Between 1952 and 1964, the Ferrari 250 models for the race track and road use were the most successful models from the sports car founder Enzo Ferrari. Traditionally the model’s name refers to the cubic centimeter capacity of one of the cylinders of the V12 engine. The first series model for the road was the Ferrari 250 Europa in 1953. It was still powered by the V12 engine developed by Engineer Lampredi.

The Ferrari 250 Europa is widely considered to be one of the most important early Ferraris, it’s also viewed by many as one of the most important designs from Pinin Farina – a design that helped establish Carrozzeria Pinin Farina as the borderline-defacto Ferrari designer. The designation “Europa” was used to set this sports car apart from the even more expensive models which bore the designation “America”.

A year after the Europa’s introduction, the Ferrari 250 Europa GT made its debut at Paris. The model was once again dominated by Pinin Farina’s coachwork and was underpinned by a new chassis with a wheelbase shortened from the Ferrari Europa/375 America layout by about eight inches, to 102.3 inches (2600mm). By contrast with its predecessor, the series II cars have a more attractive body than the earlier cars, a more advanced coil front suspension, and a bigger change was under the hood, a Colombo designed motor.

The later Europas were a stepping stone to the highly successful 250 TDF. Significant improvements were made in the drivers ergonomics making the cars more drivable over long distances. The earlier Europas have a less advanced, less progressive front suspension and a taller, heavier Lampredi designed motor. Despite these advancements, the aesthetic changes are very slight. The later cars are visually almost identical to the early ones.

The Ferrari 250 Europa GT’s V-12 measured 2953cc, 10cc less than the Europa’s. But the difference was greater than the displacement indicated, for the Lampredi long-block had been replaced by a Colombo-designed V-12. Bore and stoke were the classic Ferrari 250 measurements of 73 and 58.8mm, identical to those in the race-winning Ferrari 250 MM competition models. The Ferrari 250 Europa GT 2953 cc V12 engine developed 220 hp at 7000 rpm with three Weber 36 DCZ3 carburettors.

The 250 Europa was only available by special order, and Ferrari were famously finicky about who they accepted as customers – the 250 was also the very first grand tourer from the Maranello based company.

Chassis 0399GT is one of 28 Pinin Farina’s coupe among the 35 Ferrari 250 Europa GT’s built. The owners of these cars were amongst the most influential people in the world. This car was delivered new to the English actor Sydney Chaplin in St. Cloud, France. He was the elder half-brother of Sir Charlie Chaplin and he worked as his business manager.
Also Sir Charlie Chaplin owned one Ferrari 250 Europa. The Ferrari 250 Europa GT wasn’t really a production car as each example could have different details, like this car which features a distinctive two-piece windshield.