330 GTC Speciale

You may find something here : http://www.s103662028.websitehome.co.uk/ferrarigtcp2.php
Regards, Jacques

 

I've some pictures of the cars that are mentioned on http://www.s103662028.websitehome.co...rrarigtcp2.php

09439 GT Pininfarina Speciale
09571 GT Pininfarina Speciale
09653 GT Pininfarina Speciale, commissioned by Princess Lillian de Rethy of Belgium
10107 GT Pininfarina Speciale
10241 GT Pininfarina Speciale
10581 GT 'Pirelli Speciale', commissioned by Leopoldo Pirelli
10659 GT Zagato Spyder, commissioned by Luigi Chinetti

1e 9653GT
2e 10241GT
3e 10581GT
4e 10659GT

Are the any other pictures of the missing ones?

Xander
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search the old Ferrarichat.com for de Rethy - we had a pretty in-depth discussion of these four Specials a long time ago.

 

10107 first owner should be Maria Maddelena da Lisca of Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy.
10241 had dr. Franco Palma of Rome, Italy as first owner.

 

I restored 9653 for then owner Peter Sidlow, a well known local L.A. collector of many types of cars, including Ferrari's. Famed Ferrari mechanic Bruno Borri did the mechanicals, famed drag racer turned renowned upholsterer Tony Nancy did the interior, and I did the metalwork/paint/chrome/detail and finish work. The car was first shown after completion at the Ferrari Nationals in Michigan in 1990-91 where it won the class and the Luigi Chinetti award. It then won Best of Show at the Concours Italiano at the Quail, and a few other shows I can't remember now. Peter was a developer who fell on hard times(sound familiar these days?) and the bank liquidated most of if not all his cars. Todd Morici aquired the car(possibly for a client) at that time. I have not seen her since the early 90's! I had made the paint special for that car and still have some of it left after all these years!
Just a little side story you may get a kick out of. Those who knew Tony surely will. I had just finished it to the point where it was his turn to do the trim work. When he was done he called to appologize for breaking the turn indicator arm clean off! I obviously was not to pleased, not because I could'nt get another, because in those days you could rather easily, and besides Bill Rudd was 10 minutes away and would let me scour through all his really rare jem parts when I needed too anyway. It was more about the idea of having to break down the steering column to do it and the time involved, and we were already getting close to the show and I still had plenty of finish work to do..........Anyway I did the changeover, but I called Tony to tell him I had accidently left a screwdriver in my back pocket while I was fixing his f...up , and I accidently poked a hole in the seat bolster of his newly finished work! He went absolutely berserk, screaming and cussing, f..n this and f...n that. After he got done blowing his top he wanted to know exactly where the hole was thinking he might be able to repair it without taking the seat completely apart. I told him it was no hole but rather a "nice little tear" in the outermost bolster, and there was no way to "fix" it. He again went crazy for a bit, and when he calmed down I proceeded to tell him I was just kidding, it was all a joke! Well, he went off again, but I just laughed at him and said it was payback for the indicator! Tony was a great friend, but he could be difficult and cantankerous without to much proding. I wish he were still with us though, he was a great crafstman! Mike

 

Mike,

What a great story. Thanks for sharing. You really been around this venue for longer than I thought! Amazing...

Geno.

 

The silver/blue one is stunning!

 

Thanks Geno, Yes I have been doing this for quite some time now! I started my "career" at age 15 working in a well known custom car shop in the San Fernando Valley (I'm a native Californian)called Korky's Kustom Studios. I would go there straight after school and work 'till about 10 or so at night, mostly with Korky, who did most of his work in the evening because the business was a distraction during the day. We did all kinds of cool projects, from the very first NFL helmet golf carts, to movie cars (Corvette Summer, Thunderball 500), jet dragsters(Doug Roses Green Mamba), painted just like the snake scales and all(Dougs wife Stephanie was stunning, especially in those short shorts and that t shirt tank top she'd wear when washing the tow vehicle they used)!. Korky made the rear window louver shades for the then Datsun(now Nissan) original 240Z cars, which I painted. It was offered as an accessory directly from Datsun(not aftermarket). We did customs, lead sleds(Harry Bradley's, (ex GM designer) 49 Chevy called the LaJolla that he designed at age 17). We did projects for George Barris(The Bugazzi MKIII Lincoln), we did pimp mobiles(seriously) for a pimp named Jesse who would show up in one of the Cadillacs we did with about 3-4 of his finest girls parading around (with next to nothing on in case you were wondering)the shop while we worked on the car. It was a great expierience for anybody, let alone a high school kid who had dreamed of being a car designer himself one day! Korky taught me how to use a torch, shape metal, do lead work, and he was a master painter, showing me how to do pearls,candies, flakes, fades, scallops and everything else you could imagine. I owe everything really to him, and he is a great guy as well. I worked there from 1970-74 and then went on to a few other shops before going into business for myself(and a partner) in 1976. We did all sorts of similar customs and regular cars alike, and I did my first Ferrari, a 330GTC in 1977. I was offered a position as the painter for the Legendary JB Nethercutt collection in 1978, which I accepted. My partner and I amicably separated(he eventually came to work for me at the collection) and I began my "classic car" chapter there until leaving in 2005 as the President of the collection. Along the way I was able to restore some of the greatest marques of all time, and in JB's collection, some of the finest examples of those marques. While at Nethercutt we won two of his six Pebble Beach Best of Shows, and literally countless others from all the major Concours's. It truely was a once in a lifetime experience that few if any will have the good fortune to have, and JB and Dorothy(his wife) were two of the finest people I have ever known. During that time span I restored many Ferrari's not only for myself, but for many well known collectors at my shop at home. Some of those cars include; Steve McQueens Lusso, the protoype Daytona Spyder, The 330 gtc Speciale, Randy Jacksons Testarossa, the Nethercutt 365 Cal Spyder(10077), and 365 Cal Spyder(9849) for Bill Kontes of the Chequered Flag Collection, Arturo Kellers 365 GTC/4 and so many other Ferrari's I've forgotten them all. I've done Cobra's, 550 Spyder's, Rsk's, 300SL's, Corvette's, Lamborghini's, Alfa's etc. etc. I've had people ask me if my last name is really my last name and it is. My fathers family is from the northern part of Italy near Lake Como. I had to become a Ferrari restorer, it's in my blood so to speak........Regards, Mike

 

Yes I do, Some during rtestoration, and some at the Nationals. I need to scan them first before posting, but will do so very soon.....Mike

 

Other than the obvious wheels, what was special about the Pirelli GTC?

 

What is special is that it combines the engine of the 365 GTC with the preferred-by-many side louvers of the 330 GTC. If I am not mistaken it is the only GTC w/ this combo.

 

Interesting.
Does it have the full complement of changes that were made to the GTC with the bigger engine, or is it an otherwise standard 330 with a bigger engine?
I am one of those that love the side-vents, and I think the wheels look spectacular, giving it just that bit more of a sporty look whilst retaining the elegance of the GTC.

 

Not sure about the other 365 upgrades.....Daytona half shafts, cable vs hydraulic clutch, etc. The s/n 10581 probably puts production in early fall of 67 so I don't know if these changes were available at the time. I owned 330 GTC 10857, a Dec 67 build which had none of these changes.

I met a judge that owned the car while at the FCA Annual meet in Watkins Glen a couple of years ago. He had just sold the car at an auction. He told me that this car was built for Pirelli with his request for the Type 245 engine.

 

Jim, Here's a few shots of the car at the Nationals in 1992(not91) and one of the front nose during final assembly. I have a whole restoration file of photos that eludes me at the moment, and shots of it at the Concourso Italiano that same year. I'll post some of those when located.
The "pop up" high beams are a particular problematic system (probably why a number of the cars including the 365 cal spyder eliminated them) and they were merely a styling exercise that was easily rectified by using a combination high/low beam headlight and eliminated the headaches. I have redone or completely remade this system for 4 of these cars using this arrangement, including 365 cal spyders 10077, 9849, and 10327?, and 330 GTC Speciale 9653. The system used an ingenious articulated clam shell mechanism for the spherical lights/ top covers, driven by two independent "half shafts" connected to a centrally located gearbox in the upper center of the nose. The gearbox was a converted vent window box of the same period, with a shortened spline shaft connected to a single electric window motor. To control the the travel, limit switches were located on brackets with contact arms on the half shafts. All of this controled via relay in upper nose panel. The main problem was the gearbox(play) and the amount of friction the single motor had to endure, causing misalignment of the individual lights, and the relay constantly cutting out due to overload. The system had a tremendous amount of adjustment from side to side, and getting it just right was an exercise in patience to say the least! When you finally got it right though, you really felt like you accomplished something............Mike
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mike,
it that light blue the same color i"ve seen on daytonas?
ed

 

Ed, I can't remember if it's Azzuro Metallizzato, or Celeste Metallizzato. Either way it is a color that came on Daytona's, although my Daytona(15753) is one of only two Daytonas built in Celeste Metallizzato with Rosso interior, and the only US delivered car in that color scheme(Marcel Massini). Mike

 

Fantastic, Mike. God, I love those four cars.

 

Mike, thanks for sharing your stories. Interesting reads and a fantastic background you have. I see why your work wins at PB.

To my untrained eye the lines of the de Rethy cars seem to combine the best of other models. A sleeker than Superfast nose, rear end treatment of the 365 GT and sail panels from I am not sure which. But they do all come together well. I would guess these cars are significantly longer than the std GTC. They are very elegant designs. In '76 when I bought my first 330 GTC for $10500 I remember seeing one of these specials for sale in the FML for $20000. Oh well.

 

Interestingly enough they have the same wheelbase, but the rear section gives the car a much longer look. The rear quarters are a bit longer I believe also.The sail panels and rear glass ala 246, tailights ala 365 gt. In person the car actually looks smaller than it looks in photos. Mike

 

Thanks for your replies.

That would make it my fav 330 GTC. Wonderful automobile.