[krasnavian]

Although I've visited the factory on a number of occasions, my most memorable encounter with Enzo Ferrari was at the practice for the 1970 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. While we stood in the paddock speaking about the 250GTO, Fangio joined us and listened with interest. For me, it was very interesting to meet with the man away from his manor, though well within his domain. Later that same day, Jochen Rindt tragically lost his life. Clay Regazzoni won the event that year.

Would anyone care to post anecdotes concerning their Enzo encounters?

 

[Dr. Bob]

Don't know, but I think you are the only one here who met him

Welcome anyway

 

[Stradale]

Don't know, but I think you are the only one here who met him

Welcome anyway

How true.

krasnavian, you're one lucky guy.

 

[Dj Dirk]

welcome to the board

crasnavian

well i must say that you must be a very lucky man, having been able to talk to Enzo back in the days, i don't believe that a lot of owners can say the same thing

tell me, did you ask for his autograph? :green: especially if you saw Fangio

 

[mchferrari]

You met the man himself?

 

[krasnavian]

Thank you for your warm welcome to this forum. I did indeed meet him, but what made it special to me was that, on this occasion, it was in the world outside of his office, and in the excitement of practice for the Italian Grand Prix. Furthermore, it was he who instigated the encounter. We were standing some fifteen yards apart in the middle if the paddock area. He was looking at me, and it seemed that he wanted to talk, so I approached and we did. I was there that day at the invitation of Franco Lini, Ferrari's formula 1 team manager, but Ferrari did not know that. He was just interested in talking, so we did. The subject was the 250GTO that I was using for daily transportation at the time. Fangio arrived to join us and after a time, I excused myself to explore the pit area.

No, I did not ask anyone for an autograph, however, I received the beautiful Ferrari yearbooks with Ferrari's personal inscription and ,of course, his Christmas/New Years greeting each year with that peculiar purple ink of his.

Ferrari created a history, legend and myth. I took great pleasure in meeting those who took part or contributed to those times.

 

[mchferrari]

The subject was the 250GTO that I was using for daily transportation at the time.

I am not worthy.

 

[Dj Dirk]

krasnavian
do you have some pics of your GTO from back then??
i would love to see an original pic, and is the car still in the US?

 

[Bazil]

The subject was the 250GTO that I was using for daily transportation at the time.

Which of the GTO's was it?

 

[krasnavian]

Mine was GTO #3987 and, from what I understand, Ralph Lauren is the current owner. Its history can be seen in the Registry section of this site. I do have photographs of the car, but since they were taken in the predigital age, I'll have to find a way to get them online. One distinguishing characteristic of 3987 was that it bore two orange roof lights--the kind you see on top of those long wheelbase diesel pickups--no doubt added for Sebring or some other 12/24 hour race. Also, a third air vent had been added to the bodywork where there should only have been two.

There's nothing like driving one for awhile to make you realize that these GTOs were very different, one from the other, in subtle ways. Some had leaner body lines where others were more full-figured. On some, the central hood bulge was very pronounced though not so on others. Some of these variations may be accounted for by corrective bodywork after racing accidents. Many, though, were obviously due to the fact that these were hand made cars and thus...

At one point, I needed to replace the plexiglass side windows, which were becoming opaque. I used one set as a template for both sides only to find that the passenger side window was at least an inch shorter in height!

 

[Stradale]

OMG, you owned a 250GTO. You are one lucky man!! Had the honour of a conversation with Ferrari and owned the 250GTO to boot. A thousand welcomes to this forum. We hope to hear more of your anecdotes. :up:

 

[zjpj]

I have a pic of it.

 

[zjpj]

From one of my 250 GTO books: "This car had the standard post-3757 GT body configuration. Upon sale to the second owner, oil baron John Mecom, it was repainted in the Mecom Racing Team's livery of medium metallic blue with a white central stripe. Subsequently it was returned to the original red finish. While owned by Stuart Baumgard, the engine was removed and replaced by the unit from a 250 LM (chasis number 6045 GT), which Baumgard had bought in crashed and burned-out condition."

 

[krasnavian]

Thanks zjpj! Great photo of the car in action. I think Ritchie Ginther was one of the last to drive it in a professional venue. By that time, it was owned by Otto Zipper. My first encounter with the car was seeing Mark Slotkin driving it around the streets of Brentwood. I nearly came unglued at the sight of it. By then, it was red and retained its racing lights. Years later, the car had the same effect on Steve McQueen. I was driving eastbound on Sunset Blvd.--again in Brentwood--and McQueen was heading westbound in his green XKSS. He started to turn right but came to a dead stop in the middle of the intersection to stare at the GTO. We smiled and nodded to each other, then we were off again.

 

[Andrew]

Welcome to the forum. It is wonderful to have you here. I've only had the pleasure to see Matuda's GTOs on two seperate occasions now and that is the extend of my encounters with the car. As far as meeting Enzo that is a wonderful story.

Just out of curiosity do you have a Ferrari in your stable at the moment? Again welcome to the site, as we say back home, "make yourself at home."

 

[zjpj]

So, here's my question about the car: if you go to this link here, you will see what is purportedly this car in bare metal form. http://www.barchetta.cc/english/All.Ferraris/Detail/3987GT.250GTO.htm

However one thing I notice is that it has only the two gills in the side (similar to an earlier model) rather that the three that you can see on the picture I posted earlier. Did this body style change during one of the restorations / modifications, or is this perhaps a different car?

 

[krasnavian]

It is my understanding that the photos you've linked were taken during a complete restoration of the car, which was in progress a year or so ago. No doubt, the bodywork has been restored to original condition, since the car is no longer racing and doesn't require the extra cooling. I also know that someone who had the car after I did removed the 'Le Mans' lights from the roof. It remains to be seen if they are returned for historical accuracy or left off for factory fresh accuracy. By the way, Rowen Atkinson deals with this issue in his column in this month's Octane magazine.

Alas, there is no Ferrari in my garage at this time, merely an honest working man's Jaguar XJ (to paraphrase Sir Guy Grand). I have, however, been planning which Ferrari would be the next...

 

[Dj Dirk]

i just dug up an article with Ralph Lauren about his cars, and in that article you can see his GTO painted red with 2 airvents at the side, instead of the 3 you had back then
and this article was publised at the end of 1990

krasnavian
you already have octane 8 then??
because i my last issue (Enzo Vs F40) rowan is talking about Rolls Royce

 

[krasnavian]

My 'new' issue of Octane turns out to be #06, which just appeared on the shelves at Barnes & Noble. In his column, Rowan was deliberating on what color to paint his MkVll Jaguar. He made the point that some cars had moments of glory for which they are best known and would logically be restored to resemble that time. In the case of my GTO, I would probably choose to restore it to resemble it's 1st overall finish at Montlhery with Pedro Rodriguez driving or its 2nd overall at Daytona with Roger Penske at the wheel. I might even choose to take it back to how it looked the night I raced it through Ice Canyon accompanied by Matthew Ettinger in the Breadvan and John Andrew in his Muira. A highly personal, if not historical, moment in the car's history. The highlight of the evening came when the Breadvan went over a cliff with Ettinger at the wheel. We were relieved to find that he only went over part of the cliff, dislocating the battery cables in the process. We quickly shrugged off this Targa Florio moment and were underway again.

I don't have a prejudice against a generic restoration, which would return a car to its factory-fresh condition. It's just that I find the characteristic modifications that occurred in the heat of a well known battle make a car more interesting.

 

[zjpj]

See, now that's the amusing thing about vintage Ferraris. Today, "purists" get very concerned about aftermarket modifications, and whether it spoils the integrity of the automobile. But, in the 60s, Ferraris changed practically from race to race - certainly from season to season. 63 GTOs rebodied as 64 GTOs, engines modified, and so on. This didn't make them less collectible; it made them more competitive... just a lesson for anyone who wondered whether it was ok to upgrade his F40 Turbos or upgrade an exhaust.