real GTO spotted at Hot Import Nights!

I spotted a real Ferrari GTO at the Hot Import Nights in Chantilly last night! It had to be real because it had a fake plate stating that it was a Ferrari 250 GTO! Incredible, I didn't know it came out as a 6 cylinder. Did Ferrari sub-contract out the motors to a Japanese company back in the 60's?

I got in last night with some media passes. I tried to get the now banned WetPet to go with me to photograph the girls, I mean cars. Its a really weird scene with hot chicks being pimped out by their sleezy looking photographer type/boyfriend with a big flash (size does matter in this case, the lighting conditions are terrible for shooting) This is not the direction I would want any of my daughters aspiring towards.

As far as the cars, they put incredible amounts of time and money in these cars. However, the cars seem to lack imagination or those with imagination are just so over the top. It seems more about how much bling you can put in the car. I mean do you really need flat screens in your headrest and rearview mirror? Do you really need a 24" flat screen in your trunk whose view is obscured by the trunk lid? Is there a compelling need for a dual sided flat screen in your door, rising up like a window?

No doubt there were some nice track cars on display whose purpose was to go quickly.

I'm glad I didn't have to pay 30 bucks to get in.

Ed, even though you can't respond, sorry we couldn't hook up on this. You would have enjoyed yourself.

regards

ken
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Why was Ed banned?????

 

He made an somewhat questionable inference in the political section insinuating that another poster's father did unholy things to his posterior. I think he was given a 3 day resting period. You know Ed...

cheers

ken

 

Hey Ken,

I've seen this GTO replica a couple of times. It has a L28 6cyl engine, from a old 280Z I believe. Here's more info on it:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2602375

I was over at Hin around 9pm. I figured I'd bump into you at the show, but you must have been gone by then. Any more interesting shots? Who Mag were you shooting for?

 

This one is nothing compared to the the one that has been at FoW that was built, I believe, on a 250 GTE chassis, that one is incredible.

 

Yep-- that actually was out at the Spring Thaw a couple weeks back. Incredible car!

Great pictures of the... cars.. Ken

 

I just did a photoshoot for PAS magazine (Performance Audio and Sound) Friday night/Saturday morning. I got home at 3am Saturday morning from that one. We need to finish up interior and daytime shots. The shoot went really, really well. I got some great images.

Once I got to HIN, I wasn't terribly inspired to shoot much. The lighting was pretty terrible and inconsistent for shooting cars. The girls were interesting if not slutty practising their pre-porn poses. There is something wrong with that whole industry of selling fart cans and 20,000 watts stereos and useless rearveiw mirror flatpanels based on parading around skimpily dresssed, barely legal children with websites tattooed on their butts.

I left around 11:30. I was in the second building after 10:30.

I did make some magazine connections for future photoshoots so we'll see.

Here's one image from Friday night that I really like.

cheers

ken
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There is absolutely no comparison between the 2. Now I understand the debate about replicas vs real. However, the mis-representation of the 250 as represented by the jap powered monstrosity is a travisty. To have anyone think that it is a Ferrari in any sense is dismaying. You can see the love and passion that went into creating the "real" replica. Ok, a 250 GTE had to bite the dust. That is somewhat unfortunate. But then again, the results are so much more exciting to view in person. And the sound of that vintage v-12 echoing off downtown Reston... Almost enough to make you think impure thoughts of the nature of the last picture in this post...

cheers

ken
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I saw that car during one of the bullrun stops last year, and it truly is hideous.

 

The pic of the cayman is crazy - great shot!

 

You should see some of the others! I got some incredible shots of that car in a number of locations. I finally got home Saturday morning at 2:45 am after that photoshoot. We will finish up the interior and some daytime shots next week. The shots are for a magazine article and then some others may be used by APR for ads.

The Cayman was beautiful with some nice customization done to it. It was an easy car to photograph but the locations and ambient lighting is what sealed the deal. I don't think I used my flash once that night.

cheers

ken

 

Ken-- would love to see some of your other shots from that night when you are done processing them. What is your setup again? Good stuff!

 

I believe the replica GTO at the Spring Thaw was built on the 250 PF Coupe (Series I) s/n 1273 and not a GTE. Ferrari made 353 PF Coupes.
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where was the pic of the cayman taken?

 

Ken,

My brother-in-law said he met you at the show... damn-it, I didn't go! Then again, I am truly not up for those "skimpily dressed, barely legal children with websites tattooed on their butts." Damn I love that line! =-)

Let me know about another show in MD/DC/VA you'll be hitting and we'll try to meet up!

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

 

Hey Bryan,

I totally understand your viewpoint. The PF coupes are gorgeous in their own right. A stunning, timeless and elegant design done in a never to be repeated era. I didn't mean to raise your ire with my comments. Thanks for the correction on the model that was sacrificed for the GTO recreation.

regards

Ken

ps - when you going to start a thread on your restoration project? Its a real gem to run into your posts buried in various places of where you are.

My offer still stands to help with creating a very nice booklet documenting the story of your dad's car. It was a real pleasure meeting him for the first time at FOW not so long ago. I'm sure he and Dick can go on for hours with facinating stories. That would be worthy of documentation as well!

kcv

 

Even the girls look like replicas...

 

Ken - you didn't raise my ire at all! I just wanted to straighten out the facts re: the original car.

My view on replicas is "what's done is done" - we can't go back in time and save 1273 as a PF Coupe. As replicas go, 1273 is a very good one - I believe it was started in europe and was finished in the US by Greg Jones, a well-known Ferrari guy. While I understand everyone's desire to capture the GTO driving experience, I think Ferrari people need to understand what is being lost in responding to the market demand for replica GTOs, TR59s, etc. - real, rare and very beautiful Ferraris are cannibalized. Just yesterday I saw the list of 330 2+2s and PF Coupes that are known to have been chopped up to make replicas - the numbers are staggering and represent a frightening percentage of the total production.

If you find a PF Coupe like that looks like the one pictured below (0989), then I say knock yourself out and make a "250 GTO". But if a car can be saved, then save it. The production numbers for the Lussos and the PF Coupes are practically the same (351 and 353) and no one is chopping up Lussos. If you must own a replica GTO, I would beg you to search the market for one that has already been made - I believe that Geral Roush has estimated that there are approximately 5 times more replica GTOs (built on Ferrari chassis/drivetrain) than real ones (39) - and that guess is at least 5 years old.

Re: the Mondial - I will start a thread, but I wil probably only post technical details that appeal to the gearheads. We would rather not have body pics on the internet until after Pebble. The history documentation booklet is a great idea and we will explore it further w/ you.

One of the best shows I ever went to was Reading back in 2000 - it was great meeting Sergio Scaglietti and having him autograph the underside of the Mondial's metal tonneau cover. But the best part was listening to about 5 hours of war stories from Dick Merritt and Dad in the tow vehicle on the way up and back to Reading. If we can't get these guys to write down their stories, then Tom Yang has had the idea of recording them in podcasts at www.tomyang.net. I think he's going to interview dad and possibly RM at vintage function coming up next month.
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Well I would much rather have a 250 sacrificed for a GTO and have it done right than have a bunch of cars around like the one on the very top.