Collectible autos: the Ferrari 275

Selecting the most beautiful car ever made is a bit like choosing which outfit you like best on your girlfriend. There's a long formal dress, the Maserati 3500 GT; a well-fitted suit, the Alfa Romeo Brera; a pair of daisy duke shorts and a halter top, the Plymouth Barracuda; heck, even an old t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants that make her look sexy in a relaxed way, the Alfa Romeo GT Veloce.

But the short black dress and stiletto heels—well, that's the Ferrari 275.

There are surely many of you who disagree, but the 275 is the most perfectly drawn design ever wrought in sheetmetal and placed on four wheels. Everything about this car is absolutely exquisite. Fabrizio Giugiaro, son of Italdesign legend Giorgetto, said the 275 was, "the best Ferrari." High praise.

A total of 770 copies of the 275 were hand-built from 1964 to 1968—it replaced the 250 model, notable for the 250 GTO supercar, and was replaced by the Daytona, known best for its role in Miami Vice. Both the 250 GTO and the Daytona are often heralded as the "most beautiful Ferrari," but I think the 250 is far too garish and the Daytona is flat-out ugly.

The 275 was sold as either a coupé (GTB) or a convertible (GTS), but both models were powered by a front-mounted 3.3L 280hp V12—the 275 gets its designation from the displacement of one cylinder, measured in ccs . 340 1966–1968 coupé models were sold with a special 300hp four-cam engine (275 GTB/4) and are among the most collectable 275s. All 275s had the transmission integrated into the axle, much like the contemporary C5 Corvette.

Collectability: Excellent. There will always be extremely high demand for this car.

Why do I love the 275? Let me count the ways.

(+) It's absolutely breathtaking. Let's take a look.

(+) It's a Ferrari. Ferraris are universally collectible cars—even ugly Ferraris. The manufacturer has spent an awful lot of energy maintaining its prestige: Ferraris are low-volume, high-priced cars that are all heavily raced. It's the sole holdout old-time exotic marque—Lamborghini and Porsche have gotten far too mainstream with their coziness to Volkswagen, and Maserati has only gotten back into the business of making real exotics after years of horrific smaller cars. Ferrari is the last of the old guard.

(+) It's a movie star. In 1976, Claude Lelouch made a 10-minute film called C'etait un rendez-vous (French for it was an appointment) where a 275 GTB was driven at breakneck speeds through early-morning Paris. The car itself doesn't appear in the film, as the camera was mounted firmly to the front bumper—but nevertheless, Lelouch's film cemented the 275 in automotive lore. You can download C'etait un rendez-vous here until my bandwidth goes kaput.

(-) It's expensive. Shall we take a look at the damage?

Expect to pay: $200,000 for an early model GTS, the cheapest of the bunch.

What to look for:

• The GTB (coupé) goes for around $100,000 more than the droptop GTS, as God intended. The 4-cam models (GTB/4) go for an additional $100,000+ over than the 2-cam GTB (are you counting? That's over $400,000). The super-rare GTB/4 NART, of which only 10 were made, change hands at nearly $2,000,000.
  
• Having all parts original is critical. Serial numbers will be scrutinized.
  
• More often than not, there is at least one notable or interesting person in each 275's sale history. Tracing a car's lineage is well worth the effort.
  
• Body imperfections are commonplace—remember that the sheetmetal for all of these cars was hand-rolled. Each one is unique.