Ferrari 275 at 60: live fast, die young

By Simon Hucknall

| 25 Nov 2024

Classic & Sports Car – Ferrari 275GTB, GTB/4 and GTS: live fast, die young

I have driven around 30 miles in the 275GTB/4 now.

Of the other two Ferrari 275s with us, the earlier two-cam has lagged so far behind that it has disappeared from view.

But the GTS, its roof down, the noise from its (near-as-dammit) straight-through exhausts shattering the Cotswolds air, is clearly in my sights.

Before we left I had been told not to expect these 275s to perform optimally until we had covered this distance.

Warming up the Ferrari 275GTB/4’s Gioacchino Colombo-designed V12 engine is no chore

Now I understand why.

The needle on ‘my’ car’s Veglia oil-temperature gauge – positioned next to one for oil pressure, front and centre in the GTB/4’s binnacle – has just started to move across the dial.

Freed from the gluey viscosity of its cold lubricant, the Ferrari’s V12 is now more alert and responding cleanly to throttle inputs, its six twin-choke Webers no longer hesitantly metering out gobfuls of super-unleaded.

The gearbox has warmed in unison, so the changes are now quicker and more frequent, accompanied by the familiar clack-clack of the long, chrome-plated lever making contact with its open gate.

The Ferrari 275GTB/4’s cabin sports a wooden Nardi wheel, as do the GTB and drop-top GTS

So now, with no restrictions – other than the circumspection necessary for driving a highly valuable classic Ferrari on public roads – I’m about to discover what an ‘optimum’ 275 really feels like.

You can only imagine what a revelation this car – or, at least, its earlier two-cam version – would have been when it was launched with typical Ferrari fanfare at the 1964 Paris Salon.

While it in effect replaced the 250GT Lusso, the 275GTB introduced new technologies that would gradually be deployed in Ferrari road cars for years to come.

The Ferrari 275 Berlinetta’s C-pillar is decorated with three distinctive cabin vents

Key among them was independent rear suspension, with the 250’s live axle and semi-elliptic springs replaced by unequal-length wishbones and coil springs over hydraulic Koni dampers.

And, proving that racing did indeed improve the breed, the 275’s transmission was integrated into the rear axle, à la 250 Testa Rossa racer, providing better traction and superior front-to-rear weight distribution.

That transaxle also came with five gears for the first time in a roadgoing two-seater Ferrari for more than a decade.

This aluminium-bodied Ferrari 275GTB is the most agile of our trio

Mechanically, though, the new 275 retained the 250’s classic all-aluminium, Gioacchino Colombo-designed 60° V12, the basic design of which could trace its roots back to the 1947 125S.

For the new car, the single-overhead-cam engine’s capacity rose from the 250’s 2953cc to 3286cc, with each cylinder displacing 273.81cc and providing the model’s nomenclature.

Power was up by 40bhp to 280bhp, produced at 7600rpm, and a claimed top speed of 160mph must have been utterly mesmerising at a time when few ordinary cars could break the ton.

This Ferrari 275GTB wears its honest patina with pride

However, to some the 275GTB’s styling was disappointing versus the sweetly proportioned lines of the 250GT Lusso that had preceded it.

In his book Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona, Doug Nye summed up motoring press opinion at the time: ‘It just seemed outdated; a new model based upon less than state-of-the-art thinking.’

Perhaps that wasn’t unreasonable viewed through a contemporary lens, but to modern eyes the 275 has since acquired an understated elegance that grows on you like an overlooked album track that turns out to be a belter – but only after you’ve played it often enough.

This Ferrari 275GTB’s Competizione-spec engine makes 320bhp

Styled by Francesco Salamone at Pininfarina, the 275GTB’s design had hints of the 250GTO, with its pronounced cab-rearward stance, Kamm tail and long bonnet, which flows down to an aluminium eggcrate grille that is framed by a pair of chromed quarter-bumpers; it even shared the GTO’s 2400mm wheelbase.

Like the 250 Lusso before it, the GTB’s steel body used aluminium for door, bootlid and bonnet panels, and was underpinned by a tubular steel ladder-frame chassis that was modified to accept the new transaxle and independent rear.

But the 275GTB we have with us today is a little different.

The Ferrari 275GTB sits its driver down low

Built in 1965 but, curiously, not registered until December 1971, it’s a second-series facelifted model, which was available in ‘long-nose’ guise, with an extended front end to improve high-speed aerodynamics.

The rear ’screen was also enlarged and the bootlid hinges became external to liberate more luggage space.

This car, though, was specified with an all-aluminium body, which was also used for the ultra-rare 275GTB/C competition model, only 12 of which were produced in long-nose form, complete with dry-sump oil lubrication and weight-saving Plexiglas windows.

The single-cam Ferrari 275GTB needs to be worked hard to extract its performance

‘Our’ car isn’t a Competizione, but its further option of six instead of three Weber 40 carburettors (DCNs, rather than the standard DCZ or DFI units) would have made it one of the most potent roadgoing 275GTBs available, with a claimed 320bhp output.

Nevertheless, this 275 is the least showy of the three UK-registered, right-hand-drive cars with us, its discreet black paintwork and factory-standard 14in, 10-hole alloy wheels belying its otherwise lofty specification.

The three-quarter view from the rear of this Berlinetta model undoubtedly shows it at its best, from the two pairs of tailpipes jutting out from below the slim, wraparound bumper to the luxuriant upward sweep of the rear wing towards the broad C-pillar decorated with its three distinctive cabin vents.

‘It’s easy to feel the difference in each car’s characteristics, but the engine’s epic vocals are a common thread’

Step inside and you sink into this example’s original and nicely worn cloth bucket driver’s seat, proving that this is no highfalutin show queen.

Behind you is a deepish shelf with leather straps for securing additional luggage, while ahead is a three-spoke, wood-rimmed Nardi steering wheel.

Ergonomically the Ferrari 275GTB is better than expected: you sit lower in this car than the other two, and it’s easy to find a natural driving position without adopting an ape-like posture, despite there being no seatback adjustment.

The oil gauges are joined by a large speedo and tachometer in the main binnacle, with four supplementary dials in the centre section of the roll-topped dashboard.

The Ferrari 275GTB/4 (left) has the legs on the more tamely tuned GTS

Other than a cigar lighter and two chrome-bezelled heater controls, there’s little else.

There is some theatre starting Ferrari’s 275 from cold.

From a bank of six dashboard switches, you press down and hold the one marked ‘A’ and wait for six Weber float-chambers to fill with fuel.

Turn the key and the starter emits a high-pitched whirr, before what sounds like eight, 10, and then 12 cylinders catch in the first few seconds.

The dashboard and control layout in the Ferrari 275GTS differ from the other two cars

While the powertrain warms, a good amount of effort is needed to make smooth progress at low speeds, but even then you notice how relatively light, precise and tall-geared the unassisted steering is as the Nardi jiggles through your hands.

A prod of the long-travel throttle elicits a delicious warble from that Weber six-pack, and as the gearbox warms you start to dial in to what this 275 is all about.

Having already driven the GTB/4, it’s easy to feel the difference in each car’s characteristics as you pick up speed, but the Colombo V12’s epic vocals are a common thread: cultured and deep-throated in the low-to-mid-range, then developing into a hard-edged, spine-tingling wail from around 5000rpm upwards.

Six twin-choke Weber 40 carburettors feed the Ferrari’s V12 engine

It is, in the pantheon of automotive soundtracks, incomparable.

Pleasingly, it’s amplified further in the aluminium-clad confines of this GTB’s body, but you have to work its two-cam engine harder than that of the later car for best results.

The clutch only demands medium effort for a high-performance ’60s car, but shifting gears in the open gate requires more muscle compared with the GTB/4 – and we’ll find out why shortly.

Not so this car’s handling, though. Weighing around 117kg less than a steel-bodied Ferrari 275GTB for a total dry weight of just under a tonne, this aluminium-shelled car is by far the most agile of our trio.

The Ferrari 275 Spider’s windscreen is less steeply raked

The ride on deep-profiled Michelin XWXs is supple and well-checked, and, with new Konis recently fitted, high-speed body control is excellent.

There’s a trace of initial understeer on faster bends, but the bias settles rearwards as you apply power and the car takes on a neutral stance.

Braking via the Girling discs is strong and progressive, although there is a touch more pedal travel than in the GTB/4 so it doesn’t inspire quite the same confidence.

All of which contrasts with our next Ferrari 275: the Spider.

Ferrari’s GTB/4 is confidence-inspiring, while the softer Spider (closer to the camera) rolls and pitches a little more

Also launched at the 1964 Paris Salon, the 275GTS was the overdue replacement for the Ferrari 250GT California, which had ceased production nearly two years earlier.

The GTS was not only another Pininfarina design – albeit one whose body shared very little with its Berlinetta sibling – but also manufactured by the Torinese carrozzeria, whereas the hardtop cars were built by Scaglietti.

Parked side by side with the GTBs, the open car looks almost elfin by comparison: its flanks are slimmer, and its windscreen taller and less raked; its headlights are not inset or shrouded, either.

Mechanically, the GTS employed the same powertrain as the GTB and merely sacrificed 20bhp (down to 260bhp) befitting its slightly softer, grande routière image.

Stowing the roof on the Ferrari 275GTS allows its driver to enjoy the V12’s chorus even more

Ferrari only produced it between 1964 and ’66, and cosmetic changes were made after a year, with the Spider’s front-end design receiving new wing louvres and bumper overriders (as demonstrated by ‘our’ 1965 test car) to align with the freshly facelifted 330GT 2+2.

However, because the GTS was only made until the 275GTB/4 arrived in 1966, it never (officially – see below) benefited from the four-cam car’s engine and powertrain revisions, which we’ll come to shortly.

Praise be, the sun is shining today, so we’re in full dolce vita mode, with the Spider’s fabric hood tucked away neatly beneath its tonneau.

Ferrari’s vocal V12 in the 275GTS produces 260bhp

Inside, the car’s key controls are located as per the Berlinetta versions, but, other than the main instrument binnacle, the dashboard has a different design and layout, with switches and heater sliders scattered around and beneath the steering column.

As already mentioned, the exhaust system of ‘our’ GTS appears to be almost unsilenced, so even at regular throttle openings the V12’s dulcet tones swim around you in the open cabin (along with anything else that isn’t well tethered).

The Spider’s set-up feels softer, with more roll through bends and pitch under braking, but we’re only talking incremental amounts versus the GTBs: essentially, the 275’s base dynamics have been preserved.

The more pillowy ride does, though, appear to minimise scuttle and column shake, which are more than acceptable for a near-60-year-old Italian convertible.

‘The pillowy ride seems to minimise scuttle shake, which remains more than acceptable for a near-60-year-old convertible’

Which brings us to the Ferrari 275GTB/4.

Unveiled in Paris two years after the GTB, in 1966, the GTB/4 was Ferrari’s replacement as its main offering in the high-performance arena until the 365GTB/4 ‘Daytona’ arrived in 1968.

Almost indistinguishable from the 275GTB externally, the GTB/4’s only visual giveaway was a subtly raised centre section along its bonnet.

Beneath the skin, though, the changes were far more radical and undoubtedly put in place to make the 275GTB/4 into a running testbed for the upcoming Daytona, 275-based prototypes of which had already been planned.

The Ferrari 275GTB/4 has the most linear power delivery

The addition of another overhead camshaft per cylinder bank was the headline improvement, justifying a new ‘226’ engine code.

Each pair of cams was driven by a central gear running on needle-roller bearings from a shaft mounted on the front face of the cylinder head.

Compared with the earlier engine, the valve angle changed from 57° to 54°, which improved gas flow and narrowed each cylinder head sufficiently to allow more freedom with the design of the inlet tract.

A dry sump was also introduced, which accommodated a more compact crankcase, housing two scavenge pumps, with the main supply coming from a two-gallon reservoir.

The Ferrari 275GTB/4 has a higher driving position than the earlier cars

Finally, the previously optional six-Weber set-up (40DCN17s on this car) was standardised.

These significant revisions raised output by 20bhp to 300bhp, produced at 8000rpm, and maximum torque from 188lb ft to 217lb ft, now peaking 500rpm higher, at 6000rpm.

Lifting the 275’s headline numbers, however, was more about keeping up in the mid-’60s horsepower race, with rival Lamborghini having already unveiled its 345bhp V12 Miura prototype at Geneva.

In reality, many Ferrari 275GTB owners had bemoaned the passing of the 250’s live axle, which they believed offered more precise handling.

Heuer clocks in the Ferrari 275GTB/4’s cabin

In response, Ferrari developed a more rigid structure for the drivetrain, introducing a 75mm-diameter torque tube around the propshaft, in effect creating a solid link between the engine and the transaxle, each of which was rubber mounted at two points to the chassis.

The 275GTB/4 with us illustrates perfectly the progress made from the GTB.

Completed in May 1967 but not registered in the UK until January ’69, the car, wearing optional Borrani wires, has been owned from new by the same family (which also owns the other two here).

Despite its extra weight and, in theory, lower power output than our highly specified GTB, the four-cam feels instantly more biddable.

‘Freed from the gluey viscosity of its cold lubricant, the Ferrari’s V12 is more alert and responds cleanly to throttle inputs’

Other than sitting slightly higher in a leather-trimmed seat, clipped in with the car’s original, airline-style Irvin seatbelt, the cabin is much the same as that of the earlier car.

But as soon as you delve into the four-cam’s reserves, the differences are manifest.

Performance is stronger and more linear in the low-to-mid-range, albeit accompanied by a more subdued bellow from the V12 (perhaps down to the steel body’s acoustics); with a stronger connection between the engine and the transmission, changing gears becomes a more fluid action, too.

The quad-cam Ferrari 275GTB/4 has 300bhp

Throttle response is even better than in the other two Ferraris and it goads you into pushing the performance envelope.

The dampers and springs on this beautifully preserved car are due for replacement, so broken surfaces in corners upset its composure a little, but overall it feels even more stable and slightly less pointy than the GTB through fast twisties.

That may in part be due to the additional positive camber this car runs (contrary to factory recommendations), along with the benefits of the drivetrain’s more secure location.

Either way, it’s the most confidence-inspiring of our trio.

Pininfarina styled both the Spider and GTB/4, but the two differ somewhat beyond the obvious roof removal

As my guide in the lead GTS, with his intimate knowledge of both these roads and the cars, continues to build speed, I’m (just) keeping pace and wondering if this is perhaps one of the best drives of my life…

It’s such a shame that the 275 – in Berlinetta guise, at least – is overshadowed by the undoubtedly more glamorous models that bookended its short, four-year life.

It was a technological breakthough, but Ferrari ownership then was, as it is now, as much about aesthetics as driveability.

Proof? The Ferrari 275GTB/4 that, with a sleek Leonardo Fioravanti body and 4.4-litre engine, morphed into the now canonised 365GTB/4 Daytona.

Images: Jayson Fong

Thanks to: Will Stone

Ferrari ‘NART’ Spyder: the other 275 drop-top

The 275GTS was only ever officially sold with the earlier two-cam V12, but Ferrari’s legendary US importer, Luigi Chinetti, was keen to have a more potent successor to the 250GT California, which had ceased production in 1963.

Chinetti secured the approval of Enzo Ferrari and ordered 25 open-top versions of the 275GTB/4 from Scaglietti, but poor sales led to only 10 cars being built between 1967 and ’68.

Known unofficially as the ‘NART’ Spyder, after Chinetti’s North American Racing Team, the first 275GTB/4S was entered in the 1967 12 Hours of Sebring, finishing 17th overall driven by Denise McCluggage and Marianne Rollo (above).

Road & Track magazine also tested an early car in September ’67, declaring it ‘the most satisfying sports car in the world’.

Boosted by a role in The Thomas Crown Affair, NART Spyders command high sums at auction: Aston Martin F1 boss Lawrence Stroll successfully bid $27.5m for a one-owner car at RM’s Monterey sale in 2013.

Factfile

Ferrari 275GTB

Sold/number built 1964-‘66/450
Construction multi-tubular steel chassis frame, steel or aluminium body
Engine all-alloy, sohc-per-bank 3286cc 60° V12, three or six twin-choke Weber 40 carburettors
Max power 280bhp @ 7600rpm
Max torque 188lb ft @ 5500rpm
Transmission five-speed manual, RWD
Suspension independent, by unequal-length wishbones, coil springs, telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar f/r
Steering worm and roller
Brakes Girling ventilated discs, with servo
Length 14ft 2in (4325mm)
Width 5ft 8in (1725mm)
Height 4ft 1in (1245mm)
Wheelbase 7ft 10½in (2400mm)
Weight 2425lb (1100kg, dry)
0-60mph 6.6 secs
Top speed 160mph
Mpg n/a
Price new £5973 (1965)
Price now £2-2.5m (long-nose, aluminium body)*