Eric Clapton’s Ferraris: the “best of”

Eric Clapton is well known as one of the world’s greatest guitarists and singer-songwriters, but what fewer people know is that he is also a leading classic car collector. Ferraris are his main love, a passion that began in the late 1960s, encouraged by his friendship with another petrolhead and Ferrari owner, George Harrison. As Clapton explains in “Clapton, The Autobiography”, published in 2007 by Broadway Books, for him, it was the Beatles guitarist’s 365 GTC that lit the spark.

Here, in the year that sees Clapton turning 75, we give you a selection of his most important Ferraris: a “best of” collection, as it were.

365 GTC

Clapton’s love affair with this car began in the late 1960s when his friend George Harrison drove over to see him in dark blue 365. It was love at first sight! He has so bowled over that, despite not having a driving license, he bought one himself shortly afterwards.

250 GT Lusso

It is no secret that “Slowhand” regards the 250 GT Lusso as his favorite car. Hot Wheels celebrated this important model with a 1:18 scale model.

Dino 206 GT

Purchased by the star in 1970, this car is nicknamed “Layla” after the title of the song it inspired.

Enzo

Eric Clapton was the first in England to own an Enzo. Instead of having it delivered to his home, he chose to go and collect it from the factory in Maranello and drive it back to the UK himself. During this trip he got a fine near Paris for doing over 230 km/h in an area with a speed limit of 50!

SP12 EC

In 2012, Ferrari, together with Pininfarina, created a one-off for Eric Clapton based on the 458 Italia. It is a tribute to the 512BB, being a contemporary reinterpretation of that model.