To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION at RM Sothebys' Paris event, 4 - 5 February 2025.

• The overall winner of the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans, piloted by noted racing drivers Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt on behalf of the North American Racing Team (NART)—sealing the major milestone of six consecutive Ferrari victories at Le Mans
• The only privateer-entered Ferrari to ever win the 24 Hours of Le Mans overall
• The only Ferrari built during the Enzo Ferrari era (1947 to 1988) to compete in six 24-hour races, including three times at Le Mans and three times at the 24 Hours of Daytona
• Displayed by Luigi Chinetti Motors/NART at the 1967 New York Automobile Show
• Highly preserved and original example, retaining its matching-numbers engine and gearbox
• Offered from 54 years of careful conservancy by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) Museum following its purchase from Chinetti Motors a few months after completing the 24 Hours of Daytona in February 1970
• Documented with copies of 1965, 1968, and 1969 Le Mans papers, copies of paperwork from Luigi Chinetti’s ownership, 1970 purchase paperwork, parts and service invoices, and history report by Marcel Massini
• The sixth, and most important, of 32 examples built of the 250 LM

Please note this car is titled as 1965

LUIGI CHINETTI’S NORTH AMERICAN RACING TEAM

A name synonymous with Ferrari in the United States is Luigi Chinetti. The Italian-born Chinetti was an apprentice at his father’s workshop from a young age, learning machine work and becoming a qualified mechanic at just 14 years old. Only two years later, he would begin a career with Alfa Romeo, where he would eventually meet young racing driver Enzo Ferrari—forming a tight-knit bond that would endure for years to come.

In the early 1930s, Chinetti began a racing career of his own, making a name for himself in endurance racing. Le Mans was his shining achievement as he competed as a driver in every race held from 1932 through 1953, driving for Alfa Romeo, Talbot, and eventually his dear friend Enzo’s own company, Ferrari. His accolades at Le Mans were more than impressive, achieving a 1st-place finish for Alfa Romeo in 1932 and 1933, and later delivering Ferrari its very first win at Le Mans in 1949—the marque’s first entrance in the historic event. In addition to Le Mans success, Chinetti won the Spa 24 Hours race in 1933 behind the wheel of an Alfa Romeo and again in 1949 in a Ferrari; the Paris 12 Hours race in 1948 and 1950, both in Ferraris; and he was a four-time entrant in the five-day, 2,100-mile (~3,380-kilometre) Carrera Panamericana, winning the event in 1951 and placing 3rd in 1952, each time in a Ferrari.

Chinetti had moved to the United States after the outbreak of World War II, finding work with Pratt and Whitney and later supporting the war effort working on Rolls-Royce engines at J.S. Inskip. Chinetti became an American citizen in early 1950, with Zora Arkus-Duntov serving as his naturalisation sponsor. Following his retirement from racing, Chinetti’s focus shifted to selling cars, something he had been involved with on the side. He became Ferrari’s North American importer, first based in New York City, and eventually moving to Greenwich, Connecticut. Chinetti’s relationship with Enzo allowed him a direct line to the top of the factory; it was through that connection, and the respect Maranello had for Chinetti, that more historically significant Ferrari race cars passed through his doors than any other factory dealer.

In 1957 Chinetti formed the North American Racing Team (NART). NART was an important extension of what Scuderia Ferrari was doing on the track in Ferrari’s pursuit to earn coveted World Championship points in Prototype and GT racing. Each national racing team had its own significant moments in racing for Ferrari, but it was NART that stood out among the rest. The team was wildly successful over the years, competing in sports car racing, endurance races, and even fielding cars for the United States, Canadian, and Mexican Grands Prix. Chinetti’s NART attracted the top-tier driver talent and received the very best cars to compete from Maranello. The NART team proved a great promotional tool not only for Ferrari in North America, but also for Chinetti’s dealership, with customer demand built by the team’s racing success.

The NART team made its debut at Le Mans in 1957, and over the team’s near-quarter-of-a-century of competition history, it entered almost 70 cars in the world’s most legendary race. To date no team outside of Scuderia Ferrari itself has entered more Ferraris at Le Mans, and of all the cars ever campaigned by NART, one stands out among the rest…

FERRARI, ASCENDANT AT THE CIRCUIT DE LA SARTHE

Le Mans: The ultimate test of man and machine. No race in the world validates podium finishers in finer fashion or holds the 1st overall winner in higher regard. Of competitors having graced Circuit de la Sarthe in the race’s 101-year history, Ferrari’s impressive 11 victories place the Prancing Horse among the most successful marques of the world’s most challenging endurance race.

Ferrari’s first win at Le Mans came in a 166 MM entered by Lord Selsdon in 1949, co-driven by Luigi Chinetti. Chinetti delivered a legendary performance, driving nearly 23 hours of the race—a remarkable and all-but-unbelievable feat. The marque’s second win, and first entry for Scuderia Ferrari, came in 1954 with José Froilán González and Maurice Trintignant piloting a Ferrari 375 Plus to victory. Jaguar would dominate the next three years with the D-Type, with Ferrari’s best finish in that time being 3rd in 1956, with Oliver Gendebien and Maurice Trintignant driving a Ferrari 625 LM. In 1958 Scuderia Ferrari was once again triumphant at Le Mans with the Ferrari 250 TR58 driven by Phil Hill and Oliver Gendebien. The following season, 1959, would result in Aston Martin taking a 1-2 finish with the DBR1, while Ferrari 250 GTs took 3-4-5-and 6th place.

The field was always competitive, with some of the biggest automotive manufacturers in the world taking part—and heading into the 1960s, Ferrari was poised to send a message with a string of dominant performances, the likes of which Le Mans has seldom seen.

Ferrari’s semi-decade of dominance began in 1960, with an impressive 1-2 finish at Le Mans with Scuderia Ferrari’s 250 TR59/60 driven by Paul Frère and Oliver Gendebien taking 1st and Luigi Chinetti’s NART 250 TR59 driven by André Pilette and Ricardo Rodríguez finishing 2nd. Four of the remaining top 10 finishers were Ferraris. The year 1961 would mark a dominant performance for Ferrari with a 1-2-3 finish, with Scuderia Ferrari’s 250 TR61 driven by Phil Hill and Oliver Gendebien winning the race. Hill and Gendebien would repeat in 1962 behind the wheel of a Ferrari 330 TRi/LM, with a pair of 250 GTOs taking 2nd and 3rd. In 1963 Ferrari would win yet again, as SEFAC’s 250 P driven by Lorenzo Bandini and Ludovico Scarfiotti took victory, followed by Ferraris in 2-3-4-5-and 6th place.

This win—a fourth in a row—at the time tied Ferrari with Bentley and Alfa Romeo for most consecutive wins by a manufacturer at Le Mans. The tie would not last for long, as Ferrari would win once again in 1964 with SEFAC’s 275 P driven by Jean Guichet and Nino Vaccarella, the same chassis which had taken victory in 1963, followed by a pair of 330 Ps in 2nd and 3rd, and three 250 GTOs finishing in the top 10. This impressive fifth successive win set the stage for 1965, with Ferrari defending the longest consecutive win streak at Le Mans.

THE 250 LM: A 250 GT FOR LE MANS

Ever since the 1960 Formula 1 season, when Ferrari adopted a mid/rear-engine design for its successful grand prix car, Maranello had been a steady proponent of this mid/rear engine placement. This evolution gained traction through the small-displacement Dino prototypes of the early 1960s before Ferrari fitted a Testa Rossa-specification V-12 into the back of a prototype chassis, resulting in the legendary 250 P that won the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans.

By mid-1963, Ferrari was in search of a replacement for the 250 GTO in sports car competition, and Enzo Ferrari naturally concluded that the 250 P could be transformed into a formidable GT-class Berlinetta. A barely modified version of the 250 P chassis was mounted with new alloy coachwork by Scaglietti, featuring a low roof with flying-buttress rear pillars.

After formally introducing the 250 LM at the 1963 Paris Salon, Ferrari struggled to receive homologation approval from the FIA, particularly when the proposed 3.0-litre engine was upgraded to a 3.3-litre single-overhead cam dry-sump version of the V-12, internally classified as the type 211. Frustrated by the FIA’s refusal to cooperate, Enzo Ferrari quickly lost interest in the 250 LM and allotted the minimal production run to privateers rather than any factory usage. In doing so, the 250 LM became the first rear-engine Ferrari sold to private customers, commencing a trend that lasts to this day.

Just 32 examples of the 250 LM were built up to mid-1966, and it remains one of the most desirable Ferraris of all time, encapsulating advanced engineering, sensuous coachwork design, and a successful competition resume.

ANATOMY OF A GIANT-KILLER

Completed in late-1964, chassis 5893 is the sixth 250 LM built (by numerical sequence), and it was distributed to Luigi Chinetti Motors, which in turn sold the