My favorite sections at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance are always the preservation classes, which feature unrestored cars in various levels of condition, split into pre- and post-war categories. This year even marked the first time a preservation-class car has ever won best in show at the Concours, with a 1934 Bugatti Type 59 taking the top prize. The most eye-catching preserved car on the lawn (and the one with the best backstory) was this 1969 Ferrari 365 GTC that was custom built for one of the richest women in the world, and was the first and only Ferrari to leave the factory with pink paint up until a couple years ago.
The wealthy woman in question was Barbara Hutton, heiress to the Woolworth fortune who was called “Poor Little Rich Girl” in the media following her extravagant debutante ball during the Great Depression — and thanks to her subsequent seven marriages, which included Cary Grant and multiple princes, one of whom even won the Targa Florio in a Ferrari. By the time Hutton turned 21 in 1933, her inheritance had ballooned to the equivalent of nearly $1 billion in today’s dollars. After her marriage to Grant ended in 1945 (her third one), Hutton bought a palace in Tangier, Morocco, where she became known as a Great Gatsby–like figure who threw lavish parties attended by socialites, celebrities and royalty.
It was in Tangier where Hutton had her custom 365 delivered. Out of the 168 365 GTCs that were produced, hers was the very last one to be built, and Ferrari painted it a special Lipstick Coral shade just for Hutton. The searingly bright color is just spectacular; in person it didn’t even look real, like my eyes and brain were playing tricks on me after seeing thousands of Ferraris in kinda-similar-except-it’s-red hues. Enzo Ferrari added his own special touch, having the Royal Moroccan green star hand-painted on the door panels, and the interior got special tan suede seats.
Hutton only put around 5,000 miles on her pink 365 before selling it to Italian race car driver Luigi Chinetti, who converted it to U.S. spec. Gooding & Company sold it at auction in 2013 for $1,072,500 when it had just 22,000 kilometers on the clock, and its phenomenal condition remains intact today, with only some slight paint imperfections giving away its preserved status. It even still wears its original license plates and Casablanca Sports Car Club grille badge, which is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.
