The essence of the Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta was a road car that could also hold its own against the best of the contemporary racecar counterparts of the era.

Following on from the 250 GT Berlinetta ‘Tour de France’, which won the race after which it was named back-to-back in 1957 and 1958, came the more agile, more efficient passo corto.

It featured a shorter wheelbase at 2,400 millimetres, housed a lighter chassis, and the shape was more aerodynamic than its already-successful predecessor.

Beneath the gorgeous Scaglietti-constructed bodywork lay a 3-litre example of the revered Colombo V-12.

In standard specification, the motor delivered up to 240 brake horsepower via a four-speed manual gearbox.

To slow it all down, for the first time in Ferrari history, a model was fitted with disc brakes as standard.

Unveiled at the 1959 Paris Salon, the 250 GT SWB could be ordered by customers in either a road-biased specification, or in “Competizione” trim.

The latter arrived with all...