[JazzyO]

Hi all,

I left yesterday for France with my younger brother and we are experiencing some seriously nice weather. The aim is to drive to Maranello via the Cote D'Azur, and then participate in the Mille Miglia Tribute. The 330 is running flawlessly, and even though I'm still working during this holiday (I hate this modern age of having to be reachable!!!) I'm having a great time.

The first hotel was spectacular, an old Abbey near Dijon. Fantastic.

The only glitch so far is, apart from the job not going away, the rock that fell off an oncoming truck onto my windscreen, about an hour ago. Two deep pits are in the 'screen, it will need to be replaced. We are trying to source a CarGlass repair man so he can fill up the holes and at least make the 'screen last for the rest of the holiday. We shall see.


Onno

[Jimmy Chen Shiba DDS]

Sounds like pure delight, Onno. Thanx for taking time to let us enjoy a bit too. Looking forward to your reports and pics. So wonderful to see you two doing this. What more to say, beautiful car in beautiful settings. These vintage cars look so much better in such backgrounds. Enjoy. w/ smiles Jimmy

[Brian_Brice]

Nice pictures and story. I love your car, simple design and very elegant. Ahead of it's time for sure.

[212Export]

Dear Onno, lots of luck and happyness...enjoy (and please turn that mobile off for the next couple of days !!)

[JazzyO]

Well, we had some problems today. Again (for the 6th time in the past 2 years), I've had a battery that was not charging. With help from my specialist we traced it to the Lucas regulator not working, but unfortunately I have been unable to source a new one.

Ferrari Monaco actually laughed at me when I asked them if they could help. "That old stuff, we don't do that". I will raise this issue with Ferrari SpA because I was really affronted by the way they treated me. Like I was some poor leper who couldn't afford a real (=modern) Ferrari. Idiots.

So, again, my hotel room has a battery on the charger so that I will be able to continue my journey to Maranello next week, and I'll have the car fixed there.

Yesterday, I also had bad luck because a rock fell onto the windscreen leaving to very big dents in it. So a new windscreen will also be required.

But the good news is that we are still going and the engine is running very sweetly indeed. So in most aspects, all is well.

I'm looking forward to visiting the RM Auction tomorrow and seeing some historic racing in Monaco!


Onno

[Jimmy Chen Shiba DDS]

Originally Posted by JazzyO

Well, we had some problems today. Again (for the 6th time in the past 2 years), I've had a battery that was not charging. With help from my specialist we traced it to the Lucas regulator not working, but unfortunately I have been unable to source a new one.

Ferrari Monaco actually laughed at me when I asked them if they could help. "That old stuff, we don't do that". I will raise this issue with Ferrari SpA because I was really affronted by the way they treated me. Like I was some poor leper who couldn't afford a real (=modern) Ferrari. Idiots.

So, again, my hotel room has a battery on the charger so that I will be able to continue my journey to Maranello next week, and I'll have the car fixed there.

Yesterday, I also had bad luck because a rock fell onto the windscreen leaving to very big dents in it. So a new windscreen will also be required.

But the good news is that we are still going and the engine is running very sweetly indeed. So in most aspects, all is well.

I'm looking forward to visiting the RM Auction tomorrow and seeing some historic racing in Monaco!


Onno

That is totally despicable of that Monaco shop, if that is how they treated you. I would have thought that a dealership in such a posh place would be more high class. That is truly hard to believe. Maybe my image of Monaco is not as romantic as I thought.

Looks like you are on your way to a great adventure, starting with these challenges. After all is finished, you would own a splendid experience to tell everyone for the rest of your life. Congratulations, in advance. Safe and happy driving, Onno. w/ smiles Jimmy

[212Export]

Onno, if you encounter further problems, then you may want quickly choose to visit Loris Kessel in Lugano, Switzerland. He's a official Ferrari dealer, has tons of classic Ferrari clients and is very, very helpful. (He runs the biggest Ferrari challange team in Europe) As Lugano is just 50km from Milano....just in case. (++41 91 994 55 71).

[JazzyO]

Great 212Export, thanks for the tip. I'll see how it goes, but surely they should be able to fix my car in Maranello? In the meantime, for the next 2 days, with 2 batteries I can drive over 500kms a day so that's not a problem.


Onno

[JazzyO]

Great 212Export, thanks for the tip. I'll see how it goes, but surely they should be able to fix my car in Maranello? In the meantime, for the next 2 days, with 2 batteries I can drive over 500kms a day so that's not a problem.


Onno

[JazzyO]

Well, was at the classic Ferrari specialist Toni Auto (across from the Maranello factory gate) today, and they couldn't help me! I was flummoxed!

Good thing two of the Lucas units are coming up being carried by someone participating in the Mille Miglia. And maybe Ferrari Classiche can help, tomorrow, during the certification process.

The weather was spectacular today, very unexpected. I picked some nice hotels too, as you can see from these pics from my window (morning and evening, both today). So, all in all, we're enjoying ourselves!

I just hope this car will be fixed because after 4 days it is driving me potty!


Onno

[Vitalone]

Hope the niggling problems get sorted out quickly, Onno and that your dream holiday (any petrolhead's dream holiday actually) exceeds your wildest dreams. And a very happy birthday this coming Friday (if I am not mistaken?)

Please keep the pictures and reports flowing in as time permits.

Regards from a busy but wonderful Miami

[JazzyO]

Thanks Vitalone,

I'm typing this in the actual Mille Miglia hall with all these amazing cars around me.

We'll be starting tonight. Plenty of headaches with the car, it was fixed in the Ferrari factory but gave issues again last night. This morning, everything was fine. So - we just don't know what is going to happen, really!

Onno

[JazzyO]

I'm just speechless! What a trip we have had.

I don't have time to post much but here are a couple of pics we purchased from a professional service. The shot at Imola is my favourite!

More later.


Onno

[Jimmy Chen Shiba DDS]

Lovely and picturesque !!! w/ smiles Jimmy

[Vitalone]

Spectacular pics! The 330 GTC looks right at home and in her element. Please send through more details and pics!

[212Export]

Wonderful Onno. So, obviously the car finally runned well without problems ?!

[JazzyO]

Originally Posted by 212Export

Wonderful Onno. So, obviously the car finally runned well without problems ?!

Well, not quite. We had a slowly failing clutch going into San Marino. As it was getting worse, I was fearing not finishing the rally. But it turned out to be boiling clutch fluid due to driving in the mountains at high revs. If I used 3rd gear instead of 2nd, it went away in 10 mins or so. I do want to find out what clutch fluid my specialist used when he replaced it, because I did not have this problem in Switzerland during FLED2. That's why it was a surprise to me.

Also - today we had a complete surprise and AGAIN an empty battery! This makes no sense as we saw the car charging it. The only thing that makes sense is that the battery was not good anymore, but it was a brand new one picked up at the Ferrari factory.

Does anyone know if the AMP meter is on the "going-in" circuit or at the battery itself? If the latter, then the battery should be the problem. If the former, then I suppose it is possible that it's reporting that it's charging, but it actually might not be. Or not enough. Well, the mystery continues...


Onno

[Barry]

Onno,
sounds like a fabulous trip. Thanks fir sharing the pictures and stories.
Barry

[212Export]

Originally Posted by JazzyO

Well, not quite. We had a slowly failing clutch going into San Marino. As it was getting worse, I was fearing not finishing the rally. But it turned out to be boiling clutch fluid due to driving in the mountains at high revs. If I used 3rd gear instead of 2nd, it went away in 10 mins or so. I do want to find out what clutch fluid my specialist used when he replaced it, because I did not have this problem in Switzerland during FLED2. That's why it was a surprise to me.

Also - today we had a complete surprise and AGAIN an empty battery! This makes no sense as we saw the car charging it. The only thing that makes sense is that the battery was not good anymore, but it was a brand new one picked up at the Ferrari factory.

Does anyone know if the AMP meter is on the "going-in" circuit or at the battery itself? If the latter, then the battery should be the problem. If the former, then I suppose it is possible that it's reporting that it's charging, but it actually might not be. Or not enough. Well, the mystery continues...


Onno

Sorry to hear about these problems. On the other hand it shows you, how "tame" we drove on FLED 2

[Boxer]

Sorry to hear about the issues (Ferrari Monaco has a horrible reputation, regarded as one of the worst dealers in the network). Great pictures thou and it does sound like a terrific experience in the end.