by Mike –
The Ferrari 275 GTB/4 (4-cam) is one of the best sports cars of all time. So, imagine how much greater it would be if it were also a convertible?
That is exactly what Luigi Chinetti was thinking when he asked Enzo Ferrari to make a spider version of the 275GTB/4. Chinetti was the first Ferrari dealer in the US, the founder of the North American Race Team (NART) and a great race driver himself.
This request led to ten 275 GTB/4 Spiders being made for NART in 1967 and 1968 by the coach builder Scaglietti. All were sold in the US by Chinetti.
This elegant green 1968 275 GTB/4 shown here is a replica NART Spider made by the same artist who did the work on the original ten when employed by Scaglietti.
It is owned by my friend Phil White, above, and was on display at the Danville Concours d’Elegance in 2011. I like to see a Ferrari that is not Ferrari red and this green looks great!
Below is one of the original Ferrari 275 GTB NART Spiders in a beautiful blue at The Carmel Concours On The Avenue in 2012.
This article was originally posted in November 2012.
Color is (I think)Pino Verde.
Whetever the color is called it is beautiful.
Wonderful car!
Stephen – I agree and it is stunning in person. The 275 GTB style is one of the best and it looks fantastic without a top. The owner tells me that it is a a terrific driver too.
Can you really call it a “NART” spider? The original cars were made for NART, this was a chopped car made for a customer.
The owner calls it a “replica NART Spider”.
I’d say its now called a “continuation” since in effect it was made by one of the original Ferrari craftsmen that worked on the original. Who cares! I’d love one, even if it was built off a Jag body with a Jag inline 6, or a 12. Of course, once I win the Powerball, or I marry Jennifer Aniston, than of course I will be all snobby and only accept an original with matching numbers, signed by Enzo himself! Although NART #1, owned by Steve McQueen, rediscovered and restored to perfection would also be just fine!!!
What could be better than driving down Hwy one in a 1960’s Ferrari V12 spider?
Not much.
Granted we are biased due to owning a low mile ’67 275 GTB/4 coupe…but to us, the original design is a superbly crafted Italian sculpture that flows divinely from front to back and top to bottom. Certainly it is an automobile, but it is also a breathtaking work of art. Like so many spyders (roadsters), most are made later by chopping the top off the coupe and doing little else to modify the design…which to us is sacrilegious. A roadster should be designed as a roadster from the ground up…form start to finish. Having just visited and toured the Scaglietti and vintage restoration portions of the Ferrari factory in Maranello…the workers and craftsman we talked with wholeheartedly agree. It is hard to improve on perfection…and rare is not always better…so in this case, we are proud to stand by the original design as it was intended.
Do you mean that you do not like the NART Spider, even one of the originals like the blue one?
And I would love to see some photos of your 275 GTB/4.
We like them…and think they are nice…but not nearly as beautiful as the originals. Our point is more about messing with perfection…like unnecessary plastic surgery. Would you paint over or crop an artist’s masterpiece oil painting?
You lead me to believe there are differences between the two that most of us laymen don’t notice, Yes? If so can you better educate us.
Mike, these Ferrari Spyders are better than having sex!!! Thank you for posting them with the backstory – I had no idea they existed – I thought the coupes were only made, and was unaware of the special order by Mr. Chinetti! Thank you and God bless you for continuing to educate all of us followers of yours!!! Glenn Krasner in the Bronx, NY.
Hmmm…hard to compare people to machines. In the Italian spirit, why not both…take a beautiful woman for a ride in the country…then stop for a pic-nic on a blanket…then if the mood is right, a little good ol’ fashioned amore! It’s been done…believe it.
Yeah, I have heard about such things.
I am sorry to say that I have never driven a 275 GTB/4. But I did have a customer that owned a real nice one in the mid 80’s. He came to my shop to show it off and asked me if I wanted to start it up. He told me to turn the ignition key, lightly depress the accelerator pedal, press the start button, and get out of the throttle as soon as it lit off. I can’t begin to describe the feeling from the driver seat when it started! Something you never forget. The only thing I didn’t care for was the stock air cleaner that looked like an elongated football with two snorkles. I told him that air cleaner hid the beauty of the six Weber carbs and he needed to switch over to velocity stacks. He took my advice and the next time he came by the stacks were on. I am sure it sounded better when he drove the car too!
Dave B. if you are reading this, thanks for the memories!
You wrote “press the start button”, and I believe that there should not be any “start button” in such a car. Please explain. Thank you in advance for your reply.
Stunning cars on so many levels, the car pictured below has been a resident of WA state for some years and is all original except for services… and I believe the only yellow car made.
I LOOKS LIKE BLASPHEMY, TO ME TO PAINT A FERRARI, GREEN. PRETTY COLOR , BUT NOT FOR THAT CAR OR ANY FERRARI.
Skip Hinojos the same man who owned three Bizzarrini’s and drove one way too hard? Would love to talk to you about those cars BA4*XXXX
Mike, All 10 NART’s were originally coupes and converted by Egidio Brandoli, of Scaglietti, into spyders. This 275 was wrecked in France in the early 1980’s and converted by Brandoli into this Verda Pino spyder. The car is great to drive and looks exactly like Larry Carter’s blue NART pictured in your article, except it was not one of the first 10 built. Will see you at the next Concours. Phil White
The 275 is truly a work of art, to be sure. I’ve seen a few in person in Boston at the Ferrari Concourse, they are a liquid, flowing work of art!!!
But, the NART Spyder is an open air car, and I’ve owned some Alfas and others and there is nothing like driving in a convertible. So all things being equal, I think that I’d want the spyder, even if it was a replica. (of course, it would have to be, unless I win a 250m powerball)
This is a car that someone should recreate, as close as possible. Too many people recreate the 250 GTO, but i’d rather have the 275, even if it was a hardtop.
Also, I was born in 1961, so for me the best car of that year is the 1961 Cal Spyder 250. At least that one (like the Ferris Bueller, Modena cars) might become available if I’m willing to hawk my 401k!!
I always heard it was Chinetti defying Enzo on this car,because Enzo already had an open 275, the GTS. So Chinetti being a dealer he just ordered X number of coupes, went straight to Enzos’ coachbuilder and ordered the coupes cut down. How could Enzo complain–at least he sold the coupes. I love that story because it shows a determined dealer can provide product that’s needed. I agree that the coupe is a masterpiece in itself but that’s no reason to deny lovers of open cars. There is one tiny design flaw around the rear of the convertible top but that’s like complaining about the pjmple on Miss America’s ass…
An old thread I know but I wanted to post this somewhere because both the car and the owner are remarkable.
Remarkable because the car is driven on the street amongst the dump trucks and the like, in this case to Tucson’s Cars and Coffee last week, and because the driver is 92-year-old Dave Cummins. Dave was chief of design at Chrysler/Imperial at one time.
He also owns a nice 1972 365 GTB/4