at the november 1963 paris auto show, ferrari introduced the 250 lm (le mans). it was developed as a coupe version of the 250 p and was ostensibly a new production car intended to meet fia homologation requirements for the group 3 gt class. the intention was for the 250 lm to replace the 250 gto as ferrari's premier gt-class racer. however, in april 1964 the fia refused to homologate the model, as ferrari had built considerably fewer than the required 100 units. the 250 lm thus had to run in the prototype class until it was homologated as a group 4 sports car for the 1966 season.