I fully understand all directly Vintage related comments/posts and glad to read about the court order/process of some cars being returned to their rightful owner(s), but why couldn’t we just limit the discussion to relevant cars and leave lists of later model vehicles, commentary about celebrity(?)/interweb “personalities”(?), etc out of it or move them elsewhere ? As we can see this topic is obviously inviting irrelevant commentary and posts from many who just seem to revel in and thrive from any and all interweb drama. OTOH, not my forum. Just offering suggestions.
is this Donny’s shop? did the owner drop it off for repairs and Donny then tries to sell? without the title i assume he would just be collecting deposits from various people and not delivering a car?
umm, I don't think Jay deserves anything negative. he is peak car enthusiast and credit to him he likes some eccentric vehicles and enjoys working on them, but he's a professional comedian, not a professional mechanic. I have tons of respect for Jay.
Actually, and you probably know this, Jay was a professional mechanic in Rhode Island before moving to LA and becoming a stand-up comedian. He came to the Simeone Museum when we first opened and his automotive knowledge was astounding. I have also seen him at his garage and he is a no-nonsense shop manager, no yucks and giggles like you see on TV.
Some of the articles are making it seem like he and Jay were a lot closer than they actually were. As far as I can tell, the only real contact they had was when he was featured on Jay Leno's Garage with his 308 GTB. In that video Jay mentions that Donnie came to the shop once prior to compare Jay's 37 Topplino to one he was working on but Jay did not endorse his work in the video other than putting his instagram handle on screen when Donnie mentioned it. The Robb Report saying he was "One of Jay Leno's Favorite Mechanics..." is just plain misleading.
No!!! Much more complex than that Many Ferraris and other cars involved Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
In the fall of 2023 Callaway started contacting me, out of the blue, offering for sale 0582 M. Naturally I did ask for pix and details first (a.k.a. due diligence). There seemed to be some engine with the car but unfortunately it had no number stamped. Callaway did not seem to know that a steering box in a Monza is stamped with a date. Therefore I did send him some sample pix from other cars and he was finally able to provide a pic of the date stamped on the steering box currently installed in 0582 M, that Monza of the Thompson family. The photo below was taken in Callaway's hangar at the Mojave Air & Space Port near Lancaster, CA/USA. The date stamped on this steering box is 14 June 1955 (14.6.55). The 501 stamped is the type. Callaway also sent a photo showing the gearbox number and that number is matching with the build sheets (44 SK). After massive instructions from my side he was also able to find the Gilco Frame number (I am not talking about the standard chassis number stamping) punched on the bushings and that number (28) looked good as well. Several times Callaway called me in the middle of the night (1 or 2 am Swiss time), not realizing that there is a 9 hour time difference between California and Switzerland (where I live). Also somehow involved in the offerings of 0582 M was a former classic Rolls-Royce dealer (Mayfair in London), Mr. F., who contacted me multiple times during the same weeks when Callaway shopped 0582 M around the planet. I understand Norman Thompson had bought 0582 M in 1970, brought it to Steve Earle's Inaugural Monterey historic races in Laguna Seca (10 August 1974) where the car was flipped and damaged. See accident report on page 6 of the FOC USA magazine, issue September/October 1974. 0582 M was entered again in Monterey ten years later, 23 August 1984, for the Int'l Concours at the Hyatt. Eleven years later, 6 September 1995, Mr. Thompson passed away and the car was kept by the estate and stored for more than 20 years in a shed in a city south of LAX. I have zero idea how Callaway got a hold of 0582 M and how he was able to relocate it to his airport hangar near Lancaster, which is 82 miles north from the former storage shed. Marcel Massini Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Author photographer Scott Michael Nathan spitting facts on Donnie. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLy3WkbC/
It's also on his IG here. https://www.instagram.com/p/C5wt5GOv9bj/ And his Twitter here. Tweet— Twitter API (@user) date
Yes and he's telling customers Donnie is away on a "Family Emergency." I guess one could argue that's true... Classic Donnie. Never stops conning.
I understand Trevor, the assistant, may be operating off Callaway’s phone number. If any car owner need to visit and collect their cars, here is Trevor’s phone number, Trevor Lasley (805) 835 5794 I am unsure if the owner of the property, County of Los Angeles is aware of incarceration of their airport tenant. Their owner and airport manager’s contact information attached From AirNAV Image Unavailable, Please Login Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
More ALERTS !!!! ALERT ALERT ALERT Donnie’s mother CARA is now sending out invoices Callaway is not registered w the CA BAR Bureau of automotive repair CALLAWAY CAN NOT charge for working on cars! Thats the law No signed work orders. No signed storage contract. Basically they can not charge for anything ! Please verify w your California legal professional Law enforcement needs to know about all this billing, storage charges, extortion basically while Donnie is incarcerated! Its plain WRONG ! Get your cars out of there !! Call law enforcement for assistance. Cars can not be help hostage Insane Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
Looks like Donnie just made headlines at the biggest news outlet in the world. Read & savor. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13303327/Ferrari-mechanic-Jay-Leno-charged-sell-two-supercars.html