When you think of Bertone, your mind most likely jumps to sharp creases, daring proportions, and the iconic wedge. But that design language didn’t appear overnight. Long before the Countach or the Stratos Zero, Nuccio Bertone and a young Giorgetto Giugiaro were already sketching their way toward it, quietly rewriting their own interpretation of Ferrari design in the late 1950s. Their prospect: the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Bertone, more specifically chassis 3269 GT.
Ferrari’s 250 series, built between 1952 and 1964, was more a family of cars that shared the same basic architecture: a 3.0 liter Colombo V12 with 250 cc per cylinder. Within that framework, Ferrari produced a wide range of road, competition, and coachbuilt variants, many of which were built in small batches or as one offs. Chassis 3269 was one of them, and was among only a handful of Ferraris with coachwork by Bertone. It was also the only one he kept for himself.
Breaking from Tradition
Post war Italy was bursting with coachbuilding talent. Pininfarina and Scaglietti sculpted the curves of the 250 GT series into timeless forms, while others like Zagato and Boano Ellena added flashes of individuality. But Bertone wanted to look ahead.
In 1961 he purchased a 250 GT SWB chassis directly from Maranello, number 3269 GT, and handed it to his 23 year old chief designer, Giorgetto Giugiaro. His goal was to modernize the overall form, and the result was unveiled at the 1962 Turin and Geneva Motor Shows. Visitors were met with something startling, a Ferrari that looked aerodynamic, aggressive, and technical rather than ornamental. Giugiaro had replaced the soft, flowing shapes of the Pininfarina cars with surfaces that hinted at tension and purpose.
The highlight of this one off was the shark nose front end inspired by the 156 Formula 1 car, which pushed the headlights into the grille and gave the car a wide, predatory look no other Ferrari had worn at the time. The idea resonated far beyond Italy.
Integrating the headlights into the grille was no small feat in 1961. Conventional wisdom placed them high on the fenders and separate. Giugiaro’s unified treatment made the car lower, wider, and far more modern. The central spine divided the mouth into two intakes, a racing derived idea that improved both airflow and identity.
The sharknose found its way across the Atlantic, influencing American performance design. Within a few years Pontiac and Chevrolet designers would borrow similar cues for their GTOs and Camaros, muscle cars with split grilles and forward leaning front fascias that spoke the same visual language. In a way, Bertone’s Ferrari had shown the way.
Every line had intent. The curved fenders guided your gaze inward, emphasizing stance and track width. The rectangular grille mesh framed a yellow Ferrari badge. In early photos Nuccio Bertone stood beside the car with the Cavallino Rampante mounted on the left side of the grille, a subtle choice that fit the car perfectly. Later restorers placed a larger horse directly under the nose, a gesture many critics still find intrusive.
The Shape Before Its Time
From the side, 3269 GT abandoned every established proportion. Most Ferraris of the day had a descending shoulder line from nose to tail. Giugiaro’s line climbed, forming a wedge, long before the term existed. The window base rose with it, reducing visual weight over the rear axle and tightening the whole form.
The roofline traced a continuous arc from the windshield base to the rear glass, giving the cabin a taut, unified shape. The A-pillar was set back, the C pillar cut early, and the stance became compact yet athletic. It was a clean, modern solution to the long nose short tail formula years before it became a styling trend.
The low beltline and sculpted flanks exaggerate the wheels and stance, making the body appear smaller, lighter, almost muscular. Concave surfaces connect the fenders to the sills, giving the car visual depth. These subtleties would later appear in Giugiaro’s Maserati Ghibli and Iso Grifo, but the Ferrari was the first canvas for that experiment.
Inside, Bertone went his own way. The dashboard painted Blu Notte Metallizzato to match the exterior housed a complete set of black faced Veglia gauges. Burgundy leather covered the seats, transmission tunnel, and footwells, while electric windows and a lockable glovebox added comfort unusual for a Ferrari SWB. Even the black Bakelite steering wheel was unique to this car. It felt refined yet purposeful, like an early preview of Ferrari’s future grand tourers.
Provenance and Significance
After its Geneva debut, the Bertone Berlinetta was displayed at the Biscaretti Museum in Turin, where journalists praised its rounded, forward thinking design amid the boxier shapes of the late 1950s. Nuccio drove the car occasionally, though it was more a statement of identity than a daily companion.
Over the decades, chassis 3269 GT passed quietly through several collections and was briefly painted silver. Despite its radical form, it retained its original Colombo V12 and mechanical setup. Mechanically, the 250 GT SWB Bertone shared the earlier mentioned 3.0 liter V12 with its Maranello siblings, making between 237 and 276 horsepower. Combined with a four speed gearbox, disc brakes, and a lightweight chassis, it remained every bit a thoroughbred Ferrari underneath the radical bodywork.
The car eventually crossed the Atlantic, spending time in American hands before undergoing a meticulous restoration that returned it to its original Blu Notte finish with burgundy leather. Every crease and contour was measured against Bertone’s period photographs to ensure accuracy.
When it reappeared at Gooding & Co’s Pebble Beach Auction in 2015, it became one of the showstoppers of the event. The hammer fell at 16.5 million dollars, surpassing even Gooding’s high estimate at the time. That sale placed it among the ten most expensive cars ever sold publicly, joining legends like the 250 GTO and the 275 GTB 4 NART Spider.
In collector car circles, this one off Ferrari is often recognized as a missing link between the rounded elegance of the 1950s and the modernist wedges of the 1970s. For Nuccio Bertone it was a personal Ferrari, but for Giugiaro it was proof of concept that would inspire his future designs, and chassis 3269 remains one of the most daring pieces of automotive sculpture ever to wear a prancing horse.
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