Video: The story of the only existing racing Ferrari 250 GT Lusso

26th October 2023

Simon Ostler

The Ferrari 250 line undoubtedly produced some of the most elegant and beautiful cars in history. Each one is stunning in its own right, the likes of the 250 Testa Rossa, 250 GTO and 250 LM have all earned a place in the conversation for the greatest Ferrari racing car of all time. But alongside the thoroughbred racing cars, there’s a similarly striking catalogue of 250 GT cars. Some, like the 250 GT SWB were designed with motor racing in mind, others like the 250 GT Lusso, were not.

This is Ferrari we’re talking about, though, and anything that’s blessed with that famous Prancing Horse brand would look immediately at home on the race track. This Lusso in particular is a case in point.

A GT designed to be elegant, comfortable and in line with current trends that were seeing drivers prefer a statelier driving experience, the Lusso was about as far as Ferrari had strayed from true sporting capability since the first 250 model was built ten years earlier. And yet, in this video, we’re looking at one of three that were built to go racing.

In the case of this car, it was a temporary solution to a problem faced by one a Ferrari client, who was awaiting completion of a 250 GTO. Ferrari offered him this Lusso as a stopgap, so that he could go racing while he waited for his own car to be finished.

Now, this is considered to be the only racing 250 GT Lusso left in existence, and it looks every bit as gorgeous as we’re sure it was when it was first built in 1962. It is of course powered by the Colombo V12 engine found in all 250 models, but here it has been fettled to produce around 320PS (235kW).

The owner, Christopher Stahl, suggests he’ll bring it back to Goodwood. Yes please.