Having experienced one already in the form of 2689GT, I was eager to try another.  This particular car, which Goldoni described as having serial number 1489, was an early aluminum example.   As it turned out, he had transposed the numbers; the correct number of my new purchase was 1849GT.

Goldoni had described the car as being aluminum with plastic windows.  At that point in my life, I barely distinguished between what later became known as the “competition” example from the street version or “Lusso”.  In any event the car needed paint, and Goldoni was able to arrange a new paint job before the car was shipped, for $200.00 (!).

To put that in context, the base cost of the car was $2,850.00.

In a couple of months, the car arrived at the docks in San Pedro, and I made my usual trip down with a bag of emergency tools, a can of gas, and water for the radiator.  I was very pleased to see that the car had come through more or less unscathed (in those days it hadn’t occurred to us to put a car inside a container!), and it was quite gorgeous in its new dark red paint.

I was easily able to get the car started, and drove it home to Hollywood.  This Ferrari was quite a revelation, as compared with the first short wheelbase that I had owned.  It was solid and tight, and drove beautifully.  Of course, it didn’t have the peculiar engine characteristics of 2689, so it was much smoother to drive.

Much has been written about how the 250GT SWB was such a nice car.  Let me try to describe why.  With the advent of disc brakes, braking was very easy.  The throttle was light, the gearshift lever moved smoothly without any of the “notchiness” that cars following the 275 GTB experienced.  Everything about the car felt very light, free, and easy.

Naturally, coming home from the docks I took it easy.  But eventually I got the car home, cleaned it up, and drove it quite a bit.  At that time, I was living in the Hollywood Hills, and had what I considered to be my private test course around the north end of Lake Hollywood.  I knew exactly how fast I could go through each corner, and, believe me, driving 1849 was a revelation!  The steering was every bit as light as the brakes, throttle, and gearshift lever.  Everything about the car was a joy.

While Goldoni had taken care of the paint, the car still needed carpets, which I was able to have done for $32.00 plus tax (another “!”).  With that, and a little detailing, it was ready to go.  I only kept the car for a month or so, until an acquaintance of mine, Tony Mistretta, heard about it and came over to take a look.  On January 18, 1966, Tony took the car off my hands for $5,800.00, giving me a profit of around $1,000.00.  I was a little sorry to see it go, as it was a delightful car to drive and to look at, but the idea of a modest profit was more than I could resist!  Thereafter, Tony sold the car to a mutual acquaintance of ours, John Andrews.  In fact, I later sold John another car.  John had never married, and at the time was still living with his mother.  Every spare penny that he was able to rake together, he used for the purchase of cars.  At one time, in addition to 1849 and the 275GTB which I later sold him, he had the LeMans winning 166 Berlinetta, a 250GT Lusso and several hotrods.

Later, John married and moved to a small house with a large shed behind it.   The shed became the repository for John’s collection of cars, which eventually were covered with lumber and other building materials which John accumulated.  John was a “hoarder”.

When the market heated up in the late 80’s, many of us tried to pry some of his cars loose from John Andrews, but John was becoming difficult to deal with.  Mike Sheehan eventually got the short wheelbase, and it was restored and is now in good hands in Europe.

Later research by my friend Jess Pourret shows that 1849GT was the fourteenth 250GT short wheelbase Berlinetta built, all of the early cars being what Jess described as “comp”.  By this, Jess means that they all sported aluminum alloy bodies, plastic windows, and other devices including bucket seats which made them suitable for dual-purpose competition use.  The first owner of 1849GT was Giorgio Billi, who later became involved in the ill-fated ATS venture.  Thereafter, he sold the car to E. Cechini, who sold it to the Florentine Ferrari dealer Nocentini.  It went through several other owners before it finally reached my hands.  Unlike some of the other early SWBs, 1849 has no known competition history; it was always relegated to joyful street use. 

After my somewhat ambivalent experience with 2689, 1849GT taught me the true joys of owning an SWB.  The lightness and responsiveness were an eye-opener!  The ownership, however brief, of this early SWB whetted my appetite for more!  Stay tuned!

Editor's note: While tracking down photos for this article, I met with Michael Sheehan, who purchased 1849GT from John Andrews in 1994 and, in only six short months, restored it to as-new.  Though Mike described in detail the conditions in which Andrews had kept the car (as well as the 1950 Mille Miglia-winning 166 MM s/n 0026M, a 275 GTB, 250 GT/L, 330 America and others), it was difficult to imagine until seeing the photos for myself.  According to Mike, the cars were being kept at Andrew's mother's house, where they had apparently been  for some time.  Retrieving them from their resting place, however, was an adventure.

"The 166 MM was in the front garage at his mother's house.  The SWB was in the rear garage.  To get access to either, tons of garbage, old newspapers and every garden hose, broken stroller, rusted bicycle or unwanted baby carriage that had been discarded by the neighbors over the past thirty years had to be removed and placed into dumpsters.  The doors on both front and rear garages had to be reinforced so they could be opened, as they were literally falling apart!"

I'll save the rest of Mike's story for another time.  Meanwhile, here are some photos of 1849GT as found in 1994 and immediately following restoration, courtesy of Michael Sheehan: