“Some would call it a crime.” That’s just one of the hot takes you’ll find in the many Ferrari forums dealing with the 1961 Ferrari 250 GTE Testa Rossa, now up for auction from JD Classics.
We, on the other hand, would call it a miracle.
If you’re trying to figure out what exactly this car is (GTE Testa Rossa? Isn’t that an oxymoron?), it’s because this is a one of a kind. Renowned restorer Neil Twyman pieced this Frankensteinian vehicle together from a 1961 Ferrari 250 GTE that had been in a crash “and left to rot.” From there, he restored it back into pristine condition using a mix of authentic 250 Testa Rossa parts and his own fabrications.
So no, that removable hardtop isn’t an original feature, but from where we’re sitting (admittedly behind a computer screen), it looks sharp.
Ferrari GTE TR (5 images)
JD Classics is mum on pretty much all the details, simply saying: “Further details to follow, please contact us for more information.” But Twyman was featured in a fascinating interview on Petrolicious a year ago, and he mentions the build.
“I did a Ferrari that I remember well, the one that’s a GT car, we built a roof for a Ferrari 250 TR. It’s one of the cars I love the most,” says Twyman. “And we had three goes at that, to try to get it right. It was like building a prototype.”
He loved it so much, he’s brought it to racing events all over to show it off, which fueled the aforementioned outrage in the blogosphere. It was even his daily runabout at one point.
Ferrari GTE TR 2 (7 images)
Just close your eyes and picture the look on the face of the cart-retrieval employee if you pulled into the grocery store parking lot in this bad boy. Is there a tear in your eye? Then go ahead and enquire about the going price with JD Classics.
And if you’ve come to the end wondering why this doesn’t look anything like a Testarossa, that’s because this is a two-word, ‘50s/’60s Testa Rossa, not a one-word, ‘80s/‘90s Testarossa.
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