by Mike Gulett –
From deep in the archives of the My Car Quest Wayback Machine from 2016 comes this interesting story of a Ferrari 250 GTO along with the original comments.
Bizzarrini cars were featured as a class at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August 2016 and I thought another story about how the Bizzarrini GT 5300 is intimately connected to the Ferrari 250 GTO would be in order.
Both the Ferrari 250 GTO and Bizzarrini GT 5300 (Iso Grifo A3/C) were engineered by Giotto Bizzarrini who made contributions to the body styles as well.
Drogo Designed Ferrari 250 GTO # 3445GT
Ferrari 250 GTO #3445GT
This Ferrari 250 GTO was originally red but when it was acquired by Ulf Norinder, the Swedish race car driver, in 1963 he painted it blue with yellow stripes, the Swedish colors.
Ferrari 250 GTO #3445GT in blue and yellow
Ferrari 250 GTO #3445GT was fully restored by the Ferrari Classiche department in Italy as shown below.
Ferrari 250 GTO #3445GT at Ferrari
Drogo Designed Ferrari 250 GTO # 3445GT
After a couple of years of hard racing this GTO needed a new body and Ulf Norinder hired Piero Drogo to do the job.
Drogo built a beautiful design that was probably more aerodynamic than the original GTO body. It also bears a strong resemblance to the Iso Grifo A3/C and Bizzarrini GT 5300.
Since Drogo made many of the original Iso Grifo A3/Cs it is likely he took some design cues from a beautiful design that was also an excellent race car.
The mechanical work was done by Neri & Bonacini.
Drogo Designed Ferrari 250 GTO # 3445GT
The Drogo Ferrari 250 GTO above looks similar to the Iso Grifo A3/C below.
Iso Grifo A3/C No. 202
After an accident the heavily damaged Drogo body was restored and placed on a replica 250 GTE chassis, using the identity and engine of chassis #2423GT.
Ferrari 250 GTO #3445GT was restored with a new Series 1 GTO body, its third body.
Drogo Ferrari 250 GTO body on GTE #2423GT
Drogo Ferrari 250 GTO body on GTE #2423GT
This Drogo designed GTO bears a strong resemblance to the Bizzarrini GT 5300. There can be no doubt that the Iso Grifo A3/C-Bizzarrini GT 5300 would have been the successor to the Ferrari GTO if Giotto Bizzarrini would have stayed with Ferrari in 1962.
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
Wow, great story, wonderful photos, I didn’t know the story of this gto. You are right it sure looks like a 5300 strada. Don Meluzio
I agree, great story, very interesting.
Mike, your story is precisely why I’d love to race my GT America Corsa against a GTO on the track. As the next Bizzarrini design following the GTO, the Bizzarrini is faster on the track!
Excellent article!
Hey Scott,
Are you still in the dc area? I have some great shots of your GT at Amelia island from a few years ago. I’d love to get some more shots of that amazing car.
regards
Ken Visser
Velocity Blogger
karmaKvisser@yahoo.com
i remember it in the workshop in egham in the 70,s was a pig to sell if i remember.
there was a grifo taken in px same time and col hoare was delighted to take £850 from the local car sales for it..
Hey Mark are you over in Blighty?
I had some notes on this car, I just want to know a little more about what it sold for with the “wrong” body; because that’s probably the cheapest a GTO ever was…
—————————————————————–
these notes from Barchettacc.com
65 – rebodied by Drogo – in a non GTO like style
.. – …………., USA SN40 p
71- Robert Lamplough, GB Pourret p219 “JMH 53K”
72/jul/02 FOC Prescott hillclimb Robert Lamplough PH35 p26
76 – damaged in accident and rebodied as Series 1 GTO “RBY 336K”
———————————————-
So when it was a “pig to sell” was that still when 3445 had the body commissioned by Norinder and built by Drogo? What would you say the Grifo was worth at the time? Only about $5,000USD? So Maranello Concessionaires (Hoare’s firm) sold 3445 for a Grifo and 850 Pounds?
Twenty one years later, after GTOs got a lot of publicity and the car was rebodied it was already valued in the multi-millons, i.e. 91/dec/07 – NS – Poulain Le Fur Paris auction – high bid $5,314,000
Incidentally I agree that the Drogo body could have been a good candidate for a new GTO body except that the series II GTO was already Ferrari’s official second gen GTO and they wouldn’t go back to a fastback. In fact Ferrari didn’t want to even make front engine factory race cars anymore once they had committed to mid-engine with the 250LM.
\\Oddly when that Norinder commissioned Drogo body was later put on a street chassis is lost a lot of its appeal for me, it just doesn’t have the same stance, same brio. Maybe it’s just me…I think the Drogo on 3445 is probably the best looking car Drogo ever did, I’ll make a painting but need to know what color it was, I have only seen black and white pictures of it.
Wallace Wyss – you have great taste… Drogo on 3445 is my all-time favourite dream combo.
Could you imagine that in aluminium on a current Lusso drivetrain ? That would be my order for Zagato when the lottery fairy pays a visit !
While I wait patiently for that to happen, if you should paint it, I would be most interested.
Kind regards from Oxford,
Daniel
To my opinion:[
– Drogo body on 3445GT went after repairing in 1980 to 2067GT a SWB Berlinetta after again a crash by Lamplough! The Drogo body was replaced with an SWB body in alloy by Hoyle in 1992 for Lawson. and in 2009 with a SWB body in steel (like the original body) by Autosport Bastiglia for Lancksweert.
-2423GT was a Drogo replica from Hoyle! not on chasis 2423GT only identity based on engine 2423GT. So Hoyle produce also a replica of the chassis! On chassis 2423gt a replica of a 500TRC was built by DK engineering with engine 3675GT in the 80’s (source mails correspondence with DK)
Lex
I saw the Ulf Norinder/ Drogo bodied 250 GTO in the mid sixties at a motorexhibition at Marmorhallarna in Stockholm. If I remember correctly it was light blue metallic then. Nicest looking car I had ever seen then! May still be!
Thomas
Unfortunately Ulf always wanted to change his cars and the ferrari GTO was a terible mistake. I only saw the Swedish colored car . He enjoyed the Swedish colors so much that his racing cars like the Lola T190 and his brother in law car Porsche all had the same colors. What a caracter !
When I saw him and Richard in the garage in Lausanne, Mon Repos, he was always in for a joke. Very sad he died so young in Monaco.
BraVIZ!!ziMO!🇮🇹
gF NM/FL USA
V4.2020💫