The £8m one-of-a-kind Ferrari built for a princess

It’s a true Prancing Horse fairytale

According to authoritative sources – namely storybooks – most princesses tend to want ponies and carriages once they’ve married their prince. Not Princess Lilian de Réthy.

No, this Belgian royal fancied herself a bespoke Ferrari – and that’s exactly what she got, in the form of a custom 250GT Coupé Speciale.

A true one-off with a remarkable tale behind it, it goes to auction in Arizona next week with an estimate of £8.6m to £10.2m ($11-13m) slapped on it. Better hope it doesn’t turn into a pumpkin after midnight.

Regular favourite

A fabled ’50s tourer with stunning looks and racing pedigree, Ferrari’s 250GT has long been a legend of road and track, as much for its stylish cruising comfort as for its competition abilities.

Made in several iterations and clothed in a variety of guises in the late-’50s, there’s little wonder it regularly tops auctions today.

The princess and the Prancing Horse

The model up for auction is no ‘ordinary’ 250GT, though – it’s a bespoke version created specifically for the second wife of King Leopold III of Belgium.

Although a commoner, Lilian became friends with the Belgian royal family in the 1930s and, after the death of Leopold’s first wife, the pair fell in love.

In 1941, while the royal family were held captive by the invading Germans, she married him in secret. Lilian became Princess Lilian de Réthy and they all lived happily ever after…

Ferrari fanatic

…not least because old Leopold had a thing for sports cars. In 1953 he picked up a Ferrari 342 America, while two years later he purchased the 375 Plus pictured above – one of just eight built and the only one bodied by Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina as a road car.

The princess was already a car lover and doubtless got to drive them all – which, as royal duties go, can’t have been a chore.

No wheels on the wagon

So how did Lilian get her bespoke Ferrari? When Pirelli announced it would no longer supply tyres to the Prancing Horse in 1955, the Italian marque found itself in dire need of racing rubber.

Hearing of Enzo’s plight, the princess gave Belgian tyre company Englebert a nudge and the firm shipped some crates over to Maranello the same day. 

Boano given the boot

How best to thank the princess? Well, when she decided to order herself a coupé in ’57, it seemed only right that she be given something bespoke.

And so, although coachbuilder Boano was shelling Ferrari’s tourers at the time, Princess Lilian’s Speciale was shipped instead to her preferred design house Pinin Farina.

Distinctive touches

Under Farina’s expert direction, the nose gained covered headlamps like the Tour de France machines of the era, while the wheelarches were graced with chromed vents like those on the California Spider. 

Nose job

Similarly, the nose and hood scoop were refined, and a number of the elements on the royal Speciale foreshadowed what Pinin Farina would do with the 250GT Series I Cabriolet, launched later in 1957.

In with the new, out with the Speciale

Tweaked, complete and finished in an unusual shade of grey, the one-off 250GT – one of only four GT Coupé Speciales built by Pinin Farina – was delivered to Belgium in 1958, where it would remain for almost a decade until the Princess picked up a 330GTC and decided to give away her 250GT. As you do.

Gift of the heart

The lucky new owner would be American surgeon Michael DeBakey, after Lilian met him at a hospital she sponsored – and promptly insisted he take the Speciale as a gift.

He refused, but found the ownership documents waiting for him back in the USA.

Sold on and on and on

Strangely, DeBakey didn’t hold on to the 250GT for long, selling it to another doctor in 1968.

It then changed hands regularly over the next three decades before finally settling down with the current owner at the end of the ’90s.

Over the years it’s also been treated to several upgrades, with an engine rebuild, several repaints and the fitting of 15-inch wheels and disc brakes.

A new beginning?

With appearances at the Cavallino Classic and Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance also under its belt, it’s now back on the market – going under the hammer at the RM Sotheby’s sale in Scottsdale, Arizona on Friday 18 January.

A pricey prize

Given that it’s the first time in two decades that it’s come up for sale, it’s expected to spark a fierce bidding war. It certainly comes with an eye-watering estimate: RM Sotheby’s reckon it will sell for between £8.6 and £10.2m ($11-13m).

As Princess Lilian de Réthy might have said to bidders: bonne chance.