Ferrari 330 GT
Superbly restored and unique in one-of-one special order custom colour
Fully restored to ‘Concours d’Elégance’ standard, this stunning example of Ferrari’s elegant Grand Tourer, the Ferrari 330 GT, has a fascinating and well documented history. Purchased by racing driver Patsy Burt, this right-hand drive, European specification car was first registered in 1965 and is finished in a metallic version of ‘Burt blue’, a unique shade of blue that Patsy used on her race cars and has featured in at least three international sports-car magazines.
This car was purchased by Patsy Burt, often considered Britain’s most successful female racing driver and imported into the UK by Maranello Concessionaires who registered it on 15 March 1965. A right-hand drive car, built to European specification with a four-speed gearbox and quadruple-headlights, a hallmark of Series 1 cars. Patsy had protracted discussions with Pininfarina about the colour she wanted – metallic‘Burt blue’, a metallic version of the unique and distinctive colour she used on most of her race cars – with light grey leather upholstery and carpets. She collected the car (along with, according to the order, five additional tins of paint), and drove it back from Italy.
Patsy kept the car for over ten years. In May 1968Motorsportinterviewed her in a series profiling the ‘owners of Italian cars in Britain’ in which she said she had purchased the car for“its race car-like handling”and,“having once owned a Ferrari, she would never be without one.” By 1980, ownership had changed to Bill Branton who, over a period of six years, entered it at various concours shows where it won its class at Avisford Park in September 1981. Bill and the 330GT were featured in an extensive article in the Autumn 1984 issue ofSupercar Classicsmagazine.
In 1993 Bill sold the car to a Belgian owner but the car was soon back in the UK and subject of a feature article in the October 1996 issue ofThoroughbred and Classic Cars,author Ian Young’s final verdict of the comparative test being“My heart goes for the blue-blooded 330GT”.
The car has been the subject of a two-year restoration programme to return it to Concours d’Elégance condition: its overall condition and originality, its pedigree and its diverse and well-documented history meriting nothing but the best. The car has been refinished in an exact match of‘Burt blue’– we’re sure Patsy would approve.