Friday 14th May 2010

Pic Of The Week: Chris Evans's Newest Ferrari

Evans chucks £12m at a thoroughly gorgeous 250 GTO

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We don't need much of an excuse on PH to do a story on a classic Ferrari, and when there's a nice picture in it for us, well, it's manna from heaven.

So when the news came through on the PH virtual newswire that RM auctions had sold this, Ferrari 250 GTO number 4675, we knew we had found today's POTW.

RM has been coy about the car's new "and immensely enthusiastic owner", but it turns out to be none other than DJ and car nut Chris Evans - the man who for the past few years has been vying with Nick Mason as Britain's top Ferrari nut.

Evans has shelled out £12m for his latest acquisition, the arrival of which he announced in true new media fashion via Twitter, posting a photo and saying simply: "The new one has arrived..."

Chris's Twitter Photo. Not POTW

The 'new one' in question is just one of 36 250 GTOs ever produced, and one of only seven that received 'series II' bodywork.

The six-carb 3.0-litre V12 in the nose was good for 302bhp at 7500rpm and a top speed of 174mph. Crikey.

As James Elliot, editor of Classic & Sports Car mag and sharer of office space with the PH team, put it when he drove the car in April 2010's issue (lucky blighter): "To do this car credit takes massive, mega-immense, sadly as-yet-uninvented superlatives."

Which, we suppose goes some way to explaining Evans's somewhat understated tweet. Still, not a bad way of celebrating 9.5 million listeners on your daily morning radio show, is it?

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[FourWheelDrift]

Nice, as long as he doesn't paint it white.

[Ray Singh]

He will paint it white using Tip-ex to match his others within a week.

[soad]

Expensive ain't it. Still, if one can afford it - all is well.

[Political Pain]

I do like the looks of the 250GTO, but for me those 3 vents on the front say 'G T O' to me.

This one doesn't have them, so wouldn't be the one for me, but I'm neither in the position financially or mentally to spend that much, so good luck to the fella and I hope he enjoys driving it, he seems to actually drive his cars and that can only be a good thing.

I like the LM back as much as the fastback though.

My uncle Ted had a GTO back when they were new and I had many enjoyable journeys in that car in the mid-60s.

[Roberty]

Amazing car but it must be niggling at him that it's not the far more beautiful series 1 GTO.

[Alex]

I suspect that £12 million is quite a large chunk of even Chris Evans's fortune. I guess he hopes his Ferrari collection will be an investment.

[Tony*T3]

Anyoneknow which cars he sold to fund it?

Article i read says 3 x Ferraris....



Chris, you out there...?

[okgo]

Is this one of those cars you're supposed to like just because its the done thing?

Well to me it looks fairly boring, and not wildly different from loads of old cars.

[Rawwr]

Ray Singh said:

He will paint it white using Tip-ex to match his others within a week.

He doesn't paint all of them white and I suspect this will remain in its original colour.

[Rawwr]

okgo said:

Is this one of those cars you're supposed to like just because its the done thing?

No, you're supposed to like it because it's the ultimate expression of 1960s Italian pseudo-racing automotive pornography.

[Pablo16v]

Rawwr said:

Ray Singh said:

He will paint it white using Tip-ex to match his others within a week.

He doesn't paint all of them white and I suspect this will remain in its original colour.

I do like the white ones though.

[S3_Graham]

Tony*T3 said:

Anyoneknow which cars he sold to fund it?

Article i read says 3 x Ferraris....



Chris, you out there...?

The white F40 was for sale at maranello's wasnt it?

[Garlick]

Simple, beautiful design.

I love the fact that a glorious, fuss free body like this can be created. Such a refreshing change from today's bulges, vents and aggression.

[soad]

Pablo16v said:

I do like the white ones though.

Look plain and boring in white...me no like, sorry.

[Dave^]

Were they painted, or just wrapped?

[Rawwr]

Garlick said:

Simple, beautiful design.

I love the fact that a glorious, fuss free body like this can be created, such a refreshing change from today's bulges, vents and aggression.

Spot on. I really dislike the styling of modern Ferraris (say, post-1995?) as, though I'm sure they're very functional, they're just too fussy and contrived. Smooth and sleek is what makes sexy cars sexy.

And with regard to Chris's penchant for painting them white, it's not like the cars are being done at Paddy's Paintshop, they're rebuilt and reworked by DKE, which I'm fairly sure isn't a cheap or quick process, and a surprising amount of classics have been recoloured.

[okgo]

Rawwr said:

okgo said:

Is this one of those cars you're supposed to like just because its the done thing?

No, you're supposed to like it because it's the ultimate expression of 1960s Italian pseudo-racing automotive pornography.

if it didn't have a ferrari badge on it I wouldn't look twice at it. Very meh for me, but thats because I've grown up with modern supercars I guess

[Mazda Baiter]

Roberty said:

Amazing car but it must be niggling at him that it's not the far more beautiful series 1 GTO.

Nice, but the series 1 is better looking.

[Rawwr]

okgo said:

if it didn't have a ferrari badge on it I wouldn't look twice at it. Very meh for me, but thats because I've grown up with modern supercars I guess

I was born in 1979 but there are bucketloads of cars from way before I was born that I get a stiffy over

[dpbird90]

The Crack Fox said:

FourWheelDrift said:

Nice, as long as he doesn't paint it white.

I like Evans, I really do, but f*ck knows what inspires him to repaint his gorgeous cars in 'appliance white' all the bloody time

It kind of suits the 288 GTO and F40, a bit of 80s cool, but not so much the classics