Dutch-British company Niels van Roij Design is responsible for a number of impressive, small series vehicles, including a Tesla Model S firing brake, the Carat Duchatelet Rolls-Royce Wraith firing brake and, of course, the two Range Rover doors known as Adventum Coupe. Still, the most impressive one so far has to be this one, the only Niels van Roij Design Breadvan Hommage. Designed for the first time by the Dutch designer in 2018, it was hand-molded by renowned manufacturer Bas van Roomen, using a Ferrari 550 Maranello coupe equipped with a six-speed manual transmission.
Building a tribute to the 1962 original using a V12 front engine was the right choice. Not only did the 250 GT use the same recipe, but the 550 Maranello itself also became a suitable racing machine, thanks to companies like Italtecnica, Baumgartner Sportwagen Technik and, most famously, Prodrive in England. Now, ready for 2021, we have the new Breadvan written by Niels van Roij, who had the difficult task of implementing all the rather strange design characteristics of the original Drogo body prototype in a nineties Ferrari designed by Pininfarina. The Dutchman bet everything and the result is impressive, to say the least.
While it is getting harder and harder to get excited about the latest flood of unique Ferrari V12s, whoever ordered this Breadvan Hommage will not be bored with this completely transformed 550. However, before we get into the details, here’s what the 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Breadvan is all about:
The “palace revolution” at Ferrari was when engineering mentors Carlo Chiti and Giotto Bizzarrini, as well as several other high-ranking officials, broke ties with the famous and difficult Enzo Ferrari in 1961, only to establish the ATS and continue to compete against Scuderia Ferrari with financial support from Giovanni Volpi, head of Scuderia Serenissima. When Ferrari refused to sell the new 250 GTO to Count Volpi due to their involvement with their former team, Bizzarrini and Volpi had a new idea against Enzo’s GTOs, who transformed an outdated 1962 250 GT SWB into a lightweight monster with a longer nose and an aerodynamic rear brake with a Kamm tail, hand-built by body specialist Piero Drogo.
Successful in the period and once painted in silver, the car has been restored several times since then and remains in excellent racing condition today. Thanks to that, I am fortunate to have seen this car race in Goodwood more than once and, it seems, the client of Niels van Roij Design also witnessed the miracle that is Breadvan there, just as he was doing his best against a Jaguar E-Type. Then, an idea was born.