Ferrari 250 Europa GT: an unexpected journey

By Simon Hucknall

| 16 Mar 2026

Classic & Sports Car – Ferrari 250 Europa GT: an unexpected journey

“I sell you an engine, the rest you get for free.”

If Enzo Ferrari really did say that to an irate customer – the story and precise words are open to conjecture – then he may well have been talking about the ‘short-block’ Colombo V12 that in Tipo 112 form powers this 1955 250 Europa GT.

It was, for Ferrari, a genuinely transformative engine that would see service in all of the 250-series greats, SWB, GTO, Tour de France and Lusso included.

Meet the elegant Europa that put the gran turismo into the Ferrari 250 and turned road-racer on the Liège-Rome-Liège

The Europa in its second showing, as here, was also a breakthrough model.

It became the first ‘250GT’, which, through all its iterations, ran for nearly a decade, taking Ferrari from a bespoke sports-car maker to a coveted prize fought over by Ford and Fiat.

The fact that this example achieved a podium finish in period, driven by one of the world’s greatest sports-car drivers in perhaps the most gruelling road-race of all, makes piloting it today a rare privilege.

The Ferrari 250 Europa GT’s rollcage impedes entry into its cabin

We’ll return to chassis 0373GT’s race history shortly, but it’s first worth understanding why the 250 Europa GT was such a key template for future Ferraris.

Its design was influenced by the 375 America, introduced at the Paris Salon in 1953.

Most Americas were supplied with Pinin Farina’s three- or five-window coupé body sitting on a long (for a Ferrari) 2800mm wheelbase, and Aurelio Lampredi’s 4.5-litre V12 provided the muscle.

Only a dozen were built, but it was a promising nod to the flourishing US market.

Gendebien (on left), Stasse and the Ferrari on the 1956 Liège-Rome-Liège © Alex Callier

The first 250 Europa was launched the same year with a Vignale body, although most production cars were sold with Pinin Farina coachwork.

This model was powered by a smaller, 3-litre Lampredi V12, and 22 were sold in its 10-month run.

The 250GT dynasty started the following year, though, when Ferrari showed a heavily revised 250 Europa at the 1954 Paris Salon.

Again the design was reminiscent of the 375 America and the outgoing Europa (in Pinin Farina guise), but the wheelbase was reduced to a more Ferrari-typical 2600mm.

The number 60 honours this Ferrari 250 Europa GT’s 1956 Liège-Rome-Liège entry

This was enabled by a switch to Gioacchino Colombo’s all-alloy, 2953cc 60° V12, which had a shorter block length and was also seen in the 250MM.

Unlike the Lampredi unit, Colombo’s V12 used more conventional push-fit liners and a head gasket for a more compact motor overall.

The masterfully executed design employed single overhead camshafts per bank, operating two valves per cylinder.

A 73mm bore and 58.8mm stroke suggested a more rev-hungry engine than Lampredi’s 68x68mm ‘square’ unit, and while its wet sump pointed more towards road use than racing, it made 217bhp at 7000rpm – enough for a 142mph top speed.

The Ferrari 250 Europa GT’s headlights wear a protective mesh

Now categorised as chassis type 508, the new 250 Europa’s front and rear tracks each grew by 29mm, but the basic design of its predecessor’s platform remained: two longitudinal tubes with outriggers to support the body, although this time they ran above rather than below the live rear axle.

Front independent suspension was by double wishbones, lever-type Houdaille hydraulic shock absorbers and a transverse leaf spring (as in ‘our’ car, but coils were used further down the line), with semi-elliptics suspending the rear axle.

Ferrari did not initially see fit to rename the 250 Europa, which must have led to some confusion given the original’s engineering overhaul.

But soon after its Paris debut a ‘GT’ suffix was applied to the 250 Europa name, followed by a further change to ‘250GT’, beginning the most eulogised model series of the classic Ferrari era.

The Ferrari’s quick-release catches provide easy entry to the Colombo V12 beneath

Other than one car built by Vignale for Princess Liliane de Réthy of Belgium, all other 250GT coupés used Pinin Farina bodies, with the carrozzeria also looking after their manufacture.

Of the 35 GT chassis built, 28 were coupés made in either steel or aluminium, with at least one configured as a two-plus-two, while others featured an upholstered luggage platform, as here.

Which is no surprise, given 0373GT’s original reason for being.

According to Gianni Rogliatti’s 1992 book, Ferrari Ecurie Garage Francorchamps, the car – originally in grey with burgundy leather trim – was sold in 1955 by the Belgian concessionaire to Philippe Washer, a well-known tennis player.

The flags of coachbuilder Farina and Ferrari

The Ferrari was ‘completely standard, suitable for touring with its relatively docile engine and 100-litre fuel tank’, although its output is quoted as 212bhp at 7200rpm, slightly down on Ferrari’s figures.

Washer was the cousin of racing driver Olivier Gendebien, so it was inevitable that ‘Jellybean’ – as he was known – would cross paths with Washer’s new toy.

Gendebien, a Belgian aristocrat and war hero, made his racing debut with a Jaguar MkVII in the 1952 Liège-Rome-Liège road race and built an impressive reputation as a skilled endurance driver.

The following year he finished second at the same event in an XK120, and in 1955 he won outright with co-driver Pierre Stasse in a Mercedes-Benz 300SL.

The fly screen is another sign of this Ferrari 250 Europa GT’s intriguing story

Washer, meanwhile, enlisted him to drive 0373GT in its first competitive outing at the Côte de la Roche hillclimb: he came second overall and second in class.

By then, Gendebien had taken a shine to the car. He became the 250’s second owner in 1956, the same year he was signed by Ferrari to drive in Formula One and sports cars.

It was also clear that Gendebien had found his calling with the Liège-Rome-Liège, which was to form part of the Marathon de la Route series between 1950 and ’60.

This Ferrari 250 Europa GT on its way to third place on the 1956 Liège-Rome-Liège © Alex Callier

Despite his newly acquired Ferrari coupé being unchanged from its roadgoing specification, Gendebien entered the car in the 1956 event, by then acknowledged as one of the most fearsome road races on the calendar.

Once again partnered by Stasse, and with upgrades comprising no more than additional driving lights and a substantial stoneguard (all retained today), the duo achieved a brilliant third place over the 3100-mile course.

Gendebien went on to carve out a fine endurance-racing career – including four wins at Le Mans, three at the 12 Hours of Sebring and three at the Targa Florio – but 0373GT’s history becomes patchy for the next 30 years.

‘A “GT” suffix applied to the Europa name, followed by a change to “250GT”, began the most eulogised series of the classic Ferrari era’

There is a record of Gendebien competing in the Verbois Hillclimb in 1957, after which he sold the car.

It remained in Belgium for some years before being acquired by an American buyer, but by 1990 it had fallen into disrepair.

By the time Michigan lawyer and racer Joe Moch acquired the GT, it was missing its engine and gearbox.

Moch commissioned the Kleeves Company and then-respected Ferrari restorer Terry Myr (later imprisoned for evading tax on the sale of a rare Lampredi Ferrari engine) to restore the car and prepare it for historic racing.

This Ferrari 250 Europa GT’s bewildering array of switches

A Ferrari 250GTE 2+2 was sourced as a donor for the engine, gearbox and differential, and the replacement V12 was rebuilt to race spec, with SEFAC-type cylinder heads and six carburettors.

With output by then at around 300bhp, a substantial rollcage was also installed and 0373GT was repainted in Rosso Corsa and its cabin retrimmed in black leather.

The Europa was then entered in various US events, starting with the 1995 Colorado Grand followed by entries in the Meadow Brook Historic Races.

By 1997, though, 0373GT was back in Europe for the Tour de France revival, now known as the Tour Auto.

The Ferrari 250 Europa GT’s ride is compliant and accommodating rather than racing-car firm

Kleeves and Myr continued to develop the car for retrospective events, and in 1999 the 250 tackled both the 1000 Miglia and Liège-Rome-Liège.

Adding poignancy to this European chapter, the car was maintained at Garage Francorchamps.

Ambitions for 0373GT appeared to know no bounds.

Later the same year the 250 was back in the USA, being prepared for La Carrera Panamericana, on which new owner Brian DeVries finished first in the Original PanAm class.

Rosso Corsa paint replaced the factory grey during this Ferrari’s 1990s restoration

In 2000 DeVries was back again, with 0373GT modified to run disc brakes and larger Halibrand alloys, better suited to Mexico’s harsh terrain.

(There was some precedent here: American racer Jack McAfee upgraded his Ferrari 340 America the same way for the 1954 race.)

Resplendent in dayglo decals, once again DeVries’ car took a class victory.

Thankfully, as this Ferrari 250GT evolved during these later years, its original componentry was retained.

So when under new ownership it was returned to Europe, a sympathetic programme was undertaken to return the car to its 1956 Liège-Rome-Liège specification.

The Ferrari 250 Europa GT’s original V12 was found in 2018 – its plugs hide awkwardly in the vee

Newly retrofitted with drum brakes and 16in Borrani spoked rims, the car was campaigned in the Goodwood Revival’s Lavant Cup in 2015, then the Mille Miglia and Chateau Impney Hillclimb the following year.

But in 2018, when 0373GT changed hands again, a revelatory discovery was made: its original engine was found in an early, US-based 250GT PF Coupé.

The car was immediately purchased and shipped back to the UK, where specialist Terry Hoyle undertook a complete rebuild of the V12 before reuniting it with ‘our’ car.

The downside, as current keeper Roy Kent admits, is a reversion from the donor GTE engine’s outside-plug design to the original’s inside-plug layout (within the cylinders’ vee), which is far less accessible.

‘By 1997, 0373GT was back in Europe. Adding poignancy to this chapter, the car was maintained at Garage Francorchamps’

The highways and byways of Norfolk are perhaps a poor substitute for the roads along which Gendebien would have competed in 0373GT, but with a freshly rebuilt motor and instructions not to exceed 4000rpm, they will suffice.

Proudly wearing the number 60 with which it competed in the 1956 Liège, the Ferrari’s race-ready look has been faithfully recreated, other than its later repaint in rosso.

The large stoneguards dominate, shielding the car’s headlamps and four auxiliary lights mounted in front of the 250’s ‘milk-crate’ grille (0373GT, from the first batch of six out of a total 35 Europa GTs, has a larger grille versus those of the later cars).

To minimise bug kills across the shallow windscreen, halfway up the bonnet there’s a fly screen – which, like the side and rear windows, is made of Perspex.

The Ferrari 250 Europa GT’s instrument font is shared with Fiat

In profile, the design is restrained, markedly cab-rearward, with a high beltline and small windows, although overall its influence is clear to see on the competition-orientated 250GT Tour de France that succeeded it.

Wrangle your way into the cabin through the frame of the rollcage and you sit before an untrimmed binnacle with instruments (amusingly, carrying numbers in the same font as those in a Fiat 900T) for speed, revs and oil pressure.

Smaller dials for fuel, plus oil and water temperatures, are set into the metal dash next to them, with a bank of toggle switches beneath.

Two large Halda timing clocks are mounted to the right, facing the co-driver’s seat.

The co-driver’s clocks in this Ferrari that is ready for another trans-European challenge

To start, you flick on the two fuel pumps and twin coils, and press a button, remembering to add in the electric fan (we’re driving in 30°C heat today) when the Ferrari’s V12 fires.

I’m having to adopt a slightly reclined driving position due to the fixed seat and steering column, but otherwise it’s not too Italianate, and gripping that lovely, wood-rimmed, three-spoke wheel easily compensates.

There’s no great theatre from the engine after start-up, and at low revs it is remarkably tractable now it’s once again running on a trio of twin-choke Weber 36s.

The Ferrari 250 Europa GT’s mesh grilles protect the front lights from stones

The high-mounted, aluminium-balled, gaitered gearlever feels notchy and mechanical, but it is precise and short of throw.

Pick up pace and the beginnings of the V12’s cultured, mellifluous timbre echo through the lightly insulated cabin.

Quick-shifting through the four gears avoids an occasional crunch (it’s believed only third and top have synchromesh) and, geared for around 20mph per 1000rpm, we’re still okay up to the national speed limit.

The steering is wonderfully communicative and relatively light, even down at lower speeds.

Body control for a 70-year-old is composed, but you can feel the live rear axle working over cambered roads.

Grip from the 16in Dunlop Racing rubber is strong, but the ride is unsurprisingly pliant considering the original GT remit and the fact it was never intended as a stiffly sprung circuit racer.

Setting aside the mediocre performance from the large, finned brake drums – more likely down to set-up today rather than design – this former endurance racer is a usable and enjoyable road car. But that would be missing the point.

For now, a future Liège-Rome-Liège retrospective run isn’t in the offing, but this important car, with its colourful road-racing heritage, is just begging to follow in monsieur Gendebien’s wheel tracks on another epic trans-European tour – and who would bet against a podium finish, just like before?

Images: Jack Harrison

Thanks to: Roy Kent, the Old Racing Car Company

Factfile

Ferrari 250 Europa GT

Sold/number built 1954-’55/35
Construction multi-tubular steel chassis frame, steel or aluminium body
Engine all-alloy, sohc-per-bank 2953cc V12, three twin-choke Weber 36DCF or 42DCZ carburettors
Max power 217bhp @ 7000rpm
Max torque n/a
Transmission four-speed manual, RWD
Suspension: front independent, by unequal-length wishbones, transverse leaf or coil springs rear live axle, single radius arm, semi-elliptic leaf springs; lever-arm dampers f/r
Steering worm and sector
Brakes drums
Length 14ft 7¼in (4450mm)
Width 5ft 5in (1650mm)
Height 4ft (1219mm)
Wheelbase 8ft 6in (2600mm)
Weight 2315lb (1050kg, dry)
0-60mph n/a
Top speed 142mph
Mpg n/a
Price new n/a
Price now £2m*