THE 1963 SEASON Bianco Speciale was now under joint Coombs Racing/ Maranello Concessionaires entry for 1963, attracting top drivers Parkes, Mike Salmon and Jack Sears, all of whom took the wheel. In June at Goodwood, newcomer MacDowel drove Bianco Speciale’s first complete race of the season, finishing an impressive second overall in the Whitsun Trophy. Following a sixth overall by Parkes at Mallory Park and 10th overall by MacDowel at Silverstone, Jack Sears then gave the car its first victory at the August 3 Guards Trophy at Brands Hatch, winning the GT class and finishing fifth overall behind four Sports prototype racers. Sears went away deeply impressed with the Bianco GTO’s power and grace. The 1963 RAC Tourist Trophy race at Goodwood saw Mike Parkes pilot Bianco Speciale, with Graham Hill in the sister Maranello Concessionaires GTO. Hill led the race until Parkes took the lead after the final round of pit stops, then regained the lead with typically fierce determination after setting multiple lap records. Team orders then came into play, freezing the two leaders in position until the checkered flag. Parkes and Bianco Speciale finished in second place, just 0.4 seconds behind his winning teammate, achingly close to winning the Tourist Trophy for the second consecutive year. One month later, Sears took fourth overall and second in class at Snetterton, the car’s final race during Coombs’s ownership. In 1964, Coombs sold the Bianco GTO to Eddie Portman, later Viscount Portman, who raced it briefly before selling it to John Pearce of J.A. Pearce Engineering. Tragedy struck in 1967 when Pearce’s shop—including a Cooper T73 F1 racer powered by the Bianco GTO’s V-12 engine—was destroyed in a fire; the GTO itself survived and, in December 1967, Pearce sold it to Neil Corner. LIFE AFTER RACING One day in the late 1960s Corner was visited by his old friend Jack Sears, whom Corner invited to drive the GTO down Memory Lane. Memories flooded back, and Sears, who had driven the car to its first victory, left for home that evening with the right of first refusal, which Corner honored in 1970. For almost 30 years Jack Sears and his family regularly enjoyed Bianco Speciale, still wearing red but otherwise carefully maintained and astoundingly original. Sears reluctantly offered his prized Ferrari 250 GTO for sale in October 1998. In March 1999, it made its way to the United States and its new owner, former Microsoft President and COO Jon Shirley of Bellevue, Washington. In an emotional letter, Sears wrote, “I really loved that car - she was the best handling race car I ever drove. Please take great care of her.” BIANCO SPECIALE UNDER SHIRLEY’S STEWARDSHIP A modern gentleman racer, Shirley chose to return the GTO to active life, racing it four times in the Monterey Historics at Laguna Seca, numerous Ferrari Challenge races and GTO Anniversary Tours and participating in all the prestigious Concours d’Elegance; it even returned to England for the Goodwood Revival. In 2008, Ferrari Classiche issued its Red Book Certification and built a newly cast period-correct engine specifically for Bianco Speciale. Most importantly, in 2016, the car was returned to its original Bianco livery while preserving its original Coombs-era details, all exactly as Graham Hill and Jack Sears had known them. Bianco Speciale has been displayed at multiple concours events, including a special invitation to Casa Ferrari at Pebble Beach. AN ENDURING LEGACY The Ferrari 250 GTO served dual roles as both racer and grand tourer. Today it serves as both a sculptural masterpiece and priceless historical artifact. That all 36 built survive today after decades of no-quarters racing is the greatest testament to their stature as automotive treasures. Bianco Speciale stands alone in this august group, the only factory white GTO built and a 250 GTO that has been continuously, meticulously maintained yet never restored. In the most exclusive club in the world of elite automobiles, it is Bianco Speciale—the one and only.
