Reborn Ferrari 250 GT California uncovered

British Ferrari specialist GTO Engineering has revealed its latest classic model, the California Spyder Revival, ahead of its premiere at the Goodwood Revival this weekend.

GTO's latest creation is claimed to be a copy of the 1960 SWB Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder that was originally designed by Italian stylist Pininfarina and built by Scaglietti.

Claimed to have been remanufactured to be an exact copy of the original, which was limited to only 56 units.

GTO's reincarnated roadster is said to equal or better the quality of the original, despite being made of new parts sourced from the Berkshire-based specialist.

Said to take more than 1500 hours to hand-build each car, even the exact copy of the original Scaglietti-made body was hand-formed from sheet aluminium using GTO's own tooling.

Despite being designed to be an exact replica, GTO says buyers of the California Spyder Revival will be able to customise their classic faux Ferrari.

This includes the choice of not one, but three versions of Ferrari's Columbo V12. As standard the Revival drop-top gets a 3.0-litre version, but it's possible to upgrade to a more powerful 3.5- or 4.0-litre version.

The original car's four-speed manual gearbox can also be swapped out for a five-speeder.

Finally, GTO says buyers have the option of choosing the paint colour and leather, with the extra choice of a smaller wooden steering wheel.

Other less visible updates on the original include the strengthening of the sills to reduce body flex, improving the drive.

GTO Engineering founder Mark Lyon said: “It’s very exciting to be able to start talking about our latest addition to the Revival series.

"It is one of, if not, the most iconic Ferrari road car from the '60s and it’s something we’ve worked hard over recent years to develop, following on from the success of the 250 SWB Revival and 250 TR Revival models.

"The feedback from both previous and new Revival-series customers is encouraging and we’re looking forward to working with more owners to create their dream car,” he said.

If you fancy your own version of one of the finest and rarest Ferraris of all time, GTO Engineering says pricing for the California Spyder Revival kicks off at around £750,000 ($A1.4m) and stretches to £850,000 ($A1.6m), plus local taxes and shipping.

That might sound a lot, but if you were able to find one of the original Scaglietti-built 250 GT California cars, and it was available for sale, it would set you back upwards of £15 million ($A28m).

First customer deliveries of the GTO Engineering model will begin towards the end of 2021.