Ferrari 250 LM, Reims 12 Hours 1964 #7, weathered

Graham Hill and Jo Bonnier's 250 LM ran through the night of 4 to 5 July 1964 and on into the following day, covering 296 laps of the 8.3 km Reims-Gueux circuit, almost 2,450 km, at an average of 204 km/h. Refused GT homologation that spring, the 250 LM raced as a prototype, and at Reims the Maranello Concessionaires car beat the whole field. The North American Racing Team LM of John Surtees and Lorenzo Bandini had started from pole with a lap of 2 min 19.2 sec; Hill matched that time with the race's fastest lap, and after twelve hours the British-entered car finished one lap ahead. A Ferrari GTO came home third.

This example wears that distance as a race-worn finish. The red has been dulled and dusted, the pale-blue nose and tail panel are grimed, streaks of dirt run along the sills and around the fuel filler, the glass is filmed and the wheels and tyres have been darkened, while the 499 FX plate and #7 roundels remain legible beneath the grime. The patina is applied over a complete model: the rear body still lifts over the V12, the front lid and doors open, and the cockpit keeps its blue seats and wood-rimmed wheel. The model underneath is CMC's 1:18 hand-assembled metal 250 LM in Maranello Concessionaires livery.