Super Cool Vintage Collection

As I have mentioned before, I recently had a special opportunity to visit with a collector in Cali and it was wonderful. California car culture is quite unique, and despite having a huge amount of Texas pride, I can't help but envy the history and relationship between Californians and cars. This collection is no different, many examples the collector restored himself. He said each car he worked on took about 7 years. He is over 90 now and much too old "to sell any or add any". I will update this thread with images and stories of my visit

Now first and foremost, this is a Ferrari forum, so I of course will share about this Lusso I encountered...

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It has a crazy story, but first I wanted to share about another italian make- this Alfa Sprint Veloce Zagato

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What do yall know about this car? Will update later but it was based on the Giulietta. tuned twin cam engine, developed by Giuseppe Busso the legendary italian (and Ferrari) engineer

 

Giulietta Sprint Zagato (SZ).

 

So the alfa was a true race car, with origins beginning in 1956 when Zagato rebodied a crashed Giulietta Sprint Veloce with their aluminum design. Engine was tuned to the highest level, and weight dropped over 250lbs. Success in racing led to the production version pictured above, only 217 examples built.

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The collector actually raced his SVZ for about a decade, but this was in the 80s. He was the only SVZ in his class and he said it performed very well. He tuned it a bit more, RPMs approaching 7500, but my favorite anecdote is about fuel efficiency. The light body and aerodynamics allow you to drive 90mph and still get 30mpg! Seems like a fantastic little car.

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But now back to the Lusso... just look at it!!

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Fun fact: the vintage Ferrari is the only car that the collector did not restore himself, and he did not actively seek it out. It just kind of "happened"... what a lucky guy! Will update with more info later, but the Lusso came about because of the collectors work on another italian legend - this Maserati A6G Zagato Coupe

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Let me guess: A retired airline captain.

 

As far as I know the man was simply in 'business' but I think it had something to do with IBM

 

The Maserati is chassis #2107. It had period Tour De France history. According to my knowledge the car is owned by J.H. from Chicago.........

 

Mr. N.K.?

 

Maser still owned I think by JH (and may be getting (or already has been) restored to its lovely original light blue/blue vinyl. He got it as part of a $/trade deal involving his 275GTB/4 with RH. The black/red Lusso was part of a $/trade deal between RH and NK for the Maser. It (Lusso) had been obtained in Washington just for purposes of completing the transaction. All three cars excellent examples and a rare instance where all parties involved were happy with end results.

 

That black Lusso is gorgeous. I was expecting to see a tan interior while looking at the first photo, but a nice surprise to see red. Thanks for posting.

 

#5353 GT. Previously owned by Lawrence Wacek in the State Of Washington 1987-2010.

 

#09865?

 

maybe

 

Yep, the way the story was described to me was that the taxes on the sale of the Maserati were simply too high for NK to happily pay, so the trade helped alleviate that because the Lusso was worth roughly half of what the Maserati went for. Of course now the Lusso has more than doubled in value.

The maserati was restored by NK himself, bought in pieces for roughly 100k, then sold in the 7 digits. It seems that all the parties are deeply passionate car people, so it's easy to see how they are happy!

 

Yes, NK did a beautiful job on the restoration of the Maserati (2107). And, regarding his lovely red Alfa SZ seen above, he was gracious enough to take me on a spirited drive in it to lunch the day I came to see the Maser. The excellent black/red Lusso is #5353; I bought it in May 2010 from long-term (1983-2010), very attentive owner, Lawrence Wacek, to complete the transaction with NK. As you say, he did want to offset the numbers in the transaction with a car, ideally a Lusso. At the time, I had 5955 (the last Lusso made, a superb original car) but would not part with it. I then was fortunate to quickly find 5353 and it appealed to NK.

As it turned out, the ergonomics of the Maserati did not work for me in real life. On long, brisk drives I was too cramped. Also, it was a bit over-restored for my personal taste, just too perfect. And once I found color photos of the car in its original light blue, I longed to see it in that color, especially since NK had saved virtually the entire blue vinyl original interior and, because it was vinyl and not leather, it had not shrunk! (And my 5955 was blue/blue, so a dream pairing.) But I was not up to taking a superb, just-completed restoration done by a man who really put his heart and soul in to it, and starting over. Though, as I said, I believe JH is or will be doing just that (and I can't wait to see the result). Plus he has really used the car as it is, on at least one Tour Auto and, I think, the MM. It all worked out in the end because, virtually the same week that I had decided to let go of the Maser, JH had contacted a mutual friend saying he had heard that 2107 had been sold somewhere in California and did he know who might own it? I had always wanted a 275 GTB/4 and, as it turned out, JH had the one that fit me perfectly. Apologies for being so long-winded!

 

+1000 !!!

Marcel Massini

 

5955GT
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9865GT and 5955GT
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Azzurro 19278 M Italver with pelle Nuvola VM 3015.
5955 GT lives in Germany since November 2013.

Marcel Massini

 

09865: Grigio Notte 106-E-28 with Rosso VM 3171 is sensational on a 275 GTB/4. Just three were originally painted in this color combination.

Marcel Massini

 

N.K.`s days with #2107 are long gone! He sold the car in 2010 to R.H. who in turn sold it to a collector from Chicago.
He took the car to the UK for a resto. Unfortunately he kept the non-original color tone N.K. put onto the car.

 

Though, as I said, I believe JH is or will be doing just that (and I can't wait to see the result). Plus he has really used the car as it is, on at least one Tour Auto and, I think, the MM. ![/QUOTE]

 

[/QUOTE]

JH hit a big bird on the motorway on the first leg of Tour Auto to Le Mans that made a big dent on the front. Later the distributor packed and exploded and it is a rare double ignition piece. Although I offered to help source rapidly a new one he decided to withdraw that evening of the second day.
I have somewhere pictures of the bird splash and will post when I find it!

 

Simply Stunning !!! Great storytelling and history of the vehicles etc!

 

JH hit a big bird on the motorway on the first leg of Tour Auto to Le Mans that made a big dent on the front. Later the distributor packed and exploded and it is a rare double ignition piece. Although I offered to help source rapidly a new one he decided to withdraw that evening of the second day.
I have somewhere pictures of the bird splash and will post when I find it![/QUOTE]


Yes, the car was pefectly repaired by Bill McGrath in the UK and then shipped back to Chicago.