Bell Sport & Classic’s Restored 1966 Ferrari 330 GTC

The Ferrari 330 GTC oozes sixties nostalgia and class and arguably comes from a time before the recognisable Ferrari shape and style that we know of today was fully formed. I for one like the car for this reason, and to see it fully restored like this in all its glory just underlines its beauty.

Bell Sport & Classic in St Albans, Hertfordshire is one of the world’s most respected Ferrari specialists, and when a company with a certain brand ingrained in their history embarks upon a restoration project, you expect it to be good – and this restored 1966 Ferrari 330 GTC is certainly very impressive and results in probably one of the best Ferrari 330 GTC models currently around. The restored Ferrari has already won this year’s Salon Privé Concours d’Elégance.

The labour of love restoration took Bell Sport & Classic three years to complete, and as you might expect, every single aspect of the restoration is given the same attention to detail, as the sum of its parts will of course make up the complete perfect sportscar that we now see here. This attention to detail even expands to parts of the car that are not visibly on show, just part of an ethos of completing the project regardless of the time spent doing so and the cost. It’s a testament to the effort that has gone into this vehicle.

The classic Ferrari’s V12 engine was completely stripped and rebuilt at Bell Sport’s in-house engine workshop, carefully looked over by Attilio Romano, wo was once part of Ferrari’s technical team in Maranello. Every nut and bolt was checked and replated and used if possible, or replaced with accurate period parts.

To achieve the perfect finish, the 330 GTC’s body was walnut-blasted. A less harsh approach than the usual sandblasting, using walnut shells results in a heat-free blasting that eliminates the risk of distorting any panels. You might well have crushed walnut shells in your exfoliator – and I’m sure this adds a deeper appreciation over the choice of walnut shells compared to sand!

The cool green colour is exactly what this 330 GTC would have left the Maranello factory wearing; a colour that Bell Sport discovered by sourcing the original factory build sheets to discover what was hiding under the several coats or repaint that the sportscar had since received. The result is a striking Verde Chiaro Metallizato metallic green colour.

The interior comes courtesy of West Sussex-based O’Rourke Coachtrimmers, who have built a fine reputation for refinishing the interior of many Ferrari models, and the inside is also a treat for the eyes. The original car had left the factory with a black leather trim, but for this restoration the new owner required something lighter, and so a factory and era specific Conolly VM218 fawn colour was chosen and mated to matching complimenting headliners and carpets sourced from Italy. The dashboard had its aftermarket radio-cassette removed and replaced with an original factory-spec Beck Europa radio prior to refinishing. The team meticulously spent time perfecting the correct wood stain to complete the retro dashboard look and feel.

Once the car was completed, Bell Sport & Classic then began testing the vehicle to make sure that the car worked as it should. Subsequently, the company put the classic 1966 Ferrari 330 GTC through its paces subjecting it to 500 miles of road testing. The result of tuning and testing even gives a period-precise 300hp a7 7,000rpm.

The result is an overall faultless vehicle that also now surely serves as a historical representation of just what was coming out of the Ferrari factory in the 1960s.

Images: newspressuk.com