What price differance does original engine make?

I was thinking of this fellow I knew in the FOC decades ago who had a '49 Barchetta
with a Chrysler in it (might have been a slant six),anyhow after years of owning it and driving it to every club event he found the guy with the original engine but the guy refused to sell it to him. Finally he found a lawyer who would broker the purchase of the engine so it could be reunited with its original chassis. Of course I know going from an American engine to a Ferrari engine probably doubled its value at the time but what about now, in 2010, that Ferrari is casting new blocks?

Let me site an imaginary example--say you found a swb 250T with a Corvette engine in it (as I photographed once in Palos Verdes between 1970-'72) ) , and you found the original engine for sale but also found Ferrari would provide you with a new block with the original engine's stamped number (do they do that?), which would be the best way for the restorer/owner to go for the car's value or would the engine holder holding the engine try to hold you up too much on the engine? I know Mercedes with their classic car program will just about supply whatever you need so I don't think Mercedes 300SL owners are quite so anxious to pay too much for the original if they find a Chevy-powered 300SL compared to the price of a new block from MB.

 

One consideration is the time element. Do you want to leave your Ferrari in Italy for a year while it is restored with a brand new engine? If you have the original engine to put back in the car then that commands a bigger premium than a replacement stamped as such by Ferrari.
A couple of 250 LM owners traded motors to get the original engine back in their respective cars.
You probably remember years ago someone who collected 4 cylinder Ferrari engines plus their parts because they couldn't afford V12 motor prices. Nobody wanted the 4 cylinder motors so they went cheap and had a nice little gold mine when supplies dried up.

You mentioned the Corvette motor and the Corvette guys are fanatics about original; the Ferrari guys less so. Many Ferrari guys have no problem repainting a car in a different color from what it left the factory with. The Corvette guys would consider changing the original color a mortal sin. Even old Ed the turkey farmer knew enough to keep his Corvettes original back in the early 70's. Remember that perfect original red 57 FI Corvette hardtop that Ed owned? By comparison the Ferrari guys back then had nobody looking over their shoulder telling them to fix their broken cars properly because they would be worth more that way...
CH

 

Technically Ferrari Classiche will not give you a new engine with the same engine number stamped on it, rather the correct engine with the stamping one digit higher then the last production engine made.
Still I think going through Ferrari's Classiche program would still enhance the cars value even if its not the original engine..its the closest you could get

 

because what if the original engine, long thought lost, turns up? Anotehr solution would be to put the original number on but add an asterisk or -1 or something to show that is what number should be on the engine and you know it could be out there somewhere. What is ferrari charging for a new block, say for a 1964 250GT Lusso?

 

It's for them to know the internal motor number and you to find out. If you knew, you might want to alter an existing block (difficult for the IM #, but not impossible).

Here's a Classiche block stamping.
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Thanks for posting that photo!

Is the finish on the un-machined surfaces of that block similar to that of the original blocks?