This story begins in the fall of 1961, with a protagonist, Count Giovanni Volpi di Misurata, owner of the famous Serenissima racing team.
In the X edition of Le Mans Classic to be held from June 30 to July 3, a formidable look back at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which brings together eight hundred classic race cars on the track in the various tests in front of one hundred ninety-five thousand spectators a Ferrari 250 GT caused enough damage to the asphalt.
It is one of the few 250 GT copies built by Ferrari, and yet some purists
they don’t consider him a real Ferrari. And it is that the history of this copy, nicknamed «Breadvan», is very curious and controversial.
This story begins in the fall of 1961, with a protagonist, Count Giovanni Volpi di Misurata, owner of the famous Serenissima racing team, named after the Republic of Venice. By the way, his father, a billionaire, politician and financier, was the founder of the Venice Film Festival.
Count Volpi buys the 250 aluminum short-chassis sedan with which Belgian driver Olivier Gendebien (four-time Le Mans winner) has just finished second, along with Lucien Bianchi, of the Tour de France Automobile. As in the case of the team’s other two 250 GT, this third is painted red and the Volpi family shield is embossed on the flanks. And in the 1000 kilometers from Paris, Maurice Trintignant and Nino Vacarella placed this 250 GT in third place, behind two official Ferrari cars.
It is precisely the Maranello team that is experiencing a difficult moment during that period. In 1961, Laura Dominica Ferrari, Enzo’s wife, had a major influence on the direction of the company. For some, that’s too much. The disputes pile up and a group of engineers decide to file a complaint with the Commendatore… And the sports director Romolo Tavoni and the engineers Carlo Chiti, who was the technical director of the Scuderia, and Giotto Bizzarrini end up on the street.
Suddenly the small group “displaced” goes to use their knowledge for their own project and found ATS or Automobili Turismo e Sport. To finance it, they turn to Count Volpi, owner of the Scuderia Serenissima, a loyal Ferrari customer.
Giovanni Volpi currently has two 250 GTOs on order. He counted on this for his 1962 season. But when Enzo Ferrari learned of the aristocrat’s support for his former employees, he canceled the order.
Inevitably, the impact on Scuderia Serenissima’s side will be significant. War is declared and Volpi prepares his weapons. Anger is a bad counselor, calm down and reflect. Now he must find a way to beat the 250 GTO (Gran Turismo Omologata), which Ferrari presents in February 1962 to drive in that season.
Volpi takes the step and orders Bizzarrini, who developed the Maranello car before he left, to create a rival for it.
Bizzarini takes the 250 GT he bought from Gendebien and faces a major transformation. The main points are a lower engine stand height, which also focuses more on a heavily modified chassis and new bodywork. The bike has been transformed by two experts from Modena, Neri and Bonacci. The body is also made in Modena, at “l’officine” Sports Cars, by Piero Drogo. With its rear end that follows Kamm’s aerodynamic principles, this body (lower than that of the GTO) leaves everyone baffled and provokes a lot of discussion. Italians and French call it “the van”, while the English use the term “Breadvan”, literally “the baker’s van”.
In the “Experimental” category, he will participate in the 1962 24 Hours of Le Mans, driven by Italian Carlo Maria Abate and Briton Colin Davis. In the opening hour of the race, the Serenissima “pickup” was in ninth place overall, ahead of all GTOs, even though they were driven by more prestigious names (Guichet, Vaccarella, Ireland and Gregory) than the GTO’s. car In the second hour, the Serenissima had already moved up two places and was behind the official Ferrari Sport Prototype, driven by Baghetti and Scarfiotti, indicating its full potential
But in the third hour, a broadcast breaks. And the same goes for another car from the Volpi team, Gurney and Bonnier’s Testarossa 61 Serenissima. This accident, of the kind of bad luck and at the same time, surprises Volpi and even more when the mechanics discover that there were missing balls in the bearings of both cars. Since the transmissions were mounted on Ferraris, Bizzarrini was convinced the failures were the result of unethical practices by his former team.
The ‘Breadvan’ then wins a small race at Brands Hatch and with Abate takes the class win in a famous Swiss hill race, Ollons Villard. And he finished his career in the 1000 kilometers of Paris in 1962, with Ludovico Scarfiotti and Colin Davis in third place, after the GTOs of the brothers Rodríguez and Surtess-Parkes.
The Earl liked to attend the Monaco Grand Prix as a spectator with one of his racing Ferraris, even several that he had loaned to his friends. He reserved the 1961 Testarrosa which he parked at the Hotel de Paris, a meeting place for anyone who was “someone” in Formula 1. In 1962, the Count lent the “Breadvan” to his friend, German playboy billionaire Günther Sachs. One day, accompanied by one of his fine conquests, Sachs had to go pretty fast when two gendarmes began their pursuit and finally overtook him… aided, of course, by a traffic jam. Gunther Sachs spent the night in jail and the Serenissima remained in the hands of the police for some time.
After an unsuccessful tour of the United States, the “Breadvan” was used as a daily car by Volpi himself until May 1965. Then he put it up for sale on consignment at a Ferrari dealer in Rome. And it’s an American, a Ferrari fan, who buys it for less than $3,000, who has to borrow from his mother. When it arrived in the US, the 250 GT was repainted in red and mainly with Ferrari decals, which until then had been replaced by Scuderia Serenissima.
In the United States, it passes through the hands of several owners and lands in Los Angeles. Actors James Garner and Steve McQueen even tried it out with the intention of buying it, but couldn’t come to a decision. In the 70s and 80s the Ferrari went through quite a few owners. Take part in historical races in the hands of a collector from time to time. He went to Europe and was invited in 1987 to the 25th anniversary of the GTO, a trip that he used to take his car to Modena, to the workshop of Aldo Sillingardi and Gianni Dienna, specialists of the time in Ferrari restorations, where it was returned to the 1962 Le Mans configuration.
Since then, although it has changed hands many times, it has been featured in many historic car events such as the Grand Prix de l’Age d’Or, the Le Mans Classic, Goodwood or the Silverstone Classic.
Today, this Serenissima Breadvan is considered one of the most special Ferraris that, without actually belonging to the exclusive GTO family, its history is linked to its legend.
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
