The most valuable car of the 2026 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este was, almost needless to say, a Ferrari: The 250 GTO s/n 3589GT was ordered in RHD spec via the British Ferrari importer, Maranello Concessionaires Ltd., for British privateer Tommy Sopwith and his Equipe Endeavour who took delivery in April of 1962. Painted in dark blue over burgundy leather seats, it was driven in the 1962 season in numerous motor racing events in the UK by Michael Parkes who won many of the entries. At the end of the year, s/n 3589GT was already sold to Tom O’Connor who owned the Rosebud Racing Team resident in Victoria, Texas, USA, who acquired the 250 GTO right in time for the 1962 Nassau Speed Week on the Bahamas where Innes Ireland raced the car for Rosebud. In March of the following year, Richie Ginther and Innes Ireland drove s/n 3589GT to an impressive 6th overall in the 12 Hours of Sebring for O’Connor. In 1964, Tom O’Connor donated the old racehorse to a local high school for a purpose unknown to me. In the late 1960s, the 250 GTO was acquired by „Motor Cars Mascuilne, Inc.“ of Cleveland, Ohio, a company renting out Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and Rolls-Royce to clients with a minimum age ot 25. Following a mechanical issue, the company owner, Joseph E. Kortan, did let sit the 250 GTO on an open trailer parked in a field for around 15 years, which naturally didn‘t help to improve the Ferrari’s condition, particularly not in the Ohio climate. In 1986, the abandoned 250 GTO was saved by the noted New Jersey-based collector Frank Gallogly. Before the urgently required restoration could start, my fellow Ferrari historian Marcel Massini brokered the car in 1988 from Gallogly to the Swiss collector Engelbert E. Stieger, resident in Teufen, Switzerland. Stieger then ordered a ground-up restoration from his local official Ferrari workshop, Sportgarage Leirer of Stein near Appenzell. Times were very different back then and thus one decided that it would be easier and more effective to entirely replace the original aluminum bodywork - which had suffered severely from that „storage place“ unprotected from the elements - with a new one. A new body was constructed, but the remains of the original one were kept aside. In the early 2020s, the heirs of the late Bert Stieger sold their 250 GTO s/n 3589GT to the well-known classic car dealer Tom Hartley Jnr. in the UK who immediately commissioned a ground-up resatoration. The respected Carrozzeria Brandoli of Montale near Maranello restored the remains of the original bodywork by blending in new pieces of aluminum where needed - a work that took several years! In 2024, the restoration of 250 GTO s/n 3589GT was completed and it was handed over to its new keeper, the Hong Kong based Keybridge Collection. On May 16 and 17, 2026 The Keybridge Collection presented the car at the prestigious Concorso d‘Eleganza Villa d‘Este in Cernobbio on the shores of Lake Como, Italy, where yours truly took this video. #250GTO #concorsodeleganzavilladeste #ferrari250gto #cernobbio #becauseGTO #villadeste #keybridge #tommysopwith #innesireland #rosebud #concoursdelegance
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