Tag Archives: GTO

Sixties Ferrari Covers – GALPOT Automobilia

Continuing to clear some of the motor racing stuff I have collected over the years today’s post features a couple of MotorSport covers that are currently on line on my “lightpress” e-bay account.

MotorSport, Goodwood, April 1966

First up from April 1966 the staff at MotorSport believed that the idea of an apparently arbitrary 3 liter / 183 cui limit on the size of forth coming GT regulations was not either in the interest of the sport, or the British motor industry who’s GT cars from Jaguar and Aston Martin with motors over the new limit would be rendered obsolete despite not being particularly quicker than their competition with smaller motors. The photo shows the start of the 1963 Goodwood Tourist Trophy race featuring four Ferrari 250 GTO’s, 2 Aston Martins and 2 E-type Jaguars which was won by Graham Hill in the #11 250 GTO.

MotorSport, Surtess, Ferrari 312, Siracusa, June 1966

By June 1966 the Ferrari V12 3 litre 183 cui Formula One car was looking a good bet to win the championship with 1964 champion John Surtees at the wheel. John is seen guiding his Ferrari 312 fitted with a downsized sports car V12 motor through the streets of Siracusa on his way to an easy non championship victory. Note how Sicilian spectators are clearly seen ligning the inside of the crash barriers which were presumably installed to protect them. By the end of June John Surtees quit the Ferrari team after a disagreement with Ferrari management which deprived him and Ferrari of Championships which up until then had been theirs for the taking.

MotorSport, Bandini, Ferrari P3/4, Daytona, March 1967

Finally after a humiliating defeat to Ford at Le Mans in 1966 in February 1967 Ferrari stole a little Ford thunder by claiming victory in the Daytona 24 hour race. Seen on the cover of the March 1967 edition of MotorSport is Lorenzo Bandini at the wheel of the #23 Ferrari P3/4 he shared on his way to victory with Chris Amon. The #26 North American Racing Team Ferrari P4 driven by Pedro Rodriguez and Jean Guichet finished second.

Thanks for joining me on this “Sixties Ferrari Covers” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Fast Cars and Fast Love – Ferrari 250 GTO #4219

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Motor racing is littered with generous patrons but I venture to suggest that her wealth aside none has been quite so extraordinary as the 20 year old heiress from Asheville North Carolina known as Mamie Spears Reynolds.

In early 1963 she went to New York to see Luigi Chinetti with the intention of buying a Ferrari to enter in the Daytona Continental. She ended up buying today’s featured Ferrari 250 GTO chassis #4219 and finding love in the form of Luigi Chinetti’s son Luigi Chinetti Jr whom she married in July 1963.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

Mamie, heir to tobacco and mining fortunes along with the “Hope Diamond” had Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team (NART) enter #4219 into the Daytona Continental for Pedro Rodriguez to drive and he promptly won the race. NART entered the car at the following Sebring 12 Hours for Joakim Bonnier and John Cannon in which they came home 13th overall.

In May 1963 Mamie sold #4219 to Beverly Spencer in California for US $14,000, Beverly entered the car in numerous events through ’63 and ’64 primarily for Frank Crane who’s best results were a 2nd overall at Laguna Seca and a class win at Candlestick Park Raceway.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

At the end of 1964 Spencer sold the car to George Dyer for US $12,166. George had the now white #4219 painted dark blue and kept it until January 1993 when he sold the car to Brandon Wang the present owner for an estimated US$ 3 – 3.5 million.

By October 1965 Mamie and Chinetti jr were not getting on and after a private phone call to J Edgar Hoover she was liberated by “agents” and promptly divorced Chinetti jr and remarried a dog breeder the same day with whom she appears to have settled down for good.

Thanks for joining me on this “Fast Cars and Fast Love” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Double Austrian GT Champ – Ferrari 250 GTO #3505

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In April 1962 UDT Laystall racing took delivery of a Ferrari 250 GTO chassis number 3505 painted pale green as were all the other cars in the UDT Laystall team run by dentist and one time Indy 500 competitor Alfred Moss father of Sir Stirling Moss and Sir Stirlings former manager Ken Gregory.

Ferrari 250GTO, Goodwood Revival

The cars first outing was at the 1962 Le Mans test where Willy Marrise recorded 2nd fastest time in #3505, he appears to have driven several other Ferrari’s over the weekend including the fastest car a 250GT SWB chassis #2689. Innes Ireland and Marsten Gregory shared the car for the rest of the season Marsten scored to 2nd place finishes at Silverstone before he and Ireland retired the car at Le Mans with a combination of starter and battery problems after completing just under half the distance of the race.

Innes Ireland drove the #3505 to victories at Brands Hatch and again in the 1962 Tourist Trophy run at Goodwood where the car is seen above fifty years after the event. With just seven events entered the car was sold to Austrian Dr. Gunther Placheta.

Ferrari 250GTO, Goodwood Revival

Dr. Gunther Placheta was an alias for the actor Gunther Philipp who raced under the pseudonym “Giulio Pavesi” and used the #3505 in racing and hillclimbing events in 1963 and 1964 claiming 4 overall victories from nine events known to have been entered claiming the 1963 and 1964 Austrian GT championships in the process.

Since 1964 #3505 has spent most of it’s time with owners in the United Kingdom in 2000 the #3505 sold for $8 million and went to the Matsuda collection.

Ferrari 250GTO, Goodwood Revival

The car was back in the UK with a new Dutch owner by 2005 and last year was sold far a reputed $35 million to it’s current owner wireless billionaire Craig McCaw who by strange coincidence is also the husband of former US Ambassador to Austria Susan Rasinski McCaw. The reputed $35 million price paid makes this car twice as expensive as the most expensive car sold at auction last year the $16 million 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa Prototype.

It should be noted that #3505 was neither owned by Sir Stirling Moss other than through any financial interest he may have had in his fathers racing team British Racing Partnerships which raced under the UDT Laystall banner in 1962 and nor is there any record that #3505 was ever raced by Sir Stirling Moss in period.

Thanks for joining me on this “Double Austrian GT Champ” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Raced, Crashed, Stolen & Returned – Ferrari 250 GTO #3387

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With the price of Ferrari 250 GTO’s in the 20 – 30 million US dollar range it occurred to me recently that to be a mere millionaire is probably no longer enough to purchase one of the 39 cars built.

Today’s featured Ferrari 250 GT0 #3387 was sold to Luigi Chinetti in March 1962 after the factory had done some testing with it at Monza earlier in the month.Chinetti entered the car for Phil Hill and Oliver Gendebien in the Sebring 12 hours under his NART banner and came home 2nd OA, 1st in class.

Bob Grossman bought the car and entered it for himself and George Roberts jr in the ’62 Le Mans 24 hours coming home 6th overall 3rd in class behind two more GTO’s. Grossman scored one more class win at Bridgehampton in ’62 before selling the car to the Gammino family.

Mike Gammino raced the car through ’63 and ’64 scoring 4 class wins and 2 outright victories, during practice for ’64 Daytona 2000kms Mike crashed the car and ended up replacing the body with a new body from Scaglietti

Gammino sold the car back to Grossman who drove #3387 to another class victory at Nassau in 1965 before the car retired from active competition and was sold to K F White.

In 1979 R Finger bought the car and eleven years later a Kawasaki motorcycle dealer masterminded a plan to relieve Dr Finger of #3387 after offering the car to interested parties from his fax machine.

Six men from the Savanah manged to steal #3387 and K F White showed up with a US$ 4.3 million cashiers cheque, but backed out of the deal when he suspected the car was a fake because the “real” #3387 was confirmed to be with Dr R Finger. The FBI picked up #3387 later that afternoon returning the car to it’s rightful owner and sending the perpetrators on their way to a Federal Penitentiary.

The car as seen today is seen wearing the colours the original body wore at the Sebring in 1962.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for his photo of #3387 seen at the Petersen Automotive Museum in 2011, the two other photo’s were taken at the 2012 Goodwood Revival.

Thanks for joining me on this “Raced, Crashed, Stolen & Returned” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Land Yachts – Danville Concours d’Elegance

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Once again today’s photographs from the recent Danville Concours d’Elegance come courtesy of ‘California Streets‘ blogger Jay Wollenweber.

To get through the Great Depression Packard decided to produce a midsize vehicle known as the One Twenty, many think it was a mistake to use the Packard reputation for excellence for the venture instead of coming up with a new brand.

I mistakenly identified this pick up as a Terraplane, Jay pointed out that it is actually a rare REO Speedwagon. While it looks totally stock on the outside the motor axles and air conditioning are a mix of Chevrolet and Ford parts that allow this pick up to travel comfortably faster than the 35 mph it would have achieved when new in 1935.

First of today’s genuine land yachts is this low riding 1957 Buick Century Caballero Station Wagon. high production costs of this car featuring unusual, for an estate / station wagon, pillarless styling stymied production after just two years with the Caballero name remaining dormant since 1958.

Not quite in the land yacht category is this ’57 Ford Thunderbird, with the first series, last year of production, heavily restyled front bumpers.

If your in the market for a rare Cadillac then a 1957 Series 70 Eldorado Brougham might be a great place to start. Only 400 of these hand built cars were built in 1957, they cost more than a contemporary Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud.

1958 saw the Pontiac Bonneville launched as a separate model, with a standard electric clock, priced at less than US$3,000. The 300 hp Bonneville Convertible was chosen as the 1958 Pace Car for the Indianapolis 500.

The ‘aerodynamically different’ Avanti by Studebaker also got an early airing at Indianapolis in 1962, as the “Honorary Pace Car alongside the Studebaker Skylark Convertible ‘Official Pace Car’. Production of the Avanti was shut down in December 1963 with 2,500 vehicles still in the dealer chain this particular model above appears to have been one of those 2,500.

Pontiac Sales Manager Frank Bridge insisted on limiting production of the GTO option package for the 1964 Pontiac Tempest to 5000, by the beginning of 1964 10,000 had already been sold and the vehicle above is one of the 32,450 total first year sales. Surprisingly despite all the performance upgrades the GTO option offered it retained the standard Tempest drum brakes.

Jay tells me this 1965 Chevrolet Corvette C2 was equipped as an SCCA racer in the 1970’s and is fitted with a 5358 cc / 327 cui small block V8.

Last of today’s featured vehicles from Danville Concours d’Elegance is this understated, sports stripe option deleted, 1970 Fathom Blue Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396 which packed a 350 hp Turbo Jet big block V8 when it left the factory.

My thanks again to Jay Wollenweber for sharing his photographs with us.

Thanks for joining me on this “Land Yachts” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for a Danville Concours d’Elegance Ferrari Friday edition tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Rosso Kev – Ferrari 250 GTO #3527

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Todays car is the 7th of the original batch of 33 Ferrari 250 GTO’s built in 1962 and quelle surprise it does not belong to the well known drummer of the rock combo Pink Floyd.

Chassis #3527 painted Russo Cina, a colour usually associated with FIAT, was purchased by Austrian Gottfried Koechert in May 1962 who entered it into the 1000 kms at the Nurburgring the same month for himself and Umberto Maglioli. The car retired from its first race with ignition failure and soon after was sold to Ecurie Francorchamps.

Belgian Lucien Bianchi drove the Ecurie Francorchamps #3527 on three occasions in 1962 nearly winning the Tour d’France until he collided with a milk truck necessitating the removal of the nose so that the car could finish the event in 7th place. Bianchi’s final appearance in the car was in the 1962 Angola GP which he won.

The car was then sold to Scuderia Filipinetti in Switzerland before finding it’s way shortly afterwards during 1963 into the hands of Swiss banker Armand Boller who drove the car to 6 class victories in hill climb events up to the end of 1964.

After withdrawing #3527 from the 1000 kms at Monza in 1965 Boller had the car converted into a road friendly spec with wind up windows, leather interior and VW rear lights by the Swiss Garber coach works.

#3527 was sold to building plant magnate Anthony Bamford in 1966 and was sold on in 1973 and again in 1984 to Steve Pilkington who had the Garber modifications removed.

Current owner international conference magnate Baron Laidlaw bought #3527 in 2005 and has recently had the car restored and painted in fetching Rosso Kev as seen here during last years Tour Britannia event as it passed through Castle Combe.

Thanks for joining me on this Rosso Kev edition of ‘Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

PS Don’t forget …

Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz

December 26th – January 2nd

Win a set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards

Set 1 Sports & GT Cars

Set 2 Phil Hill World Drivers Championship 50th Anniversary Edition

Set 3 1934 Season

Set 4 Grand Prix Engines of the 1950’s

Set 5 Mike Hawthorn’s Race Cars

The Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will comprise 8 categories.

Overall winner chooses one set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards from the five sets shown above.

The cards measure 15.24cm x 11.43cm, come in packs of 12 with 3 copies of 4 designs in each set, plus A6 envelopes.

Which set will you choose ?

The free to enter Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will run from December 26th – January 2nd Entries close January 8th 2012, Winner announced January 16th 2012.

Full details on December 26th at GALPOT.

Goodwood RAC TT Celebration – Ferraris

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The RAC TT or International Tourist Trophy is a more or less annual award given to the winners of a selected motor race. It was first awarded in 1905 making it the longest lasting trophy in Motorsport. Among the many venues that hosted the RAC TT is Goodwood which ran TT races from 1958 to 1964. Below are 9 of the 10 Ferrari’s that took part in the Revival Celebration TT practice sessions a couple of weeks ago.

The #14 Ferrari 250 GT Drogo started life as a 250 GT SWB (Short Wheel Base) Competizione chassis #2445GT in 1961, it was supplied to Garages Francorchamps in Belgium and is known to have won at least seven European races in the hands of Robert Crevits in the 1961 and ’62 seasons. At Le Mans in 1962 Robert Darville crashed the car and it was subsequently sent to Piero Drogo in Modena where the current bodywork was fitted. Apparently James Coburn briefly owned this car in 1964. Dutchman David Hart shared the #14 with 2006 RAC TT winner Michael Bartels at Goodwood.

Readers from Rowdy.com may remember my blog on the Ferrari 250 GT SWB Breadvan, I’ll repost the whole blog here if I find myself getting short of Ferraris to write about, chassis #2819 is a bastard in so much as it also started life as a 1961 250 GT SWB, but Count di Misurata had his car upgraded by Giotto Bizzarrini, the man responsible for designing both the Ferrari 250 GT SWB and the later 250 GTO. The ‘Breadvan’ was driven at Goodwood by Nicholas Minassian and Max Werner.

One of my all time heroes Art Merzario shared the #19 250 GT SWB/C with Kilian Koenig. This 1960 model chassis #1811GT was another car originally supplied to Garages Francorchamps and in the hands of Robert Crevits won 3 races outright in the 1961 season.

Conrad Ulrich shared his #20 250 GT SWB chassis #3107GT with Frank Stippler at Goodwood. This chassis was originally supplied to M. Auregli in Italy and has no race history, that I can discern, until the current owner acquired it in 1999.

This light weight 1961 250GT SWB Compitizione was originally entered by the North American Racing Team in the Paris 1000 kms for the Mexican Rodriguez brothers who won on the cars debut race. Subsequently it was sold to Doug Thiem in the USA who succesfully campaigned this chassis #3005GT in 1962. The #21 car now belongs to Lukas Hueni who shared it with Carlo Voegele at Goodwood.

Gregory Whitten’s #23 250 GTO chassis #3413 was originally used as a spare car and tested by Graham Hill and engineer Mauro ‘Fury’ Fogheri on the Targa Florio in 1962, later that year #3413 was acquired by Edoardo Lualdi who scored numerous overall and class wins hillclimbing with it. In 1963 Gianni Bulgari raced it scoring a class win on the Targa and an overall win at Monza. In 1964 the car was fitted with ’64 GTO bodywork at the Ferrari factory for new owner Corrado Ferlaino who promptly took another class win on the Targa and at least two more hillclimb class wins. In 1967 Jack Le Fort acquired #3413 for £6000 /@ US$ 15,000 after several further changes of ownership Gregory Whitten acquired it in 2000 for US$ 7 million ! Greg shared his car with 6 time Le Mans winner Derek ‘Dinger’ Bell at Goodwood.

The #24 Ferrari 250 GTO chassis #3767GT was raced with the #8 by original owner David Piper to 5th place in the 1962 Tourist Trophy at Goodwood. David won races in Angola and South Africa with this car in 1962. In 1963 David shared the car at Sebring with the cars next owner Ed Cantrell who clocked up further class wins with the car through to the end of 1964. Since 1974 #3767 has been the property of heavy plant magnet Anthony Bamford at Goodwood his son Jo shared the drivng duties with Alain de Cadenet.

Jose Albuquerque, of Portugal brought his 250GT Compitizione to Goodwood and shared it with Barrie Williams. Chassis #2159GT was originally supplied to Garage Montchoisy, Geneva, CH and Gérard Spinedi won on his debut in the 1000m sprint at Cern, Spinedi scored numerous overall and class victories in races, rallies and on the hills up to 1964. Mr Albuquerque has been the custodian of this car since 2001.

Finally Garage Francochamps appears to have acquired this 1960 steel bodied 250GT SWB Berlinetta chassis #2069GT from Baron de Fierlant in 1962, apart from a 2nd place in the 1962 Ardenne hillclimb with Robert Crevits at the wheel, the car has no discernable competition history until the turn of this century when Vincent Gáye acquired it. Vincent was sharing #2060GT with former national hillclimb champion David Franklin in the RAC TT celebration.

My thanks to PauloSF at Ferrari Chat for his contribution to todays blog.

Thanks for joining me on this RAC TT edition of ‘Gettin a lil’ psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

SOT Thanks to a strong alignment of favourable planets I’ll be attending the Bill Boddy Tribute Day at Bill’s spiritual home Brooklands tomorrow, if I had not picked up a copy of Motor Sport, edited by Bill Boddy, in January 1973 I’d never have been bitten by the passion I still have 38 years later for all things motoring.

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring

Tag Archives: GTO

Sixties Ferrari Covers – GALPOT Automobilia

Fast Cars and Fast Love – Ferrari 250 GTO #4219

Double Austrian GT Champ – Ferrari 250 GTO #3505

Raced, Crashed, Stolen & Returned – Ferrari 250 GTO #3387

Land Yachts – Danville Concours d’Elegance

Rosso Kev – Ferrari 250 GTO #3527

Goodwood RAC TT Celebration – Ferraris