Unique Bertone-Designed Ferrari 250 GT SWB “Speciale” To Be Auctioned

Only 176 factory examples of the 250 GT Berlinetta SWB were built on shortened 250 chassis and then there;s this one-off coach-built special.

Present in the “Greatest Ferraris of all time” hall of fame, the brilliant, rare and gosh-darn expensive 250 GT Berlinetta SWB was the pinnacle of Ferrari’s design and expertise, being sketched and developed by the likes of Giotto Bizzarrini, Carlo Chiti, Mauro Forghieri, Pininfarina and Scaglietti.

But this particular example, dubbed the 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Speciale, is different from all the 176 units that Ferrari manufactured because it was designed by Giorgietto Giugiaro under the tutelage of Carrozeria Bertone. In other words, it’s a very, very expensive Bertone coachbuilt Ferrari.

Even if Nuccio Bertone’s career ambition was to build cars for Enzo Ferrari, the Italian coachbuilder was never officially engaged by Maranello and that makes finding Bertone-designed Ferraris a herculean task.

In fact, the only prancing horses that Bertone constructed were a 1950 166 Inter Cabriolet built for Franco Cornacchia, a 1959 250 GT SWB Coupe built for industrialist Enrico Wax and this beautiful Blu-Notte Metallizzato 250 GT SWB Speciale built for his personal use. Yes, this particular example was Nuccio Bertone’s personal car. He bought a complete 250 GT SWB Chassis from Ferrari and, together with Giugiaro, constructed his own magnificent body style on top of it.

Inspired by Ferrari’s racing cars – 156 F1, 330TRI LM and 246 SP – the car received a signature “sharknose” front-end and a plethora of competition-inspired cues like a Plexiglas bug deflector, a wide hood scoop, drilled rocker trim and a small trail of louvers following the line created by the rear quarter windows .

All these details combined made the 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Speciale one of the most desirable and known Ferrari coachbuilds ever manufactured. The car is set to go under the Hammer at the Pebble Beach event hosted by Gooding and Company for an estimated $14,000,000 – $16,000,000.

What? It’s a one-of-a-kind 250 GT SWB, designed by Giugiaro for Nuccio Bertone’s personal use. How much did you think it would cost?