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Exceptionally original Ferrari SWB and four-cam for surprise October sale

Exceptionally original Ferrari SWB and four-cam for surprise October sale 6th May 2015

On 14 October this year, H&H Classics will offer cars from the collection of the late-Richard Colton, a well-known British Ferrari enthusiast of the ‘old school’, one who preferred to use and improve his cars rather than wrap them in cotton wool.

The two headlining cars, both right-hand drive, are a 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB and 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4. Both will be sold to benefit the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a British charity that saves lives at sea. Other Colton entries include a Jaguar XK 120 Fixedhead Coupé and a Ferrari 550 Maranello.



Colton had owned the cars for over 40 years and was an active member of the V12 section of the British Ferrari Owners Club. Other serious Ferraris previously enjoyed included a 250 LM, ‘Daytona’ and 250 GT Lusso, as well as the usual Dino etc. He covered many tens of thousands of miles in them all, including trips abroad and attending the Ferrari 50th Anniversary celebrations at Maranello in June 1997 (the sticker is still on the SWB’s windscreen). Most of his cars carried a ‘touring tool kit’ and these are no exception. The hefty tool rolls include enough parts and specialists tools to carry out even quite serious mechanical repairs.



What sets these cars apart from most is their well-used, but very well cared for condition. A few concessions have been made to make the SWB, a car with many competition parts, easier to drive on the long European road trips its late owner so enjoyed, softer Lusso cams, for example. We understand the comp-spec originals come with the car.



The SWB (chassis 1995 GT) was the second steel, right-hand-drive car delivered – one of a pair of SWBs ordered by Col. Ronnie Hoare to launch Maranello Concessionaires, a sister to ‘1993 GT’. Unlike the latter, it does not carry a Bournemouth ‘RU’ number plate today; since the mid-1960s it has been ‘574 NOT’, changed from its original 'WRU 1'.  Semi-racing components ordered from new include a tuned motor, special gearbox, fuel tank and limited-slip differential.  Its first owner is listed as ‘R. Hoare’.


Colton bought the four-cam in 1974 in a part-exchange deal involving a Bentley Speed Six (a pointer to the man’s fine taste in cars). It was a Maranello Concessionaires demonstrator – one of only 27 RHD UK cars – and now shows some 78,000 miles. Like the SWB, it has been lovingly tended, but is no garage queen.



These are extraordinarily original cars, from the era when men like Patrick Lindsey, Paul Vestey or Keith Schellenberg would think nothing of driving a 250 GTO, Alfa 8C or ‘Blower’ Bentley across wintry mainland Europe to ski in Verbiers or St Moritz. The choice of H&H Classics, a provincial auction house for which these cars will be the most expensive ever sold, surprised many, but we have every confidence that the sale will bring in the big numbers for charity that these truly ‘gold-standard’ cars deserve.



Right-hand drive will limit their international appeal. But we say that this is more than made up for by their late owner’s high standing in the Ferrari world and their exceptionally original condition – just what the market craves.






All images copyright and courtesy of H&H Classics. Photos by Neil Fraser