1965 Ferrari 275 GTB ‘Short Nose’

Ordered by and delivered new to the world-famous French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo
Refinished upon delivery in Rosso Rubino at the personal request from Belmondo’s then-lover Ursula Andress
Equipped by the factory with a number of special features including a chrome bumperette, a Blaupunkt radio and a passenger headrest
Retaining its matching-numbers chassis, engine and gearbox
Fresh from a mechanical overhaul carried out by the preeminent American Ferrari specialist Patrick Ottis at a cost in excess of 185,000 US dollars
Finished in Rosso Rubino over a Pelle Rossa interior with Nero corduroy seat inserts and Rosso Connolly carpets
Just four private owners in 60 years
A beguilingly original concours preservation-class candidate with an extraordinary story woven in celebrity

The French Steve McQueen and a Bond girl walk into a Ferrari showroom…

Paris, July 1965. In the wealthy commune of Levallois-Perret on the northwest of the French capital, there’s a buzz in the air. The world-famous French actor and heartthrob Jean-Paul Belmondo has just stepped into the exclusive Ferrari concessionaire Franco-Britannic Autos Ltd. with his not-so-secret tryst Ursula Andress on his arm. Yup, that’s Honey Ryder, the heroine from the James Bond thriller Dr. No.

The dealership’s owner and car supplier to the stars Donald Sleator is as suave as you’d expect a Parisian Ferrari salesman in the 1960s to be. But even his aura pales in comparison to that of Belmondo, the veritable French national treasure who just so happens to be at the very peak of his powers. Sleator greets Belmondo with a warm familiarity. Belmondo is no stranger to the exclusive showroom – Sleator has known Belmondo since 1962, when he arranged to loan the ‘French Steve McQueen’ a new Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet Series II by Pininfarina for a Paris Match cover story.

Belmondo has not long wrapped filming on his latest flick Up to His Ears, during which he began a well-publicised affair with his on-screen co-star Ursula Andress. Reportedly the pair were distant at first, the film’s director Philippe de Broca recalling how they wouldn’t even speak between scenes. However, just like for so many millions of women and men around the world at the time, Belmondo and Andress were irresistible. And so it proved they were irresistible to one another.

As soon as Belmondo saw images of Ferrari’s drop-dead-gorgeous new Ferrari 275 GTB in October of 1964, he placed his order with the factory for one via Donald Sleator. And after what must have felt like an agonisingly long time, the time has come to collect it. A three-carburettor ‘short-nose’ left-hand-drive 275 GTB, chassis number 07535 is finished in Grigio Argento over a Pelle Rossa interior with Nero fabric seat inserts and Rosso Connolly carpets. For assistance on the busy streets of Paris, the car is fitted with a chrome bumperette on the nose and an additional competition-style mirror on the left flank. Further special factory options specified by Belmondo included the passenger headrest and the Blaupunkt radio, housed in a bespoke central cabinet beneath the dashboard.

This Ferrari is elegant and it’s understated and it certainly fits the bill. But there’s an elephant in the room. Ursula Andress doesn’t like the colour. Not to worry, though. Sleator is not one to say no to a customer of such distinction as France’s most famous film star. Handshakes are exchanged and arrangements are made to send the car straight to nearby Carrosserie Henri Chapron to be refinished in a hue akin to Rosso Rubino, a rich and alluring darker shade of red. Sold!

Creative license

We admit that the above is not 100-percent true and we did exercise a degree of creative license while imagining the exchange. But the fact is Jean-Paul Belmondo did buy that very Ferrari 275 GTB from that very dealership in Paris and, almost 51 years later, we’re offering chassis number 07535 for sale in the City of Light once again.

Of course, the Ferrari 275 GTB was the absolute darling of the 1960s Jet Set. Is there a car that better embodies the glamour and romance of the Italian 1960s Gran Turismo than the Ferrari 275 GTB? Its Pininfarina-designed Scaglietti-built fastback body, with its smiley nose and shark-like gills, is sensuous and pure, devoid of any unnecessary clutter. For us, it’s an objet d’art – one with a soul-stirring 12-cylinder engine and delectable open-gate gearshift, which can whisk you away to a sun-dappled parallel universe that encapsulates the 1960s Dolce Vita era in one stab of the deliciously long throttle pedal.

Clint Eastwood. Peter Sellers. Steve McQueen. Johnny Hallyday. George Harrison. Miles Davis. They are all non-conformists cooler than most of us will ever dream of being. And they all drove 275 GTBs. Indeed, Belmondo was the rebel who epitomised French New Wave cinema more than any other and was one of the country’s best-known exports. He kept chassis number 07535 for just under four years, using it with discretion for sojourns to the provinces of France or Italy with Andress. If only a photograph existed of the two stars with their beloved Ferrari...

On 25 March 1969, Belmondo gave this Ferrari 275 GTB in part exchange for a Maserati Ghibli, which was incidentally also painted Rosso Rubino. Later that year the supplying dealer Thépenier Maserati found chassis number 07535 a new home with a Parisian pharmacist via an intermediary acquaintance. The third owner, a serial Ferrari collector by the name of Patrick Faucompre, also from Paris, acquired the car two years later. An engineer by trade, Faucompre was soon transferred to a long-term post in South Africa. Unable to take the 275 GTB with him, he ‘sold’ it to his close companion Jacques Maitrot in Paris. Maitrot maintained and safely stored chassis number 07535 in a garage in Montrouge in Paris’ southern suburbs on Faucompre’s behalf for an astonishing 28 years.

Among the most satisfying aspects of this Ferrari 275 GTB’s story is the fact that in 2001, the ownership of this Ferrari was transferred back to Patrick Faucompre, who by this point lived in Maryland across the pond in the United States of America. Having never had the opportunity to enjoy living with his Ferrari the first time round, Faucompre relished his tenure as chassis number 07535’s custodian. He kept it for 20 years, adding around 10,000 kilometres to the odometer, maintaining it with renowned specialists including the late David Carte, Chuck Wray of GT Motors, and Kendall Merritt of DEW Motors, and exhibiting it at a raft of events including the Ferrari Club of America National Meeting on several occasions. Crucially, the car remained in exceptionally original condition.

This 275 GTB was acquired by its fourth and final owner in 2021, the same year in which the car took part in the prestigious Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace in the United Kingdom. Utterly charmed by the Ferrari’s condition and originality, he sought to preserve the aesthetic character of the car while carefully maintaining its mechanical health. Correspondingly, Patrick and Tazio Ottis were charged with rebuilding the engine and transmission and thoroughly sorting the car mechanically, leaving the original parts and finishes whenever possible. During the extensive works, which totalled more than 185,000 US dollars, the Ottis’ noted that the heads of the V12 were in particularly excellent condition, a result of the engine having never been apart.

More recently, in the summer of 2025, chassis number 07535 contested the most sought-after automotive beauty pageant of them all: the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It was entered in the Post-War Preservation category and looked utterly beautiful on the Monterey Peninsula as it navigated the Tour d’Elegance – thankfully under sunny skies and not the area’s characteristic morning mist.

Parisian homecoming

To say we’re excited about returning this special Ferrari to Paris and presenting it on our 2026 Salon Rétromobile stand almost 61 years after it was sold new right here in the French capital would be an understatement of epic proportions. Where to start with chassis number 07535’s appeal? Beyond its provenance and the fact it was bought new by Jean-Paul Belmondo, one of cinema’s all-time great actors at the very peak of his powers, there are so many trump cards to this 275 GTB that will pique the interest of the collectors of today. Its condition, for starters. Having never been restored but with the distinction of always being lovingly maintained and carefully stored by its mere four private owners, this is one of the most original 275s we’ve ever encountered. It goes without saying that the car retains its matching-numbers chassis, engine and gearbox.

“Resisting the charm of this Ferrari is, we imagine, every bit as difficult as resisting the charms of its original owners, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Ursula Andress, in the 1960s.”

The car’s presented in the exact specification it left Franco-Britannic Autos Ltd. in the summer of 1965, still finished in Ursula Andress’ preferred shade of Rosso Rubino and complete with its raft of special features including its chrome bumperette, Blaupunkt radio and passenger headrest. Furthermore, this Ferrari is comprehensively documented from the very beginning of its life to the present day – a testament to the diligence of its handful of owners. Needless to say, resisting the charm of this Ferrari is, we imagine, every bit as difficult as resisting the charms of its original owners, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Ursula Andress, in the 1960s.

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