The ultimate find : My Dino, Hollywood/Celebrity Dino's, and Barbara Streisand....

After many months and years of trying to find the original buyer of one of my Dino's (08468), I have finally found the answer. I talked to Jack Mortinson (no relation to Marilyn Monroe) who owned the Dino from early 1975 until late 1989. He had bought the Dino "used", with less than 1000 miles on it from a "major fashion designer" in L.A. - actually, he bought it at Hollywood Sports Cars, the original dealer/seller. The fact that a "major fashion designer" owned the car was really unimportant to me, other than I wanted to have a full ownership chain and wanted to know who it was. I ran an ad in the FML for almost 1 1/2 yrs with no response. About two months ago, i got a call.

Tony Greenberg had owned the car for a one month period in April 1975. He wasn't a "major fashion designer", but did work in the fashion industry. He had a good chuckle at the thought of the sales pitch, but he confirmed that he had bought the car "used" from Hollywood Sports Cars in late march 1975. The car was so pristine, he knew he wanted something he could drive and enjoy, and this car was TOO nice for him. He traded it back in on a Daytona Spider (good move in hindsight, however, he didn't hold on to the spider). Now this really frustrated me, as I seemed to be a dead end for leads. Who was the original buyer for the Dino I now own?

Not really all that important, but I wanted to know. After around 6 months of endless searching, I came across something unbelievable. I was able to determine who the original owner of the Dino was, based on warranty records. It was E. Fay Rippon, a L.A. based architect. He bought the car new from Hollywood Sports Cars, kept for a short time and traded it back in. Now the ownership chain is complete. Over two years worth of dead ends, and a couple of people who bent over backwards to help me for no gain of their own, I have the COMPLETE ownership chain.

A side result of my efforts is this benefit, I also gained access to other records. We have talked before about the "Barbara Streisand" Dino when it was on eBay. The claim was made since it couldn't be shown that Streisand bought it new, that Streisand didn't buy it but J. Peters did for her (08094). I can now confirm that neither J. Peters, nor Barbara Streisand bought 08094 new. It was purchased by Edward Brown who owned it for some time before selling it, although I don't have a sales record of the next owner (it is confirmed that the Dino was white/red).

Going through the records I have, I looked for other "celebrity" owners that had their cars delivered in the California area. Unfortunately, the warranty records don't have as much information as I would like. If the car never had a warranty claim, the original owner is not always certain (however, most dealers reported the first buyer when registering the warranty). Additionally, there are a great number of cars that were bought by companies, leasing companies, etc, that do not reflect the original buyers. Based on the above, here are the confirmed names I recognise that took deliveries of their cars from the proper dealerships on the west coast and some select areas not on the west coast:

Keith Richards
David Crosby
Dean Martin
Dallas Taylor
Sonny Bono
Cher Bono
Steve Miller
Steve Earle
John Holmes
Cher Bono
William Morris
Sandra West (The lady buried in the Ferrari)

I have serial numbers for all these cars, and so many more. However, as part of my agreement, I will do the best I can to protect the info of these owners. If you have a car "supposedly" owned by one of these people, or delivered on the west coast, I will be happy to help you with the limited info I have.

 

I'm so pleased to know that John Holmes was a Dino owner. Clearly, Dino ownership is not the proverbial "extension" some would claim it be. Congrats on your successful detective work.

 

I would like to know about Sandra West ?

 

Some Sunday reading for you here, Graham: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5290&highlight=sandra+west

 

Hey thanks Dan I just read the whole thread.... Fascinating story. I bet somebody someday digs that up!

 

Nice to know that Dino owned a Dino...

 

he actually registered the car under the name dino martin

 

Are you sure that wasn't his son's, who died in 1987 resulting from a plane crash? Dean liked the Stutz's.

 

i am not testifying towrds anything, other than the records i have. many of which disagree with the dino register. i find it hard to believe an original buyer would register the car only to try and change their name, these aren't public records. rather they are records of buyers and warranty claims during the period.

 

Was the tennis player... would have been too young to own a dino originally, I think

 

He could have very well owned the car.

Dean Paul Martin (November 17, 1951 – March 21, 1987)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Paul_Martin

 

Dean Paul Martin, son of the actor Dean Martin, was an interesting character. If memory serves me, he was killed taking off from March Air Force Base (in California). Flew an Air Force Jet into a mountain in bad weather. He was flying for the Air National Guard. This kid, with all of his presumed wealth, flew for the Air Force and the Air National Guard.

Jim S.

 

He also owned 412P 0850/modified her and put her on the LA roads for a while.

 

sonny and cher had ´his´ and ´hers´ Dino´s! How classy is that?

 

You got me... Babe.

 

I'm sorry, but - what is the ultimate purpose of this? Such information might be a 'nice-to-know', fun-fact, but I wouldn't want see sellers getting a warped idea into their heads that somehow this information made their cars worth more money....

 

As Steve's Lusso has shown it very well may...

 

It is interesting that you have to undertake such an effort to gather the ownership information. Over here, all former owners of the cars are listed in the vehicle's papers (or have been, new papers only show the last 3 owners).

 

Purpose? It's fun to research the history of your cars, even if they're not that special. It is a hobby, after all...

And, honestly, a complete ownership trail (celebrity or not) probably is worth a premium.

 

for entertainment purposes. outside of steve mcqueen, i don't think celebrity ownership brings much value. the search for my own car's info and out of curiousity, i looked up the barbara streisand history, to solve the mystery

 

John Holmes car was a Dongo not a Dino ... long wheel base version. (Sorry .. couldn't resist)

 

in all honesty, the name stuck out to me (no pun intended). i am not certain as to whether the john holmes that bought the car had a "film" career or not.

 

Had a flick through to see what relationship if any arises between celebrity (if I noted it at the time) and price- maybe there's one, maybe not, you got me!
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Yes - he was killed in an ANG F-4 IIRC. I was in F-4s as well at the time and the word on the street was that he was really a great guy and a good pilot. I believe he had just produced a music video of his father as well.

 

I remember reading somewhere that Dean Sr. was crushed by the news of his son's death and never really recovered from it. Very sad.