Mario Bernardi - Klassische Automobile - Cars sold - Ferrari 250 GT California Spider LWB

Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider

Completed:

1959

Originally delivered:	USA
Original colour:	red
Original interior:	black

Comments:	This beautiful California Spider we are proud to offer is the 11 th of 49 long
	wheelbase cars made. Its history is well known from the beginning having had in
	its early days a couple of owners which are today part of the Ferrari community.
	In 1972 it was owned by Gerald Roush who is one of the honest US historians we
	know of and the publisher of the Ferrari Market Letter. Later it went through the
	known Ferrari dealership FAF Motorcars Atlanta to Ron Spangler and then to
	Stanley Nowak. Stanley is for sure one of the most knowledgeable Ferrari guys
	on the planet having also published books about Ferrari. He owned # 1055 in
	1983 until 1985. Up from 1985 it has been for three years part of one of the
	most interesting Ferrari collections on the East coast at Anthony Wang. In 1988
	it went to Sweden to the Hans Thulin collection and then for six years again back
	to the US to James George in 1992 who commissioned a complete nut and bolt
	restoration to the highest possible standard. We have the complete photo
	documentation about the work which has been carried out at European Auto
	Sales in California. We have an extraordinary file of photos which will exceed at
	least easily more than 500 photos of each step of the restoration. It took two
	years to have it perfect again. On the photos it is easy to recognize that the car
	came in its original condition never having had any signs of accidents.
	James George sold it in 1996 to Bruce Lustman/Southport,CT,USA and he sold it
	in 1998 to the last and current German owner.

	It will be difficult to find a better and more interesting LWB California on the
	planet. It is the milestone having all the new improvements.

	It is the 11 th car built and it the very first car which received the more improved
	and new 508 D frame. The factory realized that the 508 C frame which has been
	used on the first ten cars wasn't stiff enough. So this California received all the
	new improvements which combines the frame 508 D, the gearbox which also
	came new on this car as the Tipo 508 D and the engine type 128 D including the
	bigger valves and also the bigger exhaust manifolds. There have been another
	couple of changes in the engine which might be to difficult to list.
	So # 1055 is therefore a very special item in the Ferrari history and one of the
	most interesting LWB California Spider in existence because it is somehow the
	first special one.

	The amazing fact is that it does have all the very rare original items as its
	original matching number engine # 1055, its original 508 D gearbox and the
	original 508 D rear end. The car has been restored on this base having a
	wonderful original California Spider in perfect condition.

	Calculating all the facts SN # 1055 engine # 1055 is definitely one of the most
	interesting, most original, well restored cars out of a production of 49 cars.
	There are two cars completely lost. There are another 7 cars not having their
	original engines anymore. And there are the first 10 cars not having the
	improvements of the later cars. So in the end we have a choice of only appr. 30
	cars which seem to be right. This is definitely one of the best 5 cars in existence
	having had a complete and known history over the last 50 years

	The new frame is stiffer and safer, the gearbox is cast alloy and the engine
	does have much more torque and is much more reliable due to some changes
	of the oil linkages.