• One of only 353 built • Matching numbers and chassis numbers • Flared wheelarch example • Known ownership history • £400,000-plus spent on recent restoration for Ferrari Classiche submission By the end of the 1950s, road car production had ceased to be a sideline for Ferrari and was seen as vitally important to the company's future stability.

Thus the 250, Ferrari's first volume-produced model, can be seen as critically important, though production of the first of the line - the 250 Europa, built from 1953 to '54 - amounted to fewer than 20.

Before the advent of the Europa, Ferrari had built road-going coupés and convertibles in small numbers, usually to special customer order using a sports-racing chassis as the basis.

Ghia and Vignale of Turin, and Touring of Milan were responsible for bodying many of these, but there was no attempt at standardisation for series production and no two cars were alike.

The introduction of the 250 Europa heralded a significant change in Ferrari's ...