1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/4
For over sixty years the Ferrari 275 GTB has captivated car lovers the world over, and the ‘four-cam’ is the cream of the crop. Certainly the now-famous image of Clint Eastwood sat casually on the wing of his new silver 275 GTB/4 helped to cement the car’s image into popular culture legend, and a silver four-cam’ has been an object of extreme desire ever since.
Eastwood wasn’t the only superstar to fall for the charm of the 275 GTB/4, Steve McQueen, Peter Sellers and Eric Clapton were also signed-up members of the exclusive owners’ club. The latter bought his first four-cam’ in 1970, before acquiring this example in the early 2000s.
As a piece of engineering, the 275 GTB/4 is celebrated as the most refined, resolved and irrefutably beautiful 1960s Ferrari road car. Equipped with its namesake four-camshaft engine, the desirable torque tube and 5-speed transmission, and all-around independent suspension, the 275 GTB/4 strikes the perfect balance of occasion and usability.
Just 330 examples of the 275 GTB/4 were built, plus one prototype, and only one-tenth of production left Maranello with right-hand drive. Chassis 09261 is one of those 31 RHD cars. Ordered by Maranello Concessionaires on 4th July 1966 for first owner Robin Houry, chassis 09261 was just the second RHD GTB/4 built.
The extraordinary trove of Maranello Concessionaires correspondence on file is as impressive as it is interesting. It includes personal confirmation of the order from Colonel Ronnie Hoare to Houry on 19th September 1966, details of bespoke seat and steering wheel requirements requested by Houry through the following two months, and the invoice from Ferrari to Maranello Concessionaires for the finished car on 16th December 1966. Five days later the famed UK Ferrari importer invoiced their expectant client for a total of £4,072.18 4d excluding UK taxes, and offered £750 for the part exchange of Jaguar E-Type.
While maintaining a home in London, Houry had business interests in Kenya and the correspondence outlines his plan to temporarily import the Ferrari to the UK for six months and then ship it to Kenya as a used car to avoid the 50% duty on brand new cars. Although this plan had been agreed with the Colonel, it seems no one informed the Ferrari factory who shipped 09261 directly to the port of Mombasa. Houry was of course furious and discussed turning the car around at the port and putting it straight back onboard the vessel “Yelsa” back to Italy.
The correspondence doesn’t record what action Houry took, only his frustration and financial dilemma. Whatever the outcome, Houry’s tax affairs were sorted by 26th June, when he wrote to the Colonel to advise him that the GTB/4 had already been put to use in races organised by the East African Motor Sports Club. In the letter, Houry sought advice on wider rear wheels and competition tyres, having struggled to keep the powerful Ferrari’s “back end behind me.” Newspaper clippings confirm Houry’s ambition exceeding his adhesion and several photos of 09261 at the Nakuru circuit near Nairobi show the silver four-cam’ spun at an angle against the direction of intended travel.
Colonel Hoare’s reply suggests that, as Houry was racing his car before any GTB/4 in Europe, he could only offer advice pertaining to his running of the earlier two-cam Competition cars. It’s therefore possible that 09261was the first 275 GTB/4 to ever race.
By November 1968 Houry had sold the 275 GTB/4 to his business partner Brian Lees, who preferred to showcase its performance on the road instead. Entering into a bet with a bet with a DC3 pilot, Lees wagered that his V12 Ferrari could be in Mombasa before the twin-prop Douglas… he won, averaging over 80mph to cover the 300-miles from Nairobi in 3 hours and 40 minutes.
The Ferrari was brought back to the UK with Lees in 1970 and, after having been impounded by customs first, was treated to a significant service at Maranello Concessionaires. The invoice totalled some £737.12. 5d, which was enough in 1970 to have bought a brand-new Austin Mini.
The following year, on 1st June 1971, 09261 was acquired by the man who’d become its long-term owner – the renowned automotive illustrator James Allington. With the five-year old GTB/4 priced at a still significant £2,950, Allington part-exchanging his almost brand-new Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV for £1,800 to acquire the Ferrari.
His time as an engineer in the RAF furthered Allington’s interest in mechanical objects and, thanks to a generous Commanding Officer, was able to spend more time drawing jet engines than working on them. Through his military service in the 1950s, Allington saved to buy a grand prix Bugatti; the first of many extraordinary cars he bought, examined and created exquisite cutaway drawings of. As his artistic career flourished, receiving commissions from the major motoring magazines, the cars in Allington’s own stable grew in both number and importance, culminating in the ex-Works 1959 Ferrari 250 TR chassis number #0770.
This 275 GTB/4 was no exception in receiving the ‘Allington treatment’ and was restored in 1975, having first been disassembled for one of the illustrator’s definitive cutaway drawings. Upon reassembly, 09261 was painted a classic shade of red to match the drawing.
Allington’s collection of cars and drawings was consigned to a Christies Auction in December 2002, where 09261 was the star lot but ultimately failed to reach its reserve. 09216’s fourth owner would be found just a few months later when, on 19th May 2003, it was sold to Eric Clapton. The legendary musician is no stranger to Ferraris, or even four-cam’ 275s, having bought his first GTB/4 in 1970. Clearly identifying a great example, but seeing room for improvement, Clapton immediately commissioned Ferrari experts DK Engineering to fully restore the car and return it to its original colour during a 12 month, £160k process.
Having acquired and restored a number of significant Ferraris in the early 2000s, including two 250 GT SWBs, Clapton elected to sell the 275 GTB/4 and Ferrari collector Shamir Deen became 09261’s fifth owner on 2nd November 2005. Ferrari dealer John Collins bought the 275 GTB/4 from Deen for stock on 13th October 2009, ultimately selling it to car and music enthusiast Niall Holden on 17th May 2010. Just two days later, 09261 received the all-important Classiche certification from Ferrari, confirming the matching numbers status of the chassis, engine and gearbox.
For Holden, legendary Ferrari specialist Terry Hoyle undertook programme of preparation works, including a repaint in metallic dark blue. In this new guise, Holden loaned the 275 GTB/4 in 2014 to broadcaster and Ferrari obsessive Chris Evans for his annual charity event. With an estimated nine million weekly listeners to his radio show and with the auction of drives on in ‘the Magnificent Seven’ – a mouth-watering selection of Ferraris including 09261 – raising almost £1m for charity, the press coverage led many to believe that the 275 GTB/4 actually belonged to Evans.
As well as its philanthropic activities, 09261 was shown by actual owner Holden at a range of events from the local, but impressively curated 2014 St John’s Wood Pageant in London, all the way to the international spectacular of the 2015 Kuwait Concours.
After 12 years in Holden’s care, the 275 GTB/4 was sold to its current owner, an internationally renowned yacht designer, in January 2022. Owning a silver 275 GTB/4 was the ambition of a lifetime and almost immediately after buying 09261, the owner embarked upon a full bare metal body restoration to return the car to its original Grigio Argento. With a habitual eye for detail, a mere ‘colour change’ would not suffice and over two years, almost £190k was spent perfecting the body and paintwork. At the same time, a further £25k was spent beautifully retrimming the interior.
Kept immaculately and used selectively since, 09261 is now ready for a new owner – just its seventh in six decades - to fulfil their dream of owning Ferrari’s greatest 1960s road car.
