by Wallace Wyss –
Photos by Richard Bartholomew –
Enjoyed going to this 100-car plus event at 6:30 AM, great weather then, Colorado Blvd. has grown even fancier (alas Barnes & Noble squeezed out). The event is put on by the Southwest Region of Ferrari Club of America.
Several sponsors including Tillack’s restoration shop and separate vintage car dealership, Fast Toys, a driving club, and GTO Engineering, a shop in Los Angeles. Didn’t see Aston tent but the two cars a dealer brought seemed competitive
Didn’t see Rolls Royce or Bentley–we need these to pay the expenses of bringing this show free to the public concours. One ersatz race car had hammered bodywork car still bearing the hammer marks but car was a replica Testa Rossa race car fielded by Peter Giacobbi–oh it has real V12, real this and real that but it’s a put together car.
Tom Shaughnessy, the legendary barn finder, showed up in a bechromed’s early ’50s red coupe (was that a Vignale?)
Sixties favorites included a silver Ferrari SWB 250 coupe road car, a black 275GTS with a lift off hardtop, said to be once Bill Harrah’s car when he distributed Ferraris. There were at least three 250 GT Spyder series II cars. A Superamerica 400 was there in silver. There were at least three each of 288GTOs and Enzos.
One wild car was a Tony Shooshani open top LFA in black. There was a dark blueish gray coupe said to be very new Ferrari model–would that be an 812? Displayed by David Lee, a famous Rolex dealer who collects Ferraris like other people collect Rolex Daytonas (one account says he owns nine but he may be beyond that now). He had a sign giving the impression he is now a dealer, not factory authorized new car dealer but “vintage” though some that he displayed are of very recent vintage. And David is not above a bit of hot rodding as he was showing a 246 Dino with a motor from an F40!
I didn’t see a single 400GT and especially not a cut cabrio version, I still think someone’s hoarding these only to spring them onto the car scene all at once at some future auction.
In sum, this is a great event because it allows the general public to attend for free and see rare Ferraris. And it’s great for the Ferrari owners to get up early and enjoy the excitement of the five block long event in a place that’s got plenty of refreshments at hand….
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
Wallace Wyss
THE AUTHOR: Wallace Wyss, a fine artist, is pouring through his pictures to decide which of his favorites to depict in oil on canvas. A list of his art is available by writing Photojournalistpro2@gmail.com.
More photos are in the slide show below.
Wallace Wyss, left, talks with Kurt Oblinger, one of the great photographers at Pasadena.
“Daytonas” notible in their absence.
I have a theory that the popularity of some models waxes and wanes publicly while, behind te scenes, a number of movers and shakers are quietly restoring good examples and will spring them all at once. So I am waiting for the 400s, and also looks like we Daytona fans will have to wait, and when they do emerge, the “superstars” will be those with documentable racing histories (like Ken Starbird’s old car). This makes it hard to be a Ferrari investor because you never know which ones are going to suddenly be the belle of the ball again.
“This makes it hard to be a Ferrari investor …”
Ahh, looking at the subject from an enthusiast’s point of view, therein lies the inherent flaw of this logic, Enzo conceived these magnificent cars to: #1 win races; and #2 to incite passion! Investment had nothing to do with il Commendatore’s intent.
With all due respect, if one is looking for an investment, perhaps he should instead invest in a good stock fund.
Bought this 2014 Ferrari 458 Italia trying to find the previous owner to get to know more about the car any help would be appreciated
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