The Bamford Ferrari Specials

The secrets of three unique Ferrari specials built for JCB chairman and car collector Lord Bamford.

Printed and bound in Great Britain.

• The inside story of three bespoke Ferraris created for Lord Bamford.
  Behind-the-scenes 'in build' images showing the construction and evolution of each car – never previously published.
• Brand-new, bespoke photoshoots of each car by renowned automotive photographer David Shepherd.
• Interviews with Lord Bamford and key individuals involved in the creation of all three cars – from designers to engineering specialists.
• Commissioned by the Bamford family to celebrate Lord Bamford's 80th birthday.

The Bamford Ferrari Specials provides a unique insight into the design of three bespoke Ferraris, their creation by specialists and craftsmen, and Lord Bamford’s own essential input to the process. 

The end result is a unique motoring trio with unquestionable Italian heritage: two striking coupés that would look perfectly at home on the lawns at Pebble Beach or touring Riviera roads, and a muscular Spider that pays homage to the 1964 250 GTO that served as its inspiration. Lord Bamford is rightly proud of these three distinctive Ferraris, which now form part of his much-admired collection.

With contributions from key people, including Lord Bamford himself, this book chronicles the design, engineering and construction of these magnificent cars, inspired by classic Ferraris and built for modern roads. 

More about this book

Lord Anthony Bamford took over as chairman of JCB from his father, the company founder, in 1975. He has presided over the company’s expansion for half a century, diversifying its product range and establishing itself in India, Brazil, USA and China. Under his leadership, JCB has expanded from a single site to 22 factories globally, employing over 19,000 people.

Lord Bamford started his unique car collection in the 1960s, and it reflects not only his passion for engineering and design, but also his enthusiasm for the Ferrari marque. He once explained that his liking was for ‘objects with a purity of line. Ferraris are pure both in engineering and styling terms, to my mind, and they are fast – very fast. Their engines literally scream and their handling is superb.’ 

Given his hands-on dedication to excellence at JCB over the decades, it should come as no surprise that he considered the design and manufacture of three bespoke Ferrari specials as a personal challenge, offering his own technical and aesthetic experience in order to create something truly outstanding.

Specification

• Size: 240mm x 280mm landscape
• 128 pages
• Over 160 images
• Price: £40.00 
• ISBN: 978-1-913089-12-2
• Publisher: Porter Press International
• Publication date: October 2025
• Author: James Taylor

The authors

James Taylor has been fascinated by all manner of exotic and classic cars for the best part of half a century. His writing has appeared in multiple magazines in several different countries. He spent 10 years as a magazine editor, and has now written more than 150 books about multiple aspects of road transport.

He is well known for his painstaking research, and counts the story of coachbuilding among his special interests. Needless to say, a book on classic Ferrari coachwork is among those he has written.

James lives in rural Oxfordshire with his wife and the younger two of his four children, surrounded by myriad books about cars. He has absolutely no plans to retire because he enjoys his work too much.