BIRTH OF A LEGEND Every great saga opens with a deceptively simple chapter, or as the saying goes, the longest journey begins with but a single step.

In the case of the featured lot, that great saga, the metaphorical longest journey, is the production of Ferrari’s longest-running and most celebrated vintage model—the 250 GT.

And this remarkable coachbuilt Ferrari is that opening chapter, the initial single step; this Vignale-bodied Ferrari is the very first 250 road car produced.

From its 1947 inception, Ferrari overwhelmingly relied on a Gioacchino Colombo-designed V-12 that was successively developed from its original 1.5-liter displacement to 1.9, 2.3, 2.6, and 2.7-liter configurations.

In early 1952, the engine was further enlarged with a single-cylinder volume approaching 250 cubic centimeters, and the resulting 2,953-cubic-centimeter engine became the first edition of the famous Colombo short-block 3-liter V-12—a motor that in one form or another remained in production throug...