37769 For Sale

Thought someone might be interested in this auction: https://www.vavato.com/en/#!/auctions/5b9a5dad1804c/lots/13
I have no affiliation with anyone involved.

I am curious though, as this car has the two rear red fog lights as my car does, if anyone knows whether these were a factory option (as I have been told) or whether they were a dealer/importer add-on?

 

Hi Daren,
I suspect the rear fog lights were fitted by the dealer/importer. A rear fog light has been obligatory for eg UK market cars since April 1980 and two were fitted to all UK 400is from this date. I assume it was also a legal requirement for Belgian cars (such as 37769) though they often have just the one fog light, next to the license plate. They don't seem to have been a legal requirement at the time in most other jurisdictions (but of course they were fitted to all 400is from late 1982 when the S2 version came out). Do you know which dealer/importer supplied your 400i originally?
regards David

 

My car is a Series I, as well the car for sale in this post. The rear fog lights on both cars are identical.

I do not know who imported it. I would love to know the early history of our car (#40555).

 

My series 1 has the single light, a Pozzi car originally and spent its life in France before coming over here.

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I did some digging as this fog light is the Belgian type I was referring to and I haven't seen fog lights routinely fitted to Pozzi/French cars. Looking closely in the engine bay of your car (see picture) I can see a Belgian compliance plate, of the type fitted to 37769. So either it was registered in Belgium at one stage, or when it was supplied new by Pozzi it was intended for someone to use in Belgium as well as France - perhaps they had a residence in both countries.
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Daren, I'll see what I have on the history of your car. From the pics I have seen, there are no country specific plates in your engine bay. In 1984/85, 40555 was owned by Donald Scutchfield of Woodside (CA).

 

Thank you for the info! I was told the car came from Paris and I assumed it was there originally. My fog light isn't added on as it was thought to be when I first got the car. I looked at the wiring and its all part of the harness for the tail lights and comes on with the front fog lights unlike the boxers (both carb'd and injected) which have a separate switch.

 

My plate, how do you know its Belgium?

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I guess if I had just looked at the door jamb I'd find out who imported my car. I've only owned it for a decade.
Trend Import Sales, Inc. imported the car. I found they were located in California and were sued by the EPA for some dodgy importation documents/activities. The owner of the company was Albert Mardikian.

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Hi All, Regarding the foglights, it was obligatory in Belgium. I bought mine from there from a old chap and it had the same foglight as on Newman photo. Mine is originally a German registry from Auto Becker.

 

My rear fogs also come on with the front fog light switch, and only if the headlights are on. They sure look "factory" integrated. Love to know more.

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Follow the wiring to the main harness in the trunk and post pics.

 

Those fog lights look the same as injected boxer rear fog lights. Would need to see the mounting stud to know. The carb'd boxer single fog light is similar but not quite the same.

 

This is what it looks like in the trunk.

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These show the attachment and back of the rear fog light

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The upside down black plate above the S/N and Pozzi plate is the Belgian compliance plate.

 

Thanks - do you by chance have the original warranty book which shows which European dealer supplied your 400i?

 

I don’t think I have that piece. I have nearly everything else though. I’ll check again.

 

Ferrari doesn't usually use exposed wires. Everything is in a black (sometimes turquoise sheathing), so whats the red wire going to?

 

The solution is that your car is originally Belgian registered first, then shipped to US. All of these modifications made by the importeur, local Belgian seller. For example mine is a German registry, orginally there were no option like sunroof, but mine has. This happened when Auto Becker ordered the car from Ferrari it arrived without sunroof, and the wholesaler (Becker) cut the hole, and used an Opel Monza sunroof.(OK. GM sunroof). How do I know, I just restore mine, and all the parts coming from the sunroof are GM parts, but everything has original paint, and very nicely done.

 

Yes I guess I should've worded it differently. I was thinking it would say something pertaining to the market the car was compliant to and wondered how you knew it was Belgium specifically. So Ill assume only Belgium cars got that black plate.

 

That's correct, only cars registered in Belgium got that black plate. Either fitted when new or later if they subsequently moved to Belgium. The abbreviations on the plate are in French I believe. When the full 17 digit VIN plates were introduced during 1982, you could tell the Belgian delivered Ferraris by their red VIN plates in the engine bay (as opposed to blue, black or silver).

 

That's correct, Pininfarina/Ferrari would not fit sunroofs at the factory so they were fitted by the importer instead. In the UK price lists of the period, it stated in the list of options (short list, rear air and sunroof), that the sunroof would be fitted in the UK.

 

Sorry to Hijack this thread but now you have me wondering about my car. These are the plates that came off of it and it has the yellow headlamps. Did Belgium cars have yellow headlights?

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Hi,
Sorry if I am confusing you. Yours is not a Belgian market car, yours is a French market Pozzi supplied 400i as evidenced by the plate inside the engine bay and the yellow headlights. The license plates are also French. I don't know the early history of your car. However, the Belgian compliance plate and rear fog light implies it was registered in Belgium once. As an example, it could have been registered new in France, then it moved to Belgium and was registered there, and then it moved back to France. Such a scenario would explain the Belgian compliance plate. Hope this helps. David