1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Drogo “Breadvan” #16 Pilots: C. M. Abate, C. Davis Team: Scuderia SSS Republica di Venezia Race: DNF (E 3.0 class) at Le Mans in 1962 Tecnomodel - TM43-002B #07/150 (resin)
Published 12/01/23
The story behind the 250 GT “Breadvan” begins in 1961. That year things were pretty tense in Maranello… In a nutshell, most (if not all) the higher ups at Ferrari were fed up with one Laura Ferrari. According to them, she was mingling in company business and generally getting in the way of everybody. However, Laura happened to be Enzo Ferrari’s wife. Things got to the point where almost all higher management personnel signed a letter demanding that Laura stopped interfering with Ferrari business. And they sent this letter to Il Commendatore. Through a lawyer. When Old Man Enzo received the letter, he quickly responded by firing everyone 😲. So like that, from the sales manager to the sports car development chief to the chief engineer, everybody was out. The sacking of almost anyone who was someone at Ferrari became known as the “Palace Revolt” or “The Great Walkout”.
Without a job, some decided to create a new company, called ATS (Automobili Turismo i Sport) to produce race cars. And among them were Carlo Chiti (racing car and engine designer) and Giotto Bizzarrini (chief engineer). That attracted the attention of Count Giovanni Volpi, who decided to support the project. A very rich Venetian, Volpi had his own racing team (Scuderia Serenissima) and was a long-time Ferrari customer. When Enzo Ferrari got wind of this, he canceled Volpi’s order of two of the new 250 GTO. Coincidentally, the team that Ferrari fired designed the 250 GTO. Pissed-off by Ferrari, Volpi contracted the ATS team to build him a Ferrari-beater. And to further increase the insult, they would use a 250 GT Berlinetta SWB as the base car. With that, Volpi bought a 250 GT (chassis #2819GT) and had the team work on the car.
Chiti and Bizzarrini worked on the mechanicals, while Piero Drogo would be responsible for the body of the new car. In the end, what Chiti, Bizzarrini and Drogo created was totally new. And fantastic. They lowered the engine, allowing Drogo to lower the front. On the rear, he extended the roof line, using the Kamm aerodynamic theory. With that, the car resembled a shooting-break. Right away the French press nicknamed it “La Camionnette” (little truck), while the English-speakers called it the Breadvan. Powering the Breadvan was a 2953 cm³ Ferrari V12, with 24 valves and SOHC rated at 217.7 kW (292 hp). In the end, the Breadvan was smaller than Ferrari’s 250 GTO and also 65 kg lighter. With the car ready, it was time to take it racing. Where? The 1962 24 Heures du Mans, of course. And it had potential.
At the Sarthe, sporting #16, the car was fast. In fact, it passed all Ferrari’s GTO. To the joy of the team, by the fourth hour the Breadvan was in seventh overall! However, soon after the car’s driveshaft broke, and it was out. We’ll never know, yet that broken driveshaft perhaps saved old man Enzo from being humiliated by his own car. Conjectures notwithstanding, the Breadvan was a very interesting design. In fact, the principle was used in the Shelby Daytona Coupe years later. Only raced once at Le Mans and DNF, yet a beautiful concept created to piss-off Enzo Ferrari. My kind of car 🤣. Tecnomodel only made 150 units (mine is #07/150), and it’s nothing short of b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. Truly, with over 500 models in my collection, this is one of my best, even better than a good Spark 🤩. Absolutely awesome – get one, you won’t be sorry!