The Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta ‘Lusso’ is still regarded today as one of the most beautiful Ferrari models ever made and in its early years attracted the attention of many celebrities such as Hollywood legend Steve McQueen who used his 250 GT as his ‘daily driver’ and always said that even though he owned many Ferrrais the 250 GT was his favourite of them all.

McQueen loved cars, but he also loved to wreck them. Stories about how he drove rentals so hard they caught fire were legendary in Hollywood, and the fact that the Lusso was rare and expensive didn’t stop him from “spanking” it when the mood took him.

The Lusso was a true child of the Sixties, a GT cruiser, with two seats, a rear luggage compartment and soft leather seats. A row of circular gauges is set into the leather dash just to the right of the wood-rimmed Nardi steering wheel. The chrome-plated wire wheels were made by Borrani. The bodywork was designed by Pininfarina and rendered into metal by Scaglietti, a car builder who liked to say that he sculpted cars rather than assembled them. It was made in the days when the secrets of panel beating were passed down through generations, and the craftsmanship gleamed through the thin steel.

Tim - “I was lucky enough to spend some time in studio with this legendary Ferrari when I shot it as part of a client project to capture seven ‘significant models’ of Fearrri across the years and included this early 1962 Lusso through to the modern Monza SP1. Shooting cars in studio is not as straightforward as many people would think and to really get the best results we use the lighting to carefully sculpt the bodylines of the car to bring out its design and elegance. It’s always enjoyable to start with a car in studio in complete darkness and slowly build up the lights one by one until the car’s shape and sheer presence come to life ready for the shutter of the camera to be released.

Ferrari revealed the 250 GT Berlinetta ‘Lusso’ at the Paris Motor show in 1962; a model that was positioned between Ferrari’s more overtly racing models and up-market luxury offerings. With Lusso translating to Luxury, the 250 GT/L was still fundamentally a Ferrari V12 sports car, but with certain concessions made for driving comfort.

As was the tradition at the time, the 250 GT/L was designed by Pininfarina and bodied by Carrozzeria Scaglietti. Although remaining a ‘two-seat GT coupe,’ the cabin on the 250 GT/L was more spacious than the 250 GT Coupe that it replaced, with increased passenger and luggage space.

The 250 GT/L was only manufactured for 18 months, from early ’63 to mid ’64, with just 350 examples being produced in that time. Being the last representative of the Ferrari 250 model, beginning in 1952 with the 250 S, the end of the production of the Lusso started the beginning of a new generation of Ferraris of increased refinement with the 275 and 330 models.

Still regarded as one of the most beautiful Ferraris ever made, the 250 GT/L benefitted from 10 years of development and refinement to create the ultimate road-going 250. Immediately adored by the motoring press, the Lusso is widely regarded as one of the finest GT cars in history, with this beautifully restored example being one of the finest still in existence today.