History of Giallo FLY color | Page 2 | FerrariChat

History of Giallo FLY color

Discussion in 'Vintage (thru 365 GTC4)' started by toggie, Mar 1, 2009.

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  1. jdwheeler

    jdwheeler Rookie

    Nov 28, 2007
    46
    London, UK
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    Jonathan
    Brilliant!!

    I am going to use this as an explanation!!!
     
  2. UAS

    UAS Formula 3
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    Jul 2, 2008
    1,193
    Glen Cove, NY
    I don't know the Italian word for 'fly' (the insect, not the act of soaring through the air), but the Italian alphabet lacks the letter 'Y', so I doubt the 'Fly Yellow" reference came from Italy. If I had to guess, I would say it is of American origin, and probably refers to the color's unique ability to draw flies (as has been mentioned). The acronym (Ferrari Light Yellow) probably came along afterward after some clever chap devised it.
     
  3. swift53

    swift53 F1 Veteran
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    Nov 17, 2007
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    The word for Fly in Italian, is Mosca. It's even more complicated now...
     
  4. ggjjr

    ggjjr Formula Junior

    Nov 11, 2003
    870
    Detroit
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    George
    I always thought it was the color a fly makes after contacting a windshield at high speed.
     
  5. BigTex

    BigTex Seven Time F1 World Champ
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    Dec 6, 2002
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    Bubba
    #30 BigTex, Mar 6, 2009
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  6. Llenroc

    Llenroc F1 Rookie
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    Jun 9, 2004
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    Nice car Bubba, where'd ya find that at.
     
  7. Athanase

    Athanase Formula Junior

    Jan 27, 2007
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    #32 Athanase, Mar 8, 2009
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  8. jcwconsult

    jcwconsult Karting

    Sep 20, 2004
    223
    Ann Arbor, MI
    Full Name:
    Jim Walker
    My Heritage Certificate says my color is Giallo Fly It. (Italvar, the paint company). The car was completed April 23, 1969. It has a fair amount of green in it which the painter says helps to give it the depth.

    Regards,

    Jim Walker
    365 GT 2+2 #12451
     
  9. bobzdar

    bobzdar F1 Veteran

    Sep 22, 2008
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  10. PHC1

    PHC1 Formula Junior

    Nov 21, 2007
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    So no one heard of the theory of swatting a fly and seeing the fly juice, hence Fly Yellow??? I do recall a big time collector mention that on a TV show.... Seriously!
     
  11. piloti

    piloti Formula 3
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    Jul 11, 2004
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    Nathan Beehl
    Lots of nice theories and stories out there, but this is the correct version.
    Giallo Fly was created by Fiamma Breschi. She says in her auto-biography that "-the Drake had given me a mandate to deal with the materials and interior fabrics and shades of colours", and so she created Giallo Fly. This story is verifed by the fact that Enzo gave her a Japanese copy of 'Mes Joies Terribili' and wrote in it "Il Giallo Fly e arrivato fin qui" - "The Giallo Fly has arrived here". Having met Fiamma and seen this book I can verify that all of this is correct. Giallo Fly made its debut at the 1965 Salon de Paris on a 275GTB.
    Nathan
     
    of2worlds likes this.
  12. jtremlett

    jtremlett F1 Rookie

    Feb 18, 2004
    4,696
    Which still doesn't explain why "Fly" unless I'm missing something. As an aside, why a Japanese copy of his book? That seems a bit odd (I am assuming from the Italian name that she isn't Japanese).

    Jonathan
     
  13. Bob Zambelli

    Bob Zambelli F1 Rookie
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    #38 Bob Zambelli, Dec 19, 2011
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  14. swift53

    swift53 F1 Veteran
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    Bob, lovely photo!
    It is impressive how lighting changes the same color. I think the GTC looks particularly shapelier in Giallo Fly.
    Congratulations on a very good choice. :)

    I struggled with the decision on the color for my Dino, but the choice was unanimous in my family. No regrets...



    Regards, Alberto
     
  15. synchro

    synchro F1 Veteran

    Feb 14, 2005
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    From professional Ferrari painter Jon Byers who has painted Ferraris that have won consecutive years at Pebble Beach since 1996
    in response to my inquiry, says:

    "PPG paint and the code was DBC-81648 "
     
  16. Lorenzini

    Lorenzini Karting

    Sep 3, 2008
    85
    Granite Bay, CA
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    Kenneth D. Lawrence
    Yellow as a paint is very fickle and most of the time is is not a desirable color suitable for a vintage Ferrari.
    I found that the best match for fly yellow is quite simple, you just use PPG's yellow mixing color straight out of the can. Fly in the Italian language is (Mosca) .
     
  17. El Wayne

    El Wayne F1 World Champ
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    Aug 1, 2002
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    L. Wayne Ausbrooks
    Reviving an old thread because this question was brought up in the Massini/Monterey photos thread, which I would rather not hijack.

    First, Nathan Beehl's earlier post addressing this issue:

    Now allow me to clarify:

    There had been yellow Ferraris before, but in her biography, Fiamma Breschi takes credit for the color Giallo Fly, claiming the color was her suggestion. According to Breschi, Ferrari refused to name the color "Giallo Fiamma" ("Flame Yellow" in Italian), so the name became Giallo Fly instead.

    Of course, at the same time, Breschi also takes credit for the 275 GTB's long-hooded design (saying she drew a sketch for Enzo, taking her inspiration from Cruella de Vil's car in 101 Dalmations). She goes on to claim that when the 275 GTB had it's debut at the Geneva Salon in Giallo Fly, everyone hated it. But then Ferrari sent another Giallo Fly 275 GTB to the Paris Salon at her suggestion and the rest is history!

    In reality, the 275 GTB made its debut at the Paris Salon in 1964 (not Geneva) and the car shown, s/n 06449, was Verde Scuro 19394 (a very dark green), not Giallo Fly. There are numerous photos to document this. So maybe she mixed up her auto shows? If so, then to which is she referring?

    1964 Geneva: None
    1964 Paris: 06449 (dark green)
    1964 London: 06521 (red) and 06527 (light blue)
    1964 Turin: 06505 (dark red)
    1965 Geneva: 06527 (light blue)
    1965 Paris: 07887 (red)
    1965 London: 08047 (light blue)

    At one time, there were several sources which identified s/n 06003 (Giallo Fly) as the 1964 Paris Salon car, but photos we have today clearly show it was the dark green 06449. Breschi was likely just embellishing her tale based on information available to her at the time.

    Regardless, the color first appeared on the 275 GTB and Fiamma Brescia may have inspired it.

    From the book:

    Terrible English translation:

     
  18. bobzdar

    bobzdar F1 Veteran

    Sep 22, 2008
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    Interesting, but still sheds no light on what 'fly' means...
     
  19. 246tasman

    246tasman Formula 3

    Jun 21, 2007
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    Did the Fly Studio idea get disproved?
     
  20. YellowF50

    YellowF50 Formula Junior

    Feb 15, 2007
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    K B

    First of all thanks very much for your at length explanation, it is above and beyond what I expected. I'm glad you correlated this info with the old thread I found, and not to detract from the hard work you have done on the Monterey thread. Great work by the way. And thanks once again.


    Sidenote. I mentioned before in the thread of suggestions for fchat, but a thumbs up/down button or even a like would be useful and really help and show appreciation when somebody answers a question, or when others agree with someone's comment.
     
  21. Casino Square

    Casino Square Formula 3
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    Andrew
    .....your Dino is a unique Dino....! :)
     
  22. versamil

    versamil Formula 3
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    Apr 28, 2013
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    Brian Healy
    At Concorso Italiano I was drawn to a Yellow single mirror Testarossa, since I purchased the exact car almost a year ago. While all the nearby cars that were red had NO FLIES on them, this yellow car had at least fifty on it. The owner noted how it attracts flies and he was right. So reading through the first three pages of this post, the one who said it's because it attracts flies, may sound goofy, but this color is a fly magnet!

    I look forward to getting mine on the road, as the more I see the fly yellow cars, the more I LIKE the color.
     
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