Enzo Ferrari’s passion may have been racing cars, but by 1950, he had begun to accept that exclusive road cars were needed to finance the company’s growing competition efforts. Early Ferraris for the street were built in very small numbers, usually to special customer order, with no attempt made at standardization. A significant change occurred in 1954, when the Pinin Farina-designed 250 GT Europa debuted in Paris. It was Ferrari’s first true production model and would form the foundation for all future Ferrari 250 models. These included the second series, again designed by Pinin Farina.

At the time of the second series’ unveiling, Pinin Farina was in the process of building a new, much larger production facility and did not yet have the space to build the larger quantities of cars that Ferrari was requesting. Accordingly, the design they created was handed over to Carrozzeria Boano, headed by one of Pinin Farina’s designers, Mario Felice Boano. Boano proceeded to build 67 cars, which had slight styling alterations from the five cars that Pinin Farina had already built, the most notable being a lower wing line. When Boano’s namesake moved to Fiat in 1957, Ezio Ellena, his son-in-law, took over production, now under the banner of Carrozzeria Ellena. Ellena, too, made minor cosmetic changes, in particular a raised roofline, prompting the use of the terms “Low Roof” for Boano bodies and “High Roof” for those by Ellena.

The Boano coupe offered here was completed in April 1957 and, according to Ferrari historian Marcel Massini, was delivered to a Guatemalan Consulate, most probably for use by the fortunate staff. In 1969 the Ferrari was purchased from British dealer Brian Classic by Robert L. Youngdahl, owner and founder of Concrete Forms Engineers in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a resident of nearby Prior Lake. Mr. Youngdahl was a well-known gentleman racing driver, who most actively drove a variety of fascinating cars at tracks both in Minnesota and near his winter home in Florida. Known for his prowess on the track, he drove this 250 GT at the Brainerd SCCA 100 Miles at the former Donnybrooke Speedway in Brainerd, Minnesota, on 16 June 1978. The car remained in Mr. Youngdahl’s ownership for many years; certainly, he got his money’s worth out of the Ferrari, having paid only $1,900 for it in 1969.

In 2012 Mr. Youngdahl passed and the car was acquired from his estate as a rust-free original car that had never had a restoration. The paint was carefully stripped, revealing a body underneath that was in very good condition. In the course of the nut-and-bolt restoration of this car to its original condition, the electrical system was replaced by Gatta and the upholstery by Luppi, both of them renowned classic Ferrari experts from Modena. More recently the vehicle received a no-expense-spared fresh engine rebuild by noted specialists Frank Buonanno and Matt Carfo at Black Horse Automotive Services in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in January 2016. As of October 2017, the vehicle received a new, stunning paint scheme by Black Horse in dark blue and silver.

This outstanding and extremely special Ferrari is freshly completed and in concours condition. In February of 2016, the car was shown at the Boca Raton Concours, where it was awarded Best in Class. It has benefitted by being owned for an extended period by a single owner who was also a well-known enthusiast. Now having been recently restored with a full engine rebuild, it remains a prime example of one of Ferrari’s most successful early production models.