AN ORIGINAL FERRARI SHOWPIECE

With only 40 essentially bespoke examples produced, Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet Series I is a special car in its own right, but chassis number 0809 GT stands head and shoulders above its peers.

Completed by Ferrari in early 1958, the car was equipped with the sought-after features of competition-style covered headlights and “bumperettes,” as well as without front fender vents and with smaller taillights—a configuration very similar to the final prototype version of the design, chassis number 0709 GT. Finished in Rosso Metallizzatto over Naturale leather interior, it was allocated to the American market and accordingly delivered to Ferrari’s New York City-based distributor, Luigi Chinetti Motors. Chinetti exhibited the car at the New York International Automobile Show at the Coliseum in April 1958; photographs of it on the stand show it exactly as it is presented today, colors, trim, and all.

Shortly after the New York show, the Cabriolet Series I was delivered via Chinetti to its original owner, Dr. Paul M. Riffert of Ephrata, Pennsylvania. A talented surgeon, Dr. Riffert had moved to Ephrata in October 1940 to serve as the medical director for the Ephrata Community Hospital. Day or night, he was on call to perform all surgeries necessary at the hospital, where he remained for many years, becoming renowned for his skills as well as for his compassion and kindness. At one time, he was voted one of Ephrata’s most important citizens by the local newspaper, and by the time of his passing at the ripe old age of 94 was certainly among its most respected.

More to the point of our story, he was a passionate tifoso. It is thought that chassis number 0809 GT was the good doctor’s first Ferrari, but it would not be the last; it was soon joined by a 410 Superamerica Series III, and he would go on to acquire new examples of the 275 GTB and 365 GTC/4. One imagines how the residents of a small town in Pennsylvania Dutch country, more accustomed to seeing horse-drawn buggies, reacted to the sight of such automobiles on their rural roads.

Dr. Riffert traded chassis number 0809 GT back to Chinetti on the 275 GTB in 1965, and it was soon resold to Norman Silver of High Point, North Carolina. A leading figure in High Point’s booming furniture industry, whose Silver Craft was known for its mid-century modern designs, Mr. Silver was one of the most important early America Ferrari collectors, whose “Modena South” stable included a 250 LM, 275 GTS/4 N.A.R.T. Spider, and 250 GT Berlinetta Tour de France, amongst others. He kept the Cabriolet Series I in that utterly illustrious company for the next 18 years.

In 1983 the car was sold by Mr. Silver to John W. Mecom Jr., the second-generation Texas oilman and sportsman. Mecom Racing competed from 1960 to 1967 in the World Sportscar Championship, Formula 1, and American Championship Car racing; a Ferrari 250 GTO owned and campaigned by Mecom won the Tourist Trophy in Nassau in 1962, driven by Roger Penske, followed shortly thereafter by a class win in the 1963 12 Hours of Sebring, with Penske and Augie Pabst behind the wheel. The oil magnate’s team also saw success in open-wheel racing, with his entry, driven by Graham Hill, winning the 1966 Indianapolis 500. Off the track, Mecom was at one time the youngest owner of an NFL franchise; as the original owner of the New Orleans Saints, he championed the team’s now-iconic black and gold colors, and would oversee their operations for nearly 20 years. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was a prolific buyer of vintage Ferraris, owning numerous significant examples.

That said, Mecom did not retain ownership of chassis number 0809 GT for long, and after brief ownership by dealer Don Meyer of Short Hills, New Jersey, the Ferrari was acquired in 1985 by the present owners, in whose world-class collection it has now remained for over four decades. Save for a repaint decades ago in its original color, it presents in overwhelmingly original condition, including its original numbers-matching chassis, engine, gearbox, and rear axle, and was recognized by its class award in Postwar Preservation at the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance—one of only two times it has been shown in the present ownership, the other occasion having been The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering in 2007.

It has often been said that there is no such thing as an uninteresting Ferrari owner, and the history of 0809 GT has proven that four times over. There can be no doubt that its remarkable level of preservation was identified and further preserved by its previous custodians, all, to the man, well-known connoisseurs of Ferraris who ensured that it would remain a remarkable outlier among its siblings, many of which have been restored at least once.

The acquisition of 0809 GT by its fifth private owners will leave the next caretaker with the distinct privilege of being exactly that—the person charged with caring for and preserving the rich legacy of this car for future generations. It deserves to be kept, seen, appreciated, studied, and cherished for years to come, continuing a tradition on four wheels.