why is there also an E stamped in the engine block behind the seriel nummer?
If you mean as in the picture below on the cylinder block of 250 GTE chassis number 4247, in this case it's the internal engine number, followed by the year, and the E is said to be the type of the engine, although confusingly the engine in 250 GTE 4247 is tipo 128F, not tipo 128E. I believe only the early 250 GTEs had a tipo 128E engine with most of them having a tipo 128F engine. Image Unavailable, Please Login
My first 250GTE, #2501 or #2601 (I forget which), was a Series II with a 128E engine, my second one, #4209, a Series III had a 128F engine. I sold the later one to Ed Niles and I think it is now in Japan. Image Unavailable, Please Login
2601. 2501 GT was an SWB. 2601 GT (a GTE) was, according to barchetta, unfortunately converted to an SWB.
Thank you for that information. I had hear a rumor that it had been re-bodied. I hit a Ford sedan in the passenger's side door after he went through a stop sign. Fortunately, no one was hurt but the driver, a University of Virginia college student, jumped out of his car and began jumping up & down, running around wringing his hands and moaning over and over again "I hit a Ferrari, I hit a Ferrari". Actually I hit him, not the other way around but thanks to the 250 GTE's excellent 4-wheel disk brakes, it was not as serious as it might have been. The front of my car was flattened back to the radiator and the body support tubing structure was crushed but State Farm Insurance could not find (or did not want to pay for) a shop with the skill necessary to repair the damage so eventually they agreed to a "like for like" swap. I found the Series III at Algor Enterprises in Rosemount, PA and their salesman, David Oplimpi, arranged the purchase with State Farm. S/n 2601 was red with a black interior when I owned it. I bought it from a Mercedes dealer in Charlottesville, VA in about 1968. The story I got was that it had been bought in Italy by a US Army officer who brought it back to the US. He was being transferred to Vietnam and wanted to leave his wife with a new car so he traded it in on a Mercedes for her to drive while he was overseas. Someone told me that 2601 had been sold to somewhere in NC or SC but its damaged nose had not been repaired. Maybe this was a factor in its being rebodied. One interesting thing about that car was that it had an Italian-made "Condor" radio. It was a "signal- seeking" tuner that would scan its dial back and forth until it found a station. I have never seen another one like it.
I think so too but why then is no A model for america? or have there before the models A,B C,D ? not that I would know
When I started this thread I expected a couple of definitive replies and then done and not so much debate. Thanks for all the replies so far.
Correct Steve, they started with the Europa line then they bored out the motor and called the same car America. Later on, they put a bored out motor in the GTE body and called the car America. john
I'm "familiar" with Ferrari history but really only know what I read. Doing a little more research using my Ferrari books - and typical of Ferrari history the results are, at best, vague - seems Pinin Farina moved their factory and production was, for a time, done by Boano/Ellena and some of those cars had elevated roofs and larger trunks but that was before the 2+2 model - so forget the above Ellena guess. From Winston Goodfellow's Ferrari Road and Racing pages 70-71: " 1960 - 1963 250 GTE & 330 America ....Enzo's Ferrari: A car for IL Commendatore..... From late 1954 to 1960 Ferrari did not produce a four seat model. That changed with the introduction of the 250 GT 2+2, commonly known as the 250 GTE. Such a lengthy gap was surprising, given Enzo Ferrari's preference. The two seat models "were not my father's preference" said Piero Ferrari. "He loved the 2+2 ....this was his personal car......he always had a driver with him and a little dog. So for him a two seat car wasn't enough" As with so many things Italian that's the "explanation" from a renowned Ferrari authority and concours judge. That's right, an explanation, not a reason or an answer to your original question. I do hope some one can come up with a better answer though.
Perhaps you should reach out to long term owners, researchers or restorers via 250 GTE Registry or similar group. I would imagine someone in those circles must know the answer, even if nobody here appears to.
GTE homologation (part of it). Marcel Massini Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login