Ferrari 250 GT TDF (Tour de France)

The Tour de France was a newly styled version of Ferrari's staple V12 250 chassis, introduced to commemorate the marques win in a historic French motor race of the same name and intended primarily for GT racing. 84 were produced between 1956 and 1959.

1st. Gen - 1956 - 1958 - The 250TDF was constantly under development so no two cars were quite alike, with things like body-trim and roof-height varying throughout the model's lifespan. The overall body shape remained the same however, as the original 1956 version, pictured below, with covered headlights and tail-fin rear.

2nd. Gen - 1959 - The final year of production saw a redesign of the front-end, to accommodate uncovered headlights and improve visibility, which had become required by Italian law, though the finned rear-end stayed.

The facelift to the later model appears to have defined Ferrari's new design principle, employed in the TDF's successor, the 250 GT SWB, although the tail-fins were dropped. In the final days of the 250TDF's production the factory built 7 updated versions with no fins to test and usher in the new 250SWB body on the older, long wheelbase platform. These very special crossover models were known as the 250GT Interim, below left. A handful of TDF's were also given an aerodynamic makeover by styling-house Zagato, known as the 250GTZ, below right.

For an overview of the 250 series go here:

For the GT Interim crossover version of the 250TDF go here: Ferrari 250 GT Interim - 1959

For the Zagato restyled 250GTZ, based on the TDF go here: Ferrari 250GTZ (Zagato)