There are few possessions as immediately recognisable and infinitely desirable as a Ferrari. Of all the super cars you can (or, more likely, can’t) buy, the yellow and black prancing horse that’s emblazoned on its rosso corsa shaded bonnet is a head-turner.
Rosso corsa, which literally means racing red, has been the go-to for Italian super cars from Alfa-Romeo to Maserati since the 1920s. Italian cars got the red and be it the cheapest Ferrari or Sebastian Vettel’s lightning fast F1 car, no other colour has had such a historic impact on the automotive world.
When Matthew Broderick’s Ferris Bueller gets his hands on a pristine 1961 Ferrari 250GT California Spider in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, you know that he’s in for one of the best days of his life — all because he decided trick his parents into thinking he’s sick and truanting from college that particular day.
It’s not just any old Ferrari, either. Owned by his best friend Cameron’s dad, the 1961 250 GT is one of the most desirable and expensive models the manufacturer has ever built. They’re extremely limited in number — there supposedly only 50 or so in existence — and incredible in their automotive design. One auction hall saw a 250GT sell for more than £10m a few years back. It’s a car you will almost likely never see on the road, let alone own one for keeps in your garage at home.
Oh, and spoiler: The car in the film is not actually a real 250GT. Due to budgeting restrictions, the film studio couldn’t afford to spend important money on a ludicrously rare Ferrari. Instead, the car you see in the movie are three separate 1963 Modenas Spyder Californias that have been modified to look like Ferraris, including the iconic grille, windshield and fender vents. Not to mention the prancing horse badge.
It’s a move that caused Ferrari to get litigious pretty quickly. Modena had become famous for making replica Ferraris that were so accurately made that you could park two of the cars next to one another and genuinely wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Those meticulously crafted replicas made the lives of the makers of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off much easier even with the lawsuit.
That’s how rare, expensive and important the 1961 GT250 is. The impossibility of getting your hands on one makes its demise in the movie — a sudden reverse plunge into a deep ravine — even more painful to watch. It may not be a real 1-of-50 sports car going to its death, but the thought of a real 1961 GT250 is a genuine stab in the heart even so.
The good news is that you can drive a photorealistic GT250 in virtual form in the upcoming Forza Motorsport 7, available October 3 on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. But only if you promise not to let it fall backwards off a big cliff.