Delivered to the owner of the Atlanta Falcons
With the current owner in Austria for over 15 years
Restored by expert Bernhard Gugrel
Fully documented history
Matching numbers

When Paul Frère tested the new Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 for auto motor und sport magazine in the summer of 1964, he repeatedly used one word: "amazing". He used this adjective to describe the car's smoothness, the elasticity of the engine, the high level of driving comfort and even the space in the back seat. Only the lack of storage space in the centre console and the boot, which he considered too small, gave rise to mild criticism. However, Frère was not alone in his opinion. The international response was also unanimously positive. The English magazine Sporting Motorist wrote after the presentation at the Brussels Motor Show in April 1964:

"It would be foolish to pass a final opinion on the future of the new Ferrari 330 GT in the world of high-performance cars on the strength of a mere 200 km test. But in the course of a high-speed run on the Autostrada del Sole and on the hairpins that take you up to the heights of the Abetone, the 330 GT showed astonishing potential and a wealth of unexpected talents."

And further:
“During cornering, the power reserve allows you to balance the car nicely and to correct its slight tendency to understeer. Coming out of corners, the combined action of the ZF limited-slip differential and the ample contact area of the tyres allows you to accelerate much earlier and with more gusto, and this without affecting the chosen line through the bend. Because of this, the 330 GT is blessed with exceptional speed on twisty roads and, coming out of corners, it leaps forward like a rocket, leaving behind two thick black tyre marks.”

The 330 GT 2+2 impressed the testers not only with its pure performance, but above all with the way it delivered it. Smooth, light-footed and astonishingly comfortable, it presented itself as a Ferrari that was equally suited to long journeys and winding mountain roads. Minor weaknesses such as limited storage space were hardly significant in view of these qualities.

The 330 GT 2+2 was designed by Tom Tjaarda at Pininfarina. Its lines were considered exceptionally elegant: a five-centimetre longer wheelbase and a newly shaped, rounded rear end made the car appear sleeker and more balanced than its predecessor. However, the design of the front end with its distinctive twin headlights caused some controversy. While brands such as Lancia with the Flaminia and Bentley with the S3 had already gone down this route, many Ferrari customers were wary of it. As early as 1965, the design gave way to a more conventional appearance with only one headlight on each side. Despite these controversies, Tjaarda's design remains one of the most elegant appearances in Ferrari's history of that period.

The 330 GT 2+2 was powered by the Tipo 209, a 4.0-litre V12 engine with an output of 300 hp. It represented the last major development stage of the legendary Colombo engines, whose potential had thus been largely exhausted. Compared to its predecessor, the Tipo 209 offered a noticeable increase in power and torque. With it, Ferrari ushered in a new era: although the Colombo V12s continued to feature in a few more models, the course had been set for more modern engine concepts.

As a result, the Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 was received with surprising enthusiasm by experts. It combined elegance with everyday practicality, comfort with sportiness – a character that Frère aptly described as "astonishing". Today, it is considered not only a stylish grand tourer, but also a milestone: a model that brought the classic Colombo era to a close and paved the way for the next generation of Ferrari twelve-cylinder engines.

Chassis 6427GT, a first-series 330 GT 2+2 with the distinctive front end, was completed in December 1964 and delivered to Burton Smith, then owner of the Atlanta Falcons, in the state of Georgia after the turn of the year. The car was originally painted Marrone (19378 M), a dark brown shade, and fitted with beige leather (VM 3218).

In 1977, the Smith family sold the car to Dr James H. Fuller from Fort Meyers, Florida, who had the Ferrari repainted in a light yellow shade. In the same year, he attempted to sell it through FAF Motorcars in Georgia. The advertisement stated that the mileage was only 32,000 miles. In fact, the 330 GT did not change hands until ten years later. In the midst of the gold rush at the end of the 1980s, John F. Kelly and Tim Stanford jointly purchased the Ferrari. By the early 1990s, the gold rush atmosphere on the Ferrari market had come to an end almost overnight.

When the market began to recover after another setback triggered by the financial crisis, Kelly and Stanford offered the 330 GT for sale in 2009 for £50,000. Randy Simon from Beverly Hills, California, bought the car, and through Tom Miller and his Austrian partner, the car came to its current owner in 2010.

The Ferrari still wore its light yellow paintwork and was in highly original condition, but it had certainly seen better days. That's why its new owner entrusted the car to Bernhard Gugrel, one of the best experts on Italian sports cars in this country. The planned careful refurbishment soon turned into a complete restoration, which even resulted in a book being written about it. The book shows that everything on this Ferrari, from the bodywork to the mechanics, was overhauled with the utmost care and, where necessary, replaced. The body was painted in a beautiful celeste blue and the interior was completely refurbished in beige. Three years later, the masterpiece was complete.

The result, which we see before us ten years later, is truly impressive and, thanks to careful handling, shows no signs of wear and tear. The 330 GT 2+2 has clocked up just 50,000 miles since 1965. Because priorities tend to shift over the course of a decade, this is an opportunity to acquire an exceptional all-rounder of a sports car, which was one of Enzo Ferrari's personal favourites at the time.