9
the visually similar 330 Americas. The large production run of the GT/E was a major contributor to the financial well being of Ferrari in the early 1960s. MSRP of the GT/E was $11,500. A 250 GTE can be seen in The Wrong Arm of the Law, a film starring Peter Sellers. Pinin Farina updated the 250 GT with the GT Lusso or GTL. Introduced at the 1962 Paris show, the car sported flowing lines and a fastback shape typical of the GT cars of the mid-1960s. Under the hood was the 250 GTO's Tipo 168 engine with 250 PS (184 kW; 247 hp) and three Weber 36DCS carburettors. Scaglietti handled construction of the Lusso which lasted through 1964 with few modifications. Rock star Eric Clapton owned one, and an example that had been owned by Steve McQueen was sold at auction for $2.3 million on 16 August 2007. In 2004, Sports Car International placed the 250 GT Lusso tenth on a list of Top Sports Cars of the 1960s. Steve Boone, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the group the "Lovin' Spoonful" owned one that was stolen from a repair shop in Queens NY and never found, #4237! A 250 in all but name, the 1963 330 America shared the outgoing model's chassis if not its engine. Powered by the new 4.0 L engine of the later 330
250 GT Lusso
330 America
cars, 50 330 Americas were built. Likely the most famous 330 America is that belonging to California socialite Sandra Ilene West. Mrs. West was buried at the wheel of her car following a 1977 drug overdose. Her instructions specified that she be clad in her lace nightgown with the driver’s seat "slanted at a comfortable angle". The car (and driver) is interred at the Alamo Masonic Cemetery, San Antonio, Texas. In the early 1990s (as reported in Classic Car magazine), a green-metallic 330 coupe was regularly abandoned, claimed and then re-abandoned in Melbourne over the course of 4 years. Its ultimate fate is not known.