It's been a while since the last and only time I managed to record the exclusive Ferrari 250 GT SWB 'Breadvan' in action on track and that was in 2015 during a @peterautoracing historic racing weekend at Monza Circuit. Needless to say, I wasn't able to dedicate a video to it.

Despite its value, the 250 has been consistently and properly used by its owner over these last years so much so that it suffered a heavy accident at the 2022 Le Mans Classic which left people think the worst for the continuation of the Breadvan's activity. Instead it was fully repaired and put back on track for 2023. In fact this year I managed to see the car again in two occasions: at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and during the Dix Mille Tours by Peter Auto at Circuit Paul Ricard, which this video is focused on.

The Breadvan began life as a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Competizione with chassis number 2819 GT. The car made its debut at the 1961 Tour de France wearing the original 250 GT SWB bodywork as part of the Belgian racing team Ecurie Francorchamps. In the same year, Count Giovanni Volpi di Misurata, a 23 year old Algerian-Italian automobile and racing enthusiast, founded his racing team Scuderia Serenissima and managed to secure a contract with Ferrari to be able to race with their cars. 2 brand new 1962 Ferrari 250 GTOs were going to be delivered to the team.

At the same time tensions within Ferrari became so strained that a large number of employees were fired or left to find work elsewhere, such as chief engineering Carlo Chiti, Giotto Bizzarrini and Romolo Tavoni. This group formed their own company ATS (Automobili Turismo e Sport) aiming to compete against Ferrari both on track and on the road car market. ATS found in Giovanni Volpi a chance to be financed for their projects instead this one found a great help in developing and managing his cars of the Scuderia Serenissima.

Enzo became aware of the matter and he refused to sell Volpi those two 250 GTOs which he should have received by contract. Volpi was only able to acquire the 250 GT SWB mentioned before which however would have had little chance against the new and more powerful GTOs. So Volpi enlisted Giotto Bizzarrini to help him modify chassis 2819 GT to be ready for competition in 1962.

Bizzarrini worked with body specialist Piero Drogo to help develop that unmistakable roofline. The result was a very aerodynamic body that was even lower than the 250 GTO. Thanks to the ‘Kammback’ theory, the roofline was extended to the very end of the car before abruptly cutting it off with a vertical surface, aiming to reduce aerodynamic drag, thus improving efficiency and reducing fuel consumption, while maintaining a practical shape for a vehicle. It was nicknamed 'Breadvan' by the English press

Among the various changes made they also moved the 3.0L Tipo 168 V12 engine and its radiator 12 cm to the back and lowered by fitting it with a dry-sump system. They also swapped out the trio of 46 DCN Weber carburetors for six twin-choke 38 DCN Webers. After some weight reduction at the hands of Modena’s Giorgio Neri and Luciano Bonacini, the Breadvan was around 70 kgs lighter than a factory-built 250 GTO. The engine was able to produce around 290 hp at 7,000 rpm and it was linked to a 4-speed gearbox.

The Breadvan debuted at the 1962 24 Hours of Le Mans, driven by Carlo Maria Abate and Colin Davis. Under pressure from Ferrari, the organizers placed the car in the prototype class instead of the GT class, where the 250 GTOs competed. Despite the use of a four-speed gearbox instead of a more modern five-speed, the Breadvan was ahead of all GTOs during its running time and was 7 km/h faster on the Mulsanne Straight. Unfortunately the drive shaft failed and the car was forced to retire. This was not such a sad story for Scuderia Serenissima because the new bodywork proved its ultimate superiority, so did the car.

0:00 Details
0:43 Start Up & Pit Exit
1:36 In action on track

#Ferrari250GTSWB #250GTSWBBreadvan #FerrariBreadvan
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I have to thank my friend and youtuber @Italiansupercarvideo for the great collaboration done during this event. Don't forget to subscribe to his channel!!

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Camcorder: Canon Legria GX10 & HF G30 + Canon DM-100 Microphone & Zoom H5
Event: Dix Mille Tours 2023
Where: Circuit Paul Ricard, France

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