Classiche Annual Inspection | Page 10 | FerrariChat

Classiche Annual Inspection

Discussion in 'Vintage (thru 365 GTC4)' started by WCH, Jun 21, 2017.

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  1. Vintage V12

    Vintage V12 Formula 3

    Aug 11, 2004
    1,444
    A few years back I took a visit to the Classiche Department in Maranello and asked the director if he could show me the color chip book with the color verde scuro used on the 275 GTB. He handed me the Pinninfarrina color book. I said thank you for your time.
     
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  2. turbo-joe

    turbo-joe F1 Veteran

    Apr 6, 2008
    8,866
    southwest germany and thailand
    Full Name:
    romano schwabel
    thank you for this info
     
  3. DWR46

    DWR46 Formula 3
    Honorary

    Jun 19, 2012
    1,810
    Vintage: Very typical of the operation. My friend tried for years to get Classiche to go to Pininfarina (as it was obvious the firm was failing) and acquire all the Ferrari photo records. Classiche had no interest whatsoever. I have no idea what has ever become of the Pininfarina records now.
     
  4. geno berns

    geno berns F1 Rookie

    Oct 26, 2006
    3,005
    Midwest
    Full Name:
    Geno
    I’ll be happy to talk to you PM me. I have spoken to well known FCA judges and restorers who said it’s gotten worse on many levels instead of getting better. I just needed to loose some money and a couple years of time while I was being played with to realize what others have been saying.
     
  5. Rossocorsa1

    Rossocorsa1 F1 Veteran

    May 14, 2017
    6,200

    Just shot you a note.
     
  6. GIOTTO

    GIOTTO F1 Rookie
    Consultant

    Dec 30, 2006
    3,597
    FRANCE
  7. Rosey

    Rosey F1 Rookie

    Nov 5, 2015
    3,587
    Australia
    Full Name:
    Mark R
    #232 Rosey, Jul 30, 2019
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2019
    Just to put my 2 cents in after reading the entire thread.

    I have a 1989 328 GTS that has won best in show both on a state as well as national level. It is very similar to Jeff's (Rossocorsa's) 1989 328 GTB in both condition and originality.

    About 3 years ago or so I decided to get the car certified by Classiche partly to see how the process worked, the price of Classiche was about to rise and also to assist the dealership as they had to certify a certain number of cars every year and they were short on target.

    The process took nearly a year even though there was nothing for me to modify or replace on my car to pass the certification test. Don't know why it took that long, it just did. Anyway I got my red folder, it's sitting on my shelf at home and everyone is happy.

    Now my car was a 1989 328 GTS, a car that was at the time about 26 years old and they made around 6,000 examples or so.
    At the time my 328 was made, they were an expensive car that on the whole was going to looked after by the owner from the outset. The work involved in getting that car certified was relatively easy as Ferrari have all the build information at the Classiche archives. They check to see mine is matching numbers, a few photos, no metal testing and voila, it's done.

    But for vintage Ferrari's, that's a whole other issue. It's hard to compare the life of a 328 with a vintage Ferrari and as such the certification process SHOULD be vastly different too, but it's not. And there I think the problem lies.

    For a vintage Ferrari it's much harder to state catagorically on facts about originality. They made far less of them, they are 50 plus years old so nearly all have been restored and they were used to race or at least used far more than modern Ferrari's of today are.

    I look at them a bit like a vintage Rolex. Build to serve a purpose back in the day, used and sometimes abused and only with the passing of time, have they now become this prized item to be cherished and kept in cotton wool and with huge money attached to them.

    Similarly vintage Ferrari owners have a lot more skin in the game than I do with a 328. My car pales into insignificance when it comes to the value of a vintage Ferrari. Their "originality" can effect its value by millions not by tens of thousands.

    As a result the process for vintage cars certification should be different. Engage the owner, invite the owner to the factory bringing all his or her documentation and photos. Discuss with the owner or owners the history of the car and piece together a document of authenticity. After all who know better about the cars life history than its owners.

    Stories like that of the Admiral's ownership should somehow be incorporated into the Classiche folder rather than just a list of parts numbers and photos.

    So can see both sides of the coin. Jeff's as well as vintage Ferrari owners. I just think though they are covered under the umbrella of Classiche certification, certifying a 328 and a 1955 500 Mondial are quite different processes and should be treated as such. As it stands Ferrari don't.
     
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  8. Simon1965

    Simon1965 Formula Junior

    Feb 8, 2011
    268
    HKSAR
    Full Name:
    Simon
     
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  9. Rossocorsa1

    Rossocorsa1 F1 Veteran

    May 14, 2017
    6,200

    This is essentially true. Even if everything is perfect, certification isn’t final until the Classiche committee meets and authorizes it.
     
  10. Rossocorsa1

    Rossocorsa1 F1 Veteran

    May 14, 2017
    6,200

    Actually, much of what you said here has been my point. However, the certification process for the early vintage cars, as I understand it, is a much more detailed and thorough analysis. I don’t profess to be an expert in that area, but it’s my understanding that there is much deeper investigation conducted, particularly on the historic cars to achieve certification (out of necessity). Much if this due to the fact that factory records, in many cases, are not terribly detailed. Whereas, for later production models, like our 328’s, record keeping and production standardization was more established.
     
    Rosey likes this.

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