1957 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta 14-Louvre ‘Tour de France’by Starter

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David Green

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Topic starter 02/03/2022 10:32 am

1957 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta 14-Louvre ‘Tour de France’.

For the 1957 season Ferrari revised their 250 GT Berlinetta including a new body design that had 14 distinct louvres on the rear sail panel.

These 14-Louvre cars also had a lower front noses, a more distinct rear fender line, a large cold air induction scoop, and a flat rear window compared the wrap-around version used on the earlier cars. Some of these cars had small bumperettes with small rubber strips.

Built in from November 1956 to July 1957, nine Ferrari 250s featured the 14-louvre bodywork.

Driving his own 14-Louvre Berlinetta, Olivier Gendebien won the 1957 Tour de France with co driver Lucien Bianchi.

The model was thereafter known as the Tour de France in honor of this victory.

This Starter Kit from France of the 1957 Ferrari 250 GT TDF was one of my earliest resin kit builds in about 1989.

At that time, darkening the seams with a black paint wash or india ink was popular with builders. I felt the effect was overdone so only did it to a builds before stopping.

I see that I must replace a wiper. Back to my spare parts bin.

Starter was a French manufacturer of resin handbuilt models, mainly in 1/43rd scale. The company was founded in Marseille in 1983 by former collaborators of Record, one of the first producers of models of this kind. The range mainly comprised racing cars, especially rally and Le Mans cars, but also some contemporary French road cars that were not modelled by diecast model manufacturers at that time. The models were available ready-made and in kit form. In 2000, Starter was taken over by its former competitor Provence Moulage, which also had to cease production four years later.