Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 Shooting Brake by Vignale (1965)

By motoring writer – Daniel Matthews

The story of the Ferrari 330 starts with its predecessor – the 250. Taking the 250 GTE’s chassis and fitting a new 4.0-litre Tipo 209 V12 engine, Ferrari introduced the 330 America in 1963. In that one year alone, only 50 were produced before being replaced by the 330 GT 2+2. The 2+2 had a 50 mm longer wheelbase, but improved handling through the use of Koni adjustable shock absorbers, and stopped well with Dunlop discs all-round. A body penned by Tom Tjaarda at Pininfarina was fitted, using a sharper nose and tail, quad headlights, and a wider grille.

The Series II was introduced in 1965 and switched back to conventional dual headlights, added a five-speed gearbox instead of the previous four-speed with overdrive, alloy wheels, and optional air conditioning and power steering. 125 ‘interim’ cars were produced between the change that featured quad headlights but the five-speed and ‘suspended’ pedals found in the Series II. Between 1964 and 1967, only 625 Series Is and 455 Series IIs were produced, before it was replaced by the 365 GT 2+2.

This car, however, is unique. This car is chassis 7963 and was originally delivered in Rosso over Beige to Luigi Chinetti Motors in Greenwich, Connecticut, where it passed to its first owner, a Mr Desy, in 1965. It was purchased by Luigi ‘Coco’ Chinetti, Jr. in 1967, and here’s where the story gets interesting. Chinetti had famed coachbuilder Vignale construct a Bob Peak-penned ‘Shooting Brake’ body for the car. This was the only 330 to ever be bodied as a shooting brake, and provided comfortable seating for four, and incredible luggage space, as was intended. It was repainted metallic green with a gold roof and proudly displayed on Vignale’s stand at the 50th Annual Torino Motor Show.

It returned to Chinetti Jr. and passed through East Coast ownership until 1990, when it was purchased by Jean-Claude ‘Patch’ Paturau of Paris, France. He commissioned the car’s restoration and displayed it at many fabulous events such as Concours Automobiles Classiques et Louis Vuitton, Concorso d’Eleganza, and the Goodwood Festival of Speed. In 2011, chassis 7963 was purchased by famed musician and car collector Jason ‘Jay Kay’ Cheetham, who continued its legacy and displayed it at the 2012 Salon Privé, 3rd Kop Hill Climb, and 2015 Cartier Style et Luxe Concours at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. From Jay Kay, it passed through multiple UK-based dealers including DK Engineering, Graeme Hunt and Joe Macari (now in repainted grey), before going ‘back home’ to the United States. It has since been offered by Gooding & Co. at their 2017 Pebble Beach auction (Estimate of $700,000 – $900,000, No Sale) and is coming up for auction again, this time with RM Sotheby’s at their Petersen Automotive Museum Auction next week. The estimate is $550,000 – $750,000 without reserve.