Ever since I started to pine over this little Italian beauty I knew I couldn't just have any old example of that gorgeous model but I had to find "the one". How do you pick your favorite, favorite car? Are they all even the same, I've learned not. I also learned that I don't have all that many choices so I had to choose wisely as well as not get my heart set on one that was never going to come up for auction. Turns out that a poor economy can have an effect on a car collector just like it has on a house flipper, they need the green stuff to keep their projects going. We all know that an unfinished house won't sell and an unfinished car is worth less than a completed counterpart. So how do the uber-rich finance thier current projects when income is tight, sell off the fruits of your labor to cover your latest obsession. Lucky for me I'm not the uber rich, just the right collector in the right place at the right time.
I found "my" GTO in a collection across the pond in the UK and once I set eye's on it I had to do all the research before determining it was indeed "the one". The first page of the 250 GTO handbook holds the following passage:
"Arguably the most desirable and valuable car in the world, the Ferrari 250 GTO is surrounded with intrigue and myth. All of the 36 cars produced from 1962 to 1964 have survived and are accounted for, and most remarkably the history of every example is well documented. Up until the early 1970s, the GTO was regarded as an obsolete racing car. Since then prices have steeply risen to 10 digits in Pounds, Dollars and Euros. With today's value it's hard to imagine one was once used by a student driver and another used for auto mechanics practice at Victoria High School in Texas. Fortunately many owners still take their GTOs out with serious passion to participate in historic events around the world; for them and the spectators to enjoy. Museum displays don't do many cars justice, and it would be especially unfortunate to see Ferrari's definitive racer sit silently under artificial light."You'd think they read my mind, or at the very least I was a car crazy as all of those would be Ferrari owners or collectors that just don't know what they have, only that they have it. A few more pages into the reference book for these extraordinary cars and I found my gem. Chassis number 4399GT was the only version that maintained my interest for it has it's fair share of history and, well, it was the first, you never forget the first. Like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly this was the one chassis that sprouted wings before all others to be the "updated" racer from Pinninfarina. This passege explains better than I could:
"Chassis 4399GT was the very first 250 GTO to receive the Pininfarina designed Series 2 GTO body. Originally delivered to Colonel Ronnie Hoare in the summer of 1963, this car served his Maranello Concessionaires team for three seasons. It proved to be very successful in both configurations in both European and British races. At the end of the 1965 season, the racing was converted for road use by fitting bumpers and wind-down windows. Four years later it was sold to its current owner, who restored it to the 1964 specification complete with the striking red and cambridge blue colour scheme in 1980. He has since entered in numerous events including several Goodwood Revival Meetings and the 2006 Le Mans Classic."The final section of this car's long history is the list of accolades it has shared at the hand of its several owners and many drivers. It reads like a pedigree for a long lost Triple Crown winner that somehow survived a long life to still stir up the stables around a forgotten farm. The results speak for themselves and I walked out of the Ferrari museum with knowledge and more passion for that one car than I had going in. Chassis 4399GT would be mine and I hoped to have the cash to procure it. Here are the end notes of its career:
Whitsun Trophy Goodwood - 1963 Winner driven by Mike Parkes
Martini Trophy Silverstone - 1963 Winner driven by Mike Parkes
Grovewood Trophy Mallory Park - 1963 2nd driven by Jack Sears
GP Silverstone - 1963 5th overall (Winner in GT) driven by Jack Sears
Guards Trophy Brands Hatch - 1963 DNF driven by Graham Hill
Tourist Trophy - 1963 Winner driven by Graham Hill
Coppa Inter-Europa - 1963 2nd overall (Winner in GT) driven by Mike Parkes
3h Autosport - 1963 2nd overall (Winner in GT) driven by Mike Parkes
Silverstone GT - 1963 Winner driven by Mike Parkes
Sussex Trophy Goodwood - 1964 Winner driven by Graham Hill
Daily Express Silverstone - 1964 Winner driven by Graham Hill
500km Spa - 1964 Winner driven by Mike Parkes
24hr LeMans - 1964 6th driven by Innes Ireland and Tony Maggs
Reims 12hr - 1964 3rd overall (Winner in GT) driven by Mike Parkes and Ludovico Scarfiotti
GP Portugal - 1964 Winner driven by Chris Kerrison
Guards Trophy Brands Hatch - 1964 DNF (Brakes) driven by Innes Ireland
Tourist Trophy - 1964 6th driven by Innes Ireland
Tour de France - 1964 DNF Illegal Refuel driven by David Piper and Jo Siffert
Sussex Trophy Goodwood - 1965 driven by Mike Salmon
Tourist Trophy - 1965 12th Heat 1, 4th Heat 2 driven by Mike Salmon
500km Spa - 1965 6th driven by Mike Salmon
Nurburgring 1000km - 1965 DNF (Engine) driven by Mike Salmon
Whitsun Goodwood - 1965 DNF driven by Mike Salmon
Oulton Park - 1965 5th driven by Mike Salmon
Not all owners have the best business sense, specially when they are in the midst of restoring one of only two classic Alfa Romeo's. I was lucky enough to find the one seller with his eye's so fixed on the prize of his late 20's barnyard find that he barely seemed to notice what I was talking him out of and I made no fuss about bringing his attention to that fact. I haggled him down to the 6 million dollar mark and hurried out of the showroom before the ink dried on the title and bill of sale. The car itself will be delivered by private shipment, insured, bonded, and under tight scrutiny directly to the Spanky's Speedshop holding warehouse in the next day or so. I can't wait to see the Scarlet Red and the Blue stripes out in the sun. I don't think the paint has ever seen anything but flourescent lighting since it was last sprayed on, I know for a fact the engine hasn't been pushed in a few years. I'll be sure to change all that.
{Pictures to follow}
My search started here.
