The Ferrari designed to replace the 250 GT series was the 275, introduced in Paris in the fall of 1964 as the 275 GTB coupe and the 275 GTS spyder. The aggressive shark-like profile of the 275 GTB became an icon of 60′s design. Underneath the skin, the 275 was also a more modern automobile – the first production Ferrari with independent rear suspension and the first to utilize a transaxle that moved the gearbox into a unit with the rear axle, providing the car with almost perfect balance front to rear. The 3.3-liter V-12 produced 275-280 hp in standard trim. A six Weber carburetor option provided an additional 20 hp.
The 275 GTB was designed to be raced, but was soon found to be unexpectedly in the midst of one of Enzo Ferrari’s legendary feuds with the FIA. The 250 GTO successfully brought the FIA GT championship to Ferrari in 1963 and 1964. The unexpectedly close competition from Shelby’s Cobras in 1964, however, made it clear that something better than the GTO was needed to defend the championship in 1965.
Ferrari proposed the mid-engine 250 LM – designed for Le Mans – as their entry for the 1965 GT championship. The FIA rejected Ferrari’s proposal on the grounds that the 250 LM clearly was designed as a sports prototype racer, leaving Ferrari without a competitive entry.
Ferrari built four special lightweight 275 GTB ‘specials’ that were also rejected by the FIA. Finding his options quickly narrowing for the 1965 racing season, Enzo Ferrari authorized construction of an alloy-bodied competition version of the 275 GTB that was closer to the production car. Outwardly, these cars were distinguished by three additional cooling slots in the rear quarters and a racing-style fuel filler mounted on the right side of the car. Only ten cars were built.
Given his long relationship with Ferrari, and having already taken delivery of a production 275 GTB, Alfred Ducato was high on the list when Ferrari offered the ten competition cars to customers in 1965 – the Competizione Clienti.
Ferrari s/n 7477
The ten 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione Clienti were supposed to be sold primarily to private teams, who would ultimately race the cars with significant success in 1965, including the Targa Florio, the Nurburgring, Le Mans, and Nassau in the Bahamas. One Clienti finished 3rd overall and 1st in GT at the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Perhaps alone among the ten 1965 competition 275 GTB’s, the automobile purchased by Alfred Ducato was never raced. What it did represent for its new owner was the ultimate 275 GTB one could own for the road. As a result, this car may now be the only complete and original 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione Clienti in the world.
This 275 GTB was delivered new to Mr. Ducato at Maranello and driven in Europe before being shipped to California. As delivered, and still today, the car is finished in Rosso Corsa red with a tan interior. The car is entirely original other than the paint, which was beginning to show crazing by the early 1990s. It was carefully refinished to an extremely high standard and reassembled using all of the original rubber.
The interior is untouched from new. The seats are finished in tan leather with fabric inserts, intended for racing, and still smelling new nearly fifty years after the car was built. The center console and door panels are finished in grained tan leather. The door sills, under dash, kick panels and the bulkhead panel behind the two seats are covered in tan leatherette, as are all GTBs. The carpets are tan with leatherette trim. The dashboard is trimmed in black, surrounding the gauges and switches with matched-grain wood that also lines the center console.
The engine is the Colombo-designed 3.3-liter V-12 with single overhead camshafts. This car is equipped with the six Weber carburetor option, producing approximately 300 hp as originally rated, mated with a 5-speed transaxle. Disc brakes are fitted all around.
Two sets of wheels, alloy Ferrari wheels and polished Borrani wire wheels, are provided with the car. The original alloy spare wheel and tire, mounted vertically in the trunk filled by the 37-gallon racing fuel tank, have never been on the ground.
Alfred Ducato maintained ownership of s/n 7477 for twenty-two years, and it could be considered the penultimate Ferrari he ever purchased. The last was a Daytona Spyder Mrs. Ducato saw in Luigi Chinetti’s showroom, purchased on the spot and had flown to California so she would not have to wait to drive it.
Terry Price became acquainted with Alfred Ducato while working in the shop that maintained the Ducato Ferraris. One of the cars was the 275 GTB Competizione Clienti. Price never forgot this Ferrari, nor has ever been far from the car.
Following Alfred Ducato’s death Mrs. Ducato asked Gene Babow, a close family friend and respected Ferrari authority, to value the unraced, low mileage Ferrari. An arrangement was made between Mrs. Ducato and Terry Price to find a new home for the 275 GTB Competizione Clienti. This was accomplished in a 1987 private exchange that brought s/n 7477 quietly into the sympathetic conservatorship of Ferrari dealer, Ed Wettach, where it remained until the early 1990s. During this period, s/n 7477 participated in two significant events – the 1987 Chicago Historic and the 1989 Ferrari Club of America National Concours at Watkins Glen, New York.
A second transfer of conservatorship was made in the early 1990s when s/n 7477 passed into an unnamed private collection where it remained until 2013.
Terry Price, today a partner in Rick Cole Auctions, arranged both of the car’s ownership transfers.
The Ducato Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione Clienti remains in complete, original condition and is being offered publicly for the first time since 1965.
This exceptional Ferrari has been thoroughly inspected and authenticated. Over 400 hours have been lovingly spent on the car going over all systems and components that have seen a total of just 332 road miles since leaving Alfred Ducato’s garage.. This has been the first comprehensive service performed on the car in decades of careful storage.
The fuel system, water pump, brake system and shock absorbers have all been carefully disassembled, inspected, and rebuilt, taking care that the external components remain original. Wear components such as the carburetor accelerator pumps, fuel lines, and brake lines have been replaced for safety and reliability in order to fully enjoy the original performance of this unique automobile. The disc brakes and calipers have been disassembled, inspected and rebuilt.
Any original parts removed during the recent servicing of the car have been retained and will be provided with the sale of the automobile.
The Ferrari is exceptional in every way. The car has been road tested and is ready to be enjoyed by a new owner as a preservation award contender in Concours d’Elegance, or any number of tours in any of which would be guaranteed to be a first rank participant in overall appearance and performance.