekly Revue Automobile called it “the most beautiful car in the world”. Auto Week wrote, “…Some cars, like some movies, are not for kids. This is one of them.”
It wasn’t just the press that gave the car such plaudits. It attracted some well-known owners. Dr Harvey Postlethwaite, Ferrari’s former head of design in Formula 1, owned one, as did Battista “Pinin” Farina, apparently so pleased with the outcome of their design that he had to have a car for his personal use. Steve McQueen was another owner and fan. His friend William Claxton recalled, “We would set a place to meet for lunch and then take off, Steve in the Lusso and me in my Porsche 356 SC 1600. Steve’s idea of fun was to go roaring off and, a couple hours later, be parked at the side of the road pretending to be bored waiting for us to arrive. It was a great time. He really loved that car.”
The Ferrari 250 GT Lusso presented here, chassis number 5143GT, was sold new via official dealer Autofficina Vari to a customer in Rome at the end of 1963. The car was serviced and maintained at Ferrari’s Assistenza Clienti at Viale Trento Trieste in Modena. The car was exported to the UK in the seventies when it was owned by W. Richard Curtis and Terry Frost. The car was later owned by well-known collector Anthony Bamford. Subsequently the car changed hands several times before going to Belgium and was then refurbished by official Ferrari dealer Peter Rosenmaier in Germany. The car was then stored for years, and has just recently completed a full body-off restoration under the guidance of the present owner.
This painstaking restoration lasted four years, during which time every detail was researched with the utmost detail. The current owner did not want to entrust the car to one restoration shop, but instead sourced the best specialists for each element of the restoration; the car was sent to the best body shop, the best trimmers, and of course the best engine builders for the restoration of the V-12 engine. The full restoration was documented with photography of each step and the “restoration file” will be given to the buyer.
Still fresh from the restoration, the Ferrari is finished in the very attractive Vernice 106-A-16 Celeste with dark green leather interior (Ferrari code for the interior colour is 4275). In concours condition, the Lusso is ready to compete at the most discerning Concours d’Elegance.
5143GT comes complete with a spare set of original Marchal headlights, the original handbook, two Lusso brochures, a framed Pininfarina Lusso advert, a first edition copy of Kurt H. Miska’s book The Berlinetta Lusso and an almost complete set of original tools.
Count Giovanni Lurani drove a Lusso Berlinetta through Milan, the Mont Cenis Pass, Lyons, Tours, Le Mans, Orleans, Basle, Lucerne, the St Gotthard Pass, Lugarno and back to Milan. He described the car as “The best in the world” and wrote the following for Auto Italiana: “The 250 GT Berlinetta ‘designed by Pininfarina’ thoroughly confirmed its right to be considered as the most exceptional high performance sports car in existence today. It showed the excellence of its mechanical base, refined by an incomparable competition tradition, and a remarkably brilliant aesthetic conception which bore the signature of the greatest body builder in the world.”






Contact Information:

 

As Geno said, there was 5143. http://www.rmauctions.com/CarDetails.cfm?SaleCode=FF08&CarID=r134&Currency=

EM has had 4627 on the market almost since that time, and the price has come down considerably but I believe they're still asking 800k. I've seen a very good Lusso for sale for 400k Euro and I know of one that sold for less than that. With my limited knowledge, it seems 400k Euro is a good indication for Lussos at the moment on the Old Continent. It seems the US prices have not come down as much yet.


Onno

 

Take a few minutes to read the detailed history of this car. Interestingly it took a previous owner 8 years to get it sold (74-82) offering it for sale from time to time.

Also these bills make my eyes water. Just when you think everything must be ready, along comes another bill for $13k for 'bits and pieces'

 

Onno-

I've seen EM's car in person and it's gorgeous with it's colors. I believe the asking price is $785K at this time. I heard they want $750K for the car, as there was a lot invested into it. That is a lot of money, but then to get a car to that condition takes a lot. I know first hand, they don't get done for cheep. I was offered 6 months ago a black/burg. 1964 Lusso in #2 condition (almost concourse condition) that was restored 10 years ago by the same outfit that did my car with not much use since for just under $500K. That was a great deal. I think the market is still soft for the Lusso and may be so for a while. I don't see the car trading for $250K any time soon like some people for casted and should remain a $600K-$650K car in the foreseeable future. That's for the high quality restored ones.

Geno.

 

Yes, I think the market prices show support to your theory, Geno. I don't see the car trading at $250k anytime soon either. If it ever does, I'll certainly go for it. The EM car certainly looks spectacular, BTW. I find myself visiting that website often!


Onno

 

There is a blue Lusso for sale in Tacoma, WA. It is for service at Alfa of Tacoma before it goes to the block, might want to call there to inquire.