.........AND REBUMP?! Any news on the restoration? Paul I don't mind contacting them now, have a bit more time: if you wish PM me their contact info. I will also call Tom in the next few days to see how he is and what he knows about this project. best regards, Marc
Marc, did Tom ever tell you about the time he asked Stirling Moss' mechanic how a clutch worked? Tom, being young and impetuous, approached him in the bar of the Real Fini and the fellow told Tom to get a book and read it. Later they became friends and he (sorry I don't recall is name) would come to dinner at Tom's place in Modena.
Bonjour Monsieur! Do you mean Alf Francis? He was a mustachioed Brit who stayed in Modena after he got a taste of it in the fifties and actually worked at ATS while that lasted. best regards, Marc PS: Speaking of Tom's impetuosity Gerald Roush once told me that back in the day, on a visit to Italy they went to see an old Ferrari that had been for sale with Tom. They got there and were told it was already sold...on the way back Tom was so frustrated that he pounded the steering wheel while driving...and broke it!!! best regards, Marc
Sounds right on all counts, Marc. Tom also parked his GTO/64 nose down in a ditch once in the Modena area,
LOL! Did he say non cé problema we'll pull it out after lunch don't want the Tortellini in brodo to get cold?
http://web.mac.com/trm1139/250P4/Welcome_250-P4.html Absolutely no news (nor new photos) whatsoever, Marc. As you can see from the link above, the restoration gallery hasn't been updated for a year. Nor have I been emailed any new photos, either. Time for a follow-up email / phone call, methinks.
There you are Paul! Took you a while to emerge from new year's celebrations huh?! As mentioned if you CC me the contact info I will gladly contact them to ask for news. By the way I watched the Fuller report again just last week, probably the sixth time I watch it, not beause of the Thomassima but because it happens at the Modena Autodrome, in Stockholm where I was born (and the movie pretends the Autodromo is outside of Stockholm which is hilarious to me!) is full of strunning blondes and is amusing in a clumsy James Bondish sort of way. The shots inside a factory are actually inside the Maserati factory. best regards, Marc
It does not take much time in Modena to understand their priorities there: the macchine come AFTER il pranzo (lunch) or la cena (dinner). I once did an article on a racing Ferrari involving a daytrip to Turin. I had woken at 4am to drive 500kms get there and was to drive back right after, the owner of the car, his wife and one of the drivers had driven from Bordeaux, we asked the Italians if we could skip lunch or just have a quick bite as I needed to use the light to do photos and we were all in a hurry, I had to deal with a moutain tunnel blocked by strikes and it was January....but no: 2 hour lunch! Now I have turned the table on them: interview them during lunch
Brilliant! Tom and I once went to Parma to look at a couple of Maseratis I was going to buy. We got there five minutes into the lunch hour, so we went to a local hotel/restaurant and the proprietor regailed for hours as he served us one course after another. We almost didn't get back to the Maseratis before they closed for the day. Now, that's lunch!
Yes every trip there yields special memories...the problem is it yields something else as well: one of the recent many CEO's of Maserati, Martin Leach answered the question what is it like to live in Italy by saying it was an extra Pound a month!
It's a 1969 'spy thriller' movie with some race car action, which includes a brief glimpse of the Thomassima II in a night racing scene. See: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062178/ (it's known under various European titles) and: http://imcdb.org/yourcomments.php?formovie=62178
Thanks for the answer Paul. Goddag Magnus! I would add that it is fimed in Stockholm at the Opera, Strandvagen, on a boat in the harbor, in parks above it, in offices with great views of Stockholm, all of whch being an expat Swede I enjoeyed seeing, as mentioned earlier it is a nice little 60's spy movie a bit clumsy sometimes but very entertaining, and shows the Maserati Tipo 65, a Mistral, the Thomassima (but very briefly and in the dark) at the Modena Autodromo where they even stage night racing which I don not believe ever took place there in reality! There is even some shooting at the Autodromo, that reminded me of that show with Tomy Curtis and his 246GT and Roger Moore and his Aston where they once were at Brands Hatch and someone shoots at a driver on track! Of course to any Swede it is hilarious to see the film pretending that the Modena Autodromo is just outside of Stockholm: hmmm maybe if you look carefully it actually is somewhere between Sodertalje and Arrlanda I would be happy to arrange a copy of it but am not sure how to copy a movie: Paul, any sugestions? best regards, Marc
Who did buy the 350S 3502 in Italy Meade or Pappalardo? That is a difficult question Magnus: I enjoyed interviewing Tom for five hours back in 1996 at a café in Santa Monica and we have spoken countless times since (a conversation with Tom is a LAAAARGE conversation) but even though I am very fond of him his memory is somewhat rose tinted and after so many years, already in 1996 he tended to idealize and not remember such details. Remember also that chassis numbers were not considered of any importance back in the sixties. I know Paul Pappalardo as I have spoken to him a number of times in Florida at Cavallino and we were living in Fort Lauderdale but did not know he had anything to do with a 350S...
Thanks Marc I read about Pappalardo and the 3502 in the english Maseraticlub magazine Trident from 1974 i think.He also bought 4501. best regards! Magnus
Goddag Marc and thanks. Did you saw they drove on left side.Now we drive on the right side. And thanks too P4Replica. Magnus
Cal Moss bought it from Tom in '65. Moss later sold it to a fireman in Northern California who sold it to a teacher in Genova.
That's right I had not paid attention but yes it was filmed before they changed the driving side in Sweden!
Is that the one that a friend of Tom "put atop a tree" crashed soon after it arrived in California, i.e. his very first Modenese car bought as a bare shell when Bertocchi junior gave him the factory tour upon his arrival in Modena? bst regards, Marc
It is. Tom let a friend borrow the car. Tom then gets a phone call from the guy saying he'd driven it of a cliff and into a tree. No good deed goes unpunished!
I second that, this thread is fantastic. Finding the Thomassima II and restoring it is a wonderful story. You have a pretty valuable car there!
