You Can Now Own This 1962 Ferrari 250 GTE 2+2 Police Car
The Ferrari 250 GTE 2+2, built between 1959 and 1963, was Maranello’s first large-production four-seater and, let’s be honest, a very desirable car. But the example you see here is even more special. This GTE was one of two specially made for the Rome police department, it has a great backstory, and now it can also be yours.
Girardo & Co. has this 1962 Ferrari 250 GTE 2+2 Polizia – chassis number 3999GT – for sale at an undisclosed price. It is in excellent original condition and, yes, it still has the flashing blue light, siren and police livery, but its provenance rivals that of any racing Ferrari.
In the 1960s, crime in Italy was usually followed by a car chase, so the Rome police service was offered two Ferrari GTEs. Armando Spatafora, ‘one of Italy’s most revered and successful police officers’, was one of four officers selected for a high-speed driving course at Maranello. Spatafora was then given number 3999 for active duty, while the other was doled out to another officer – who destroyed that in a crash just a few weeks later, leaving Spatafora’s car as the lone Ferrari in service.
For the next six years, Spatafora used the Ferrari on night patrol with great success, and legend has it that beating him in a car chase was ‘a matter of prestige’ for Roman criminals. But Spatafora’s skills and the GTE’s 3.0-litre V12 making a top speed of more than 250kph, apparently, few did.
The Ferrari was finally retired in 1968 and sold off in 1972 to Alberto Cappelli, who kept the car in its immaculate and original state for the next 40 years, displaying it all over Italy. In fact, a retired Spatafora was reunited with the GTE in 1984 for the Coppa delle Dolomiti race, where he amazingly set the second fastest time. It was sold to another buyer in 2015, and is now back on the market.
Not only does this rare Ferrari come with a copy of the original Ferrari build sheets and other documentation, as well as historic photos of Spatafora and 3999 in service, but it also has the Classiche Certification to confirm the car has its original chassis, engine, gearbox and rear axle.
In fact, this Ferrari is such a revered legend in Italy that it also comes with something no other car in the world can claim: it’s the only privately owned vehicle in the country that is allowed to use its light and siren on the road.
*Images courtesy of Girardo & Co
