An outstanding Berlinetta

What makes this Ferrari so desirable is not merely the fact that so few of the roughly 800 275 Berlinettas built between 1964 and 1968 were the highly desirable alloy-bodied 'longnose' variant, but also that this particular car comes from the famous Maranello Rosso Collection. It is reputedly in outstanding original condition: in fact, Ferrari expert Marcel Massini described it as one of the best cars in the entire collection. James Knight of Bonhams added, “This is a wonderfully original, long-term preserved, Ferrari 275 ‘Longnose’ Berlinetta. It is one of the finest examples of its type that we at Bonhams have ever had the privilege to offer.” 

The Berlinetta with chassis number 08035 is in the dark green known as Verde Scuro and currently has only 61,212km on the odometer. The Ferrari’s first owner, the Italian Franco Palma, bought the car in 1965 for 5,250,000 lire – and 10 years later sold it to the mineral-water magnate, amateur racer and now legendary car collector Fabrizio Violati. It soon became a star exhibit at Violati’s Maranello Rosso Collection museum in San Marino. 

The full lotlist from the Bonhams New Bond Street sale in London will soon be available on Classic Driver.