More Old Photos

thankyou for the information; choosing michelotti isn't a surprise hehe

 

Would this be it?
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

http://img234.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bblmsus4.jpg

 

http://img470.imageshack.us/my.php?image=181391984zr9.jpg

 

Well, I found two more shots that may be of interest. First is a 365BB That I shot in early 81 at a FOC/POC track day at Riverside. Second is a 308GTB prepped for SCCA GT2 shot in July 88. On the side of the 308 it says "Dick Lipton" and "Bob Wallace Cars, Phoenix, Az." Hope I haven't been dominating the thread too much of late.

Cheers,
Kurt O.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Don't know. I don't even remember where I got that pic from, the file was titled 348 GT Competizione Michelotto so assumed it might be the one discussed.

 

Nice photos. Anyone knows the whereabours of 17577? Still exists or dismantled?

 

Huffaker is supposed to have converted 3 308 Huffaker IMSA GTU with non Factory S/Ns 00001 to 00003. 00002 was offered at BJ Auction 1992 and 00003 was offered in 2001 by Ferrari of Central Florida: "Awesome track racing car. Only 3 were made. Car has a few practice hours on it." 00002 and 00003 where Red. There are no Factory S/N known.

 

Jarrett,

Is the David Castelhano link on your site gone?

Gil

 

Does anyone know anything about that injection? Looks like a lot of bits.
Tom

 

Hi, Gil. These are great pics. Have you more of them? May I get in touch with John Hutson?

Thanks

Alexis

 

Hi Kurt,

Have you more information about this very special Ferrari 512BB, entered by NART, and driven by John Morton and Milt Minter? This car did not qualify for the race. It featured a Porsche 935 front end and brakes. A very special one, for sure.

Thanks,

Alexis

 

Hi everyone!

I am looking for information about the Ferrari 365GTB4, which were entered in the IMSA Camel GT Championship in 1975. Here are the chassis numbers :

-16343, #71 entered by NART, driven by Jon Woodner and Fred Philips(Interscope backed)
-14141, #0 entered by NART, driven by Milt Minter and Claude Ballot Léna
-13367, #56 entered by Jones Motorsport, driven by Harry Jones, Marcel Mignot and Cyril Grandet

Those cars were entered at Daytona and Sebring in 1977, here are the chassis numbers :

-14437, #64 entered by Ramsay Ferrari, driven by Elliot Forbes Robinson, Paul Newman and Milt Minter, finished 5th overall.
-15685, #66 entered by Ramsay Ferrari, driven by John Cannon, Tony Adamowicz and Dick Barbour
-16407, #65 entered by Ramsay Ferrari, driven by Bobby Carradine, John Morton and Roy Woods(did not run).

At Sebring
-13367(not sure), #1 driven by Harry Jones and Michael Keyser.

In 1978

-13771, #78 entered by Western Motor Works, driven by William Henderson, Bobby Hillin and Richard Turner.
-13367, #94 entered by Preston Henn, for himself, Hal Sahlman and Sandy Satullo.
-15965, #66 entered by Bobby Carradine, for Tony Adamowicz, Jeff Kline and Don Devendorf(did not run).

Two Ferrari 308GTBs were entered by Jolly Club, but they did not enjoy any success.

Car number 65(16407) was regularly entered at Daytona, until 1980, with an incredible second place overall finish in 1979, driven by John Morton and Tony Adamowicz.

I am currently working on an IMSA blog, which is entirely dedicated to the IMSA Camel GT series. I will post a very big article about the Ferrari 365GTB4s, which were entered in the 1975-1981 period, within a few weeks.
You can visit this blog here : http://alex62.typepad.com/imsablog

Any information or picture welcomed. Feel free to post any comment.

Thank you

Alexis

 

Hi Alexis

17577
If ever a race car had a strange history then it might be this one. Would you believe a race car paid for by a bank?
17577 was a road-going 365BB imported into the US from Belgium in 1980. The BB, along with other property, was put up as collateral with the United California Bank, who seized it for non-payment of the debt. The car was put into store, but unfortunately for the bank the car had not been US legalized, and did not meet the necessary 'Department of Transport' and' Environmental Protection Agency' requirements. US Customs were responsible for seeing that all imports are 'federalised' within 90 days of arrival, and any cars that are not converted are recalled to be crushed. So the UC Bank duly received notice to give up the BB to be crushed on Sept 27th 1980.
The problem was that the Bank had less than a week in which to convert the car, and thus save their money. It seemed as if the only way out was to turn the BB into a race car, and thus take advantage of one of the US Customs exemption laws. This option would be less expensive to the Bank than trashing the Ferrari.
So on Sept 23rd three days of frantic activity began in order to beat the dead-line and turn the BB into a racer. The car was shipped to John Mason and all the road going equipment such as air-conditioning, heater, door panels and trim was ripped out. Door window glass was removed, NASCAR style netting added, a roll-cage built in, and even the suspension was lowered. Bruno Borri of Modena Sports Cars was also called in to do some mechanical work.
On Sept 26th Borri submitted a full report to the Customs people explaining all the modifications that had already been made, those that were still to be made, and why this particular car could never be converted back to a road car. He also had to prove his own credentials as a race car preparer, and the intention to enter the 1981 Daytona 24Hrs.
Other modifications included the fitting of Girling disk brakes, an engine rebuilt with higher compression pistons and racing camshafts, conversion to dry sump system, and the addition of a megaphone exhaust system.
Apparently all this work persuaded the Customs authorities that the BB was now a race car, and that the bank could keep their racer. So the UC Bank became the only bank to commission and own a Ferrari race car.
But the story doesn't end here. Well it does for the bank, but not for the BB. The bank, being a bank, decided that they would rather have the money than own a race car, and sold the BB to Paul Lewis and Ray Sylvain of Los Angeles. They decided to modify the BB even further, and in so doing made this story even weirder.
Because what they eventually created was a car with a BB centre section, but Porsche 935K3 style front and rear body panels, and a high mounted rear wing.
The 'Porrari'(?), the 'Ferrorsche'(?), didn't actually make Daytona, but did eventually appear during practice at Riverside in April. As the engine blew up during qualifying the BB was listed as a Did Not Start.
Owner Paul Lewis did a few SCCA races in 1981 but I have been unable to obtain any further details about these events.
The BB was then purchased by Mike Sheehan of European Auto Restoration in Costa Mesa, California. Mike, bravely, used the BB as a road car until the attention of the local law enforcement officers persuaded him that something a little less obvious would be an advantage.

From my book "Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer - The Road & Race Legends" - now available
Nathan

 

Hi Alexis,

The photo I posted is all I have at the moment. I have literally thousands of slides but have only gone through a few so far. My slides from Riverside 1981 are in another box I have not gotten to yet.

Nathan, fascinating story about 17577.

I seem to be fresh out of Ferrari shots for the moment. So here's a shot of Jackie Ickx at Riverside from the single-seat Can-Am days.

Cheers,
Kurt O.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Hi Nathan,

Thank you for the story. Quite unbelievable!

Alexis

 

Hi,

Christian Huet book is The best one references, English / French

"Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Groupe 4 Daytona Competizione" Editions Christian HUET Paris FRANCE, august 2002 ISBN 2-9500432-2-4.

All results 1969 - 1981. Some inaccuracies, some errors; many photographs. 110 pages.

Here, if you want: http://www.motolit.com/fer365gtgrou.html
or http://www.collectorscarbooks.co.uk/shop/4943.html

p.s. French forum: http://forums.motorlegend.com/vb/showthread.php?t=28355

Regards

 

That is an amazing story! Thank you for posting. Most race cars have a bit of weirdness in their construction history but that takes the cake. I'd love to have seen the bank manager's face when he was informed his asset was about to be crushed! So was someone's career in banking! Best of all the thing blew up when it went to the track. Lord, what a mess!

Two pieces of advice has filtered down through the generations in our family: 1) Bankers DON'T know! 2) Never feel sorry for a girl on a yacht. One of those seems to be true here.

 

Now that's how the back of a proper racing car should look!