I've seen a number of posts describing "Elena", "Boano", "High roof", Low roof". Is there some sort of commonality with these cars? Any photos to make comparison? Just curious, Bob Z.
bob, generally from what i know associated with Ellena cars Boano's were made with a low roof design (sleek look) , it had a wing window as well Ellena's were made right after the Boano cars and were referred to high roof cars, because they changed the roof and windshield design to a taller roof and eliminated the vent window - all to accommodate a taller person. There were some small number of transition cars during that switch from Boano manufacturing to Ellena Manufacturing. There is a lot more detail on the internet about Mario Boano and Ezio Ellena and their family and ownership of the factory (virtually the same factory named Boano - then switched names to Ellena. Hope that helps some?
Bob, everything Ed said is correct, but let me see if I can break it down further for you with photos. Pinin Farina designed this series of 250 GT coupes and bodied a short run of prototypes to the original design. Here is an image of one of these PF prototypes. Notice the slight kick-up on the beltline immediately behind the door and the PF badge on the front fender: Image Unavailable, Please Login Carrozzeria Boano (headed by Mario Boano) took over production of the bodies, doing away with the "kick-up" in the beltline. Here's a Boano-bodied car for comparison: Image Unavailable, Please Login Mario Boano sold the Carrozzeria to his son-in-law, Ezio Ellena, and Ellena took over production of the bodies for this series of cars. After producing a short run of bodies in the Boano style, Ellena further modified the original PF design by dramatically raising the roofline and doing away with the vent windows on most these cars. Here is an example of one of these "high-roof" Ellenas: Image Unavailable, Please Login So, in order to distinguish between these three variations on the same design, we have: Pinin Farina prototype - short run of cars by PF with kick-up in beltline; Boano "low-roof", or simply "Boano" - production run by Boano without the kick-up; Ellena "low roof" - short run of cars by Ellena that carried Boano's low-roof/straight beltline design (visually indistinguishable from the "Boano"); Ellena "high roof", or simply "Ellena" - production run by Ellena with high roof and (in most cases) no vent windows.
Well, that's a good question. Officially, four cars were bodied by PF as pre-production prototypes (in the original PF "kick-up" design) for what would later become the 250 GT production coupes by Boano and Ellena. They were: 0429 GT 0431 GT 0433 GT 0435 GT However, this car complicates things: Image Unavailable, Please Login This is 0367 GT, which should be a 250 GT Europa. The story goes that Europa GT chassis 0367 GT was crashed while owned by Baron Élie Robert de Rothschild and sent back to PF to be rebodied around the time when these prototypes were being produced. According to the story, 0367 GT received a new body in this style and went back to Rothschild in France. My personal theory is that Rothschild actually traded the wrecked Europa in on a new car, which was stamped "0367 GT" so that it could be brought into France with no tax or importation consequences. As you're probably aware, this was a fairly common practice with Ferrari at the time. And if this is the case, then depending on the condition of the Europa's chassis, it may have been stripped of major mechanicals and scrapped. So does that mean there were five of these prototypes produced? Actually, I think not, because there's no gap in the chassis number sequence. If a fifth car was produced and restamped "0367 GT", then what was the original chassis number? Prototype chassis 0435 was followed by chassis 0437, 0439, 0441, etc. I think it's more likely that only these four pre-production prototypes were produced by PF in this style and chassis 0431 GT is the chassis that became 0367 GT. I've never seen any photo or documentation on 0431 GT after completion by Pinin Farina. There's an engine out there that was stamped with this number at one time (now in 212 Inter 0149/E and restamped to match that car), but no sign of an actual car. So I think the possibilities are: - There were four PF prototypes in this style and one rebodied Europa GT; - There were five PF prototypes done in this style and one was restamped "0367 GT"; or, more likely... - There were only the four pre-production PF prototypes done in this style and 0431 GT was restamped "0367 GT" (and is the car in the above photo). Of course, someone may eventually come forward with conclusive evidence that prototype 0431 GT existed as a separate car, proving my theory entirely wrong, but I welcome that.
0435 GT sold at the RM Monterey Auction in August 2015 for $1,485,000. A very nice Boano (0667 GT) sold at the same sale, but the deal on the Boano went down post-block and so I don't have the final price. Even so, I'm not aware that there was an enormous difference between the two.
Doing some research on these cars - i read this...... "This particular example, chassis number 0435 GT, is a unique Pinin Farina prototype. The coachwork was completed by Pinin Farina. It is the fourth of nine 250 GT prototypes that wore coachwork by Pinin Farina, after which Boano began production and completed the remainder of the series" . With your explanation of the 4, where does the 9 figure come from?
According to factory dox sold new to Robert Braunschweig of Bern, Switzerland, then head of Swiss weekly newspaper "Automobil Revue". He later sold it to Mr. Le Porte of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Marcel Massini
If i recall, my customer has 0447 and i believe he said it was built by Pinin Farina. It is an alloy body car.
0667 GT sold 14 August 2015 for a total of US$ 1'056'000 to a man in CT/USA. The difference is a kool US$ 429'000. Marcel Massini
There were further cars said to be bodied by PF (0441, 0445, 0447), but I believe that, while factory records show these chassis were destined for PF, they were actually completed by Boano -- in the Boano style, without the "kicked-up" beltline that's now considered to be more desirable. To muddy things up even more, a number of the later Boano-bodied cars have sported kicked-up beltlines (0505, 0511, 0517, 0519, 0521, others?). While some of these are close enough in sequence that they may actually represent a short run in this style for whatever reason, they could just as well have been modified at a later date. And then there's a series of four PF-bodied cars (0463, 0465, 0467, and 0469) with very different bodies altogether, having highly pronounced kick-ups and looking more like small versions of the 410 Superamerica. So long story short, beyond those first four pre-production prototypes by bodied by Pinin Farina, it gets complicated. Thank you! I would say that reflects a considerable premium paid for the pre-production PF body. I had the original destination to Robert Braunschweig, per the factory docs, but you know that's not always where these cars ended up. I also have a reference to Le Porte in Switzerland, but no reliable source listed. I assume you have docs on the Swiss ownership?
There were 9 early chassis numbers: 0429GT, 0431GT, 0433GT, 0435GT, 0437GT, 0441GT, 0443GT, 0445GT, 0447GT. Some of them were completed by Pinin Farina, other transferred to Boano in various stages of completion. At this time I have started to doubt if Pinin Farina really completed more than the two appearing in factory photos. 0435GT was clearly a demonstrator being used for all kind of photos and two motor shows (Geneva & Turin). 0431GT is a mystery as no photos seem to have surfaced, would also love to find some dates upon its claimed completion and sale. It is amazing how different the the early cars (preceding 0527GT) are...
This is an interesting addition to the discussion. You've obviously spent some time examining this issue. I'm curious - which is the other chassis you attribute to PF and what are your thoughts on both 0367 and 0431?
Related to my customer car 0447GT - according to a report done on the car, this is what it said: " Pinin Farina Body #14995 (although it was actually bodied by Carrozzeria Mario Boano) ALLOY body (One of just three such cars by Carrozzeria Pinin Farina, the other two were 0443 GT and 0445 GT)" IT does NOT have the kick up on the hips.
Ed Have Mr. S. give you a copy of the build sheets and you will see on the second to last line at the bottom of the autotelaio page that it says "Carrozzeria Boano". Marcel Massini
Marcel, Just looked at it - and yes you are correct. It is so great that you, Wayne and others so familiar with these cars. You all have such a substantial handle on the history of these cars to keep the speculation down to a minimum and to the facts. I now understand what this implication really meant. Grazie Mil! 0447GT receive about 3 months ago it Classic Certification as well.
Any thoughts on the reason why they were sent back to Boano to build when they were already there at PF and assigned a PF number - like in 0447GT?
At the time, Pinin Farina was busy filling much larger orders for Lancia and Alfa, and had just contracted with Peugeot. It was a time of fantastic growth for the company, but the old facility was already operating at maximum capacity. Construction was just beginning on a larger PF facility in Grugliasco, but that wouldn't be completed until 1958, and so PF was in a situation where it simply couldn't handle the additional work.
0429GT and 0435GT were clearly completed by Pinin Farina. They were both photographed at the factory and the only ones I've ever seen with PF insignia. I think if 0431GT had also been completed by Pinin Farina, we would most likely have seen pictures. 0367GT is a later car, the body is entirely different.
Thanks, Gents, for all the interesting information. I had no idea that there were these variants on the PF/Boano/Ellena cars. Were they all inside plug engines or were outside plug engines fitted? Also, were they all drum brake cars? Bob Z.
bob, i believe the boano and elena's were all drum brake cars......PF i think they converted some time later in the production (not sure) same for inside plug motors for boano and ellena - not sure on the PF coupes how long they stayed with inside plug.
Boano/Ellena were all inside plug, drum brake cars. PF Coupes switched to outside plugs, disc brakes and overdrive at approximately #1500.
Someone can fill in the details but unfortunately the factory that built both these cars burned to the ground. Not many of the actual cars were lost but the entire archives with build sheets,design drawings,sales records and the entire records of each chassis body were lost. What remains are some of the documents and manuals that came with each car when delivered new and copies of some of the correspondence between the factory and owners.I am sure there is a web site devoted to these machines and there are collectors who have preserved what they can and can tell you more.Of all the cars of the period these are the most difficult to restore accurately because there is so little remaining to go by. I am sure out there somewhere there are factories which have the facilities to recreate many of the original parts but these are not quite the same as the original. If one had the time and inclination it would be a fascinating subject to follow with a very select group of collectors. tonga's crew
