Introduced in 1962, the 1964 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso Competizione
is widely considered a landmark design and has often been named one of the most beautiful cars ever built – no small feat when considering the decades-long tradition of stunning Pininfarina creations. The Lusso is everything a street Ferrari should be – fast, nimble, and comfortable with sub-seven-second zero to 100 km/h acceleration and a top speed of about 240 km/h (150 mph). Only about 350 examples were built in a short two-year production run.
The 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso presented offered here was completed in March 1964 before being displayed by the Swiss Ferrari importer during the XXXIV Annual Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland and subsequently pictured in the 1964 Ferrari yearbook. On 25 March, three days after the end of the show, 5367 GT was sold new to its first owner Charles Müller of Basel, Switzerland, who was financed by his father-in-law Mr. Bisang of Lausen, also in the canton of Basel. First registered for road use on Basel license plates “BS 36585”, the car was fitted the following month with six Weber 38 DCN1 carburettors, as well as GTO-type high lift camshafts and valve settings, supplied by the Ferrari factory in Maranello and installed by the official Ferrari dealer Garage Monteverdi in Binningen. Aside from the dry-sump, the engine specification of this car was almost identical to that of a Ferrari 250 GTO! Four additional fog lamps were also installed on the front grille over the front bumper.
On 31 May, Müller raced 5367 GT in the ACA Cup at Monza, placing second in the GT class. On 19 July he competed in the Grand Prix du Limbourg at Zolder in Belgium, placing ninth. August proved to be another particularly active month as Müller raced in the Freiburg-Schauinsland hill climb in Germany, placing second in class as a Scuderia Sant’Ambroeus entry. Two weeks later he participated in another Swiss hill climb, this time at St. Ursanne-Les Rangiers, an event later pictured in issue 151 of Cavallino magazine (February/March 2006). After one final event that August, the Sierre-Montana Crans hill climb, where he placed fourth in class, Müller went on to race in the XIII Tour de France Automobile with co-driver Heini Walter, placing an impressive fifth in class. The car has since been pictured in three different books and numerous period publications while participating in this famed international race.
Müller competed in at least two other races in 1964 and factory invoices further indicate he purchased various spare parts directly from the factory. In September 1965, Müller raced at the Mitholz-Kandersteg hill climb.
The car is known to have been repainted light red or orange in the 1970s and in 1989 it was sold by Müller’s brother to a dealer, Mr. Frankhauser, in Liestal, Switzerland. Frankhauser sold the car the same year to its third owner Bruno Wyss in Zofingen, who at the time was an official Ferrari dealer.
Ten years later, in 1999, Wyss sold 5367 GT to its fourth owner, Heinrich Kämpfer of Seengen, Switzerland. Kämpfer, a noted Ferrari enthusiast, fully restored the car in late 1999, repainting it Blue Sera Metallizzato with a red and white stripe, as it appeared in various events with its first owner Charles Müller. Edi Wyss Engineering AG of Zürich conducted the engine restoration before the car was issued FIA Fiche no. 1984 in April 2000 and registered the same year on license plates of the canton Aargau.
Kämpfer added to the car’s racing heritage by driving in the historic Tour Auto with Peter Küng and placing 13th in the competition car class (April 2001). The same year he also drove at the Rhonde du Ventoux in France, placing third overall.
The car’s fifth and current owner Mr. Peter Heuberger, who like all his predecessors is from Switzerland, acquired the car in 2002 and installed a modern rollbar and racing seat before test driving it at Monza in April 2003. From April to October of that year, he raced in the Ferrari Days at Spa-Francorchamps as well as at Donington, the Albis hill climb, the Third Historic Ollon-Villars hill climb and the Ferrari Maserati Challenge Finals at Mugello. It was also featured in the Swiss magazine Passione and a factory certificate of authenticity was issued in 2004. In fact, chassis 5367 GT was successfully campaigned in the Ferrari Maserati Challenge for seven years, consistently competing with the front runners and taking on competition 250 GT (SWB)s and 275 GTB/Cs. Today the car is on the button, ready for future competition and its dyno sheets confirm the 321 bhp produced by the three-litre V-12.
Depicted in many books, including Ferrari 250 GT: Competition Cars by Jess G. Pourret, 5367 GT is one of only three competition Lussos and, given its participation in the Tour de France, race history and current competitiveness in vintage racing, may very well be the finest. Moreover, this car offers the same racing thrills as a competition 250 GT (SWB) or 275 GTB, but at a lower price point and with the styling of one of Pininfarina’s most outstanding designs.
