Buy this old Ferrari 250 TdF

You may remember a certain Mr Harris getting a go in a Ferrari 250 ‘Tour de France’ on an old episode of TG telly. We think it’s fair to say, judging by the smile on his face, that he rather enjoyed himself behind its wood-rimmed steering wheel. And now for the low, low price of between €7 million and €9 million you too can experience the same 3.0-litre V12 as him, for one of just 72 TdFs ever made is heading to auction in Monaco on May 12th.

It’s part of the same sale as the Ferrari Sergio, Ferrari Conciso Concept and RUF CTR3 Clubsport you’ll already have read about. But this thing is in another league altogether. The 15th of 17 built in 1957, this particular 250 TdF (or ‘250 GT Berlinetta Competizione by Scaglietti’, to give it its full and proper name) was signed-off by the factory in early ’58 and immediately sold to German racer Wolfgang Seidel.

He entered car 0879 GT in more than 20 races, claiming 11 victories and top-five finishes at big races like the Grand Prix of Spa-Francorchamps, 12 Hours of Reims and Grand Prix de Paris at Linas-Montlhery. ‘The Golden Bear’, as he was known, parted ways with 0879 in the early Sixties. It passed through a number of German owners before arriving in Sweden in 1973. Its new owner – founder of the national Ferrari club – began restoring the car in 1974, but his perfectionism and obsession with using as much of the original coachwork, hardware and mechanical components as possible meant it took two decades to finish.

In 1997 the car was sold to its current owner. He used it in a number of events – including Ferrari’s 50th, 60th and 70th anniversary celebrations, the Tutte le Ferrari and Mille Miglia Storica – and had it authenticated by Ferrari Classiche, certifying its rare matching numbers status. 0879 is accompanied by an original bill of sale, pictures from the restoration and a shedload of other paperwork.

Superb, isn’t it? If we were only a few million Euro richer…