Pics of vintages I find/see on the net.

Yes, it’s rare to see a brand new replica body so nicely done ! They did a great job.

 

Yeah, a real 1958 Scaglietti turned into... er... something.

 

With a body by Alegretti, it's bound to be good. Aren't they one of the old school panel beaters?

 

Hahaha! What a joke.

Marcel Massini

 

I thought the 1958 body had been badly crashed. Are you saying the original 1958 body was not damaged when it was removed ?

 

Are there any “old school panel beaters” left in Italian restoration industry or have they all moved on to use of English wheels, power hammers, etc ?
Just curious.

 

Yes, Timo there are. The shop who has done my work since 1980 still uses all the "old school" methods as required. They are repairing the body of a Birdcage Maserati for me right now using hand beaten techniques as needed to save as much of the original aluminum as we can.

 

I don't get the distain above. Isn't it possible that Alegretti could produce a great GTO body? I mean you always hear how slap dash the old cars were made. Nothing symmetrical. horrible welds. Just because they were made back in the day makes them uber expensive. I think it looks great and it probably is as nice as a real one.

Perry

 

Good to know, Dyke, but to be clear, my curiosity was specifically about shops in Italy repairing/restoring (or even reconstructing ?) coachwork on vintage Italian hand made cars.

 

Early Allegretti Berlinetta bodies were all over the place. Then somebody pointed the obvious mistakes out and they were improved a lot. Still think the tails are too long. Doesn't make much difference to me as I live in the past anyway.

What comes to original bodies, I think the quality was excellent which is proven by the fact that most of them are still repairable after 60 years often starting out with hard life and little if any maintenance.

 

No comment, just saying the 1958 Scaglietti body is now gone.

 

The question is : what happened to the 1958 original body ?

 

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

0503 GT:
Below is a period bw photo showing 0503 GT with the original first body, while in Switzerland.
This car was badly crashed 15 September 1957 by Erasmo Simeone of Venice, Italy, who had raced 0503 GT using the alias name "Kammamuri", and was killed at the Coppa del Cimino.
Carrozzeria Scaglietti in Modena then installed a new 1958 body. In 1989 a Houston/TX-based owner had 0503 GT restored and rebodied back to the first body configuration by Bob Smith Coachworks of Gainesville, TX. In May 1990 0503 GT was driven in the historic Mille Miglia where it was crashed again and subsequently repaired again by Bob Smith Coachworks who built an entire new and different looking body. See also the article in "Cavallino" magazine, issue #90 of December 1995 and the magazine "Forza", issue #65, dated November 2005.

Marcel Massini

Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

So 0503GT was rebodied before the crash ? It changes a lot of things !

 

As mentioned already it was crashed several times and rebodied several times.
If people only did their homework............ and stay away from all the nonsense on websites.........

Marcel Massini

 

I agree with you marcel, but how does someone knows what is the real truth and what are stories when you read in the internet 5 articles and all 5 say something different. that is why I mostly try to write only what I know for sure because of own experiences regarding technical stuff. also you know even it is written in a book it is not sure that it is true. and even ferrari with their classiche certification are making mistakes. so whom you can trust anymore???
bad world meanwhile and getting not better

 

It takes a bit more effort to simply go on some websites or check a book or mag. We all know that the internet has "replaced" books and mags in the meantime. Ages ago we believed what was written on paper, nowadays some of us believe all the bs and nonsense in the internet.
Why not jump in your own car and visit the vehicle you want to know about in person, make your own photos, check period paperwork and period pix (without old photos you are dead), talk to all the previous and current owners, restorers, mechanics, drivers. Yes, of course, THIS is massive work, for each and every car, but the only way to find out more and hopefully the truth. As for Classiche it is well known that they have basic build info only and nothing about the life and history of a particular car. They are not historians, researchers or archivists and have zero interest anyway (besides all the $$$ involved, of course). That's something totally different and has been discussed in separate threads already.

Marcel Massini

 

exactly so as you mention marcel I baught in 2005 my BB and my koenig competition ( for this I took 2 times a plane ) looking the cars by myself. but also had a look at other, equal cars and have seen how bad some have been. but those have not a big history because they are too young. and for older cars it is hard to get all info you can trust. except you know someone called marcel massini ( the ferrari wikipedia ) whom you may ask

for a member from overseas I had a look at 2 TR in germany and in switzerland and sent him then all the info I got and a lot of pictures. but before I had a look at those cars we discussed about also other cars and at a lot of pictures when you enlarged there have been seen a lot of "not so good things". so not worth to travel 600 km one way or more

 

Same here.

As for finding and interpreting the “truth”, especially something in historical context and long after the original events, I’ve long held a view that it is often nearly impossible to obtain or understand and more so without preconceived biases.
And as I’ve mentioned before, even photographs or personal memories of those involved can unintentionally “lie” (or fail to present only the necessary facts).
Also, while printed media has traditionally provided plenty of inaccurate/misleading information, internet and public forums or websites in it, including this one, are mostly making things worse for finding facts or “truth” (or whatever that’s supposed to mean).

 

This pic has probably shown up before, but worth another look. My source is Facebook. One comment indicates that the GTO actually sold for $12,166.

 

that was in 1963, let’s not forget that a basic Ford Falcon was priced at 1 380$ at this time, the GTO was still expensive at 12 166$ ! (Ok, less than today but still, not everyone could buy it

 

2009.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Very pretty. What color? Which Oro is it?

 

0933 GT.
Oro Chiaro.

Marcel Massini