Ferrari 0396 AM or 0398TF reason he

I am up dating my files and in the file for 0398TF I have a copy of an ad from the Road & Track issue of October 1978 for what is said to be for the Gonzales-Trintignant 1954 Le Mans winning 375 Plus Ferrari being for sale in Buenos Aires, Argentina by an Ernesto Dillon. No sn is given in the ad for this car but I have identified the fuzzy photo as 0398 TF. not 0396 LM.I am sure this was a scam if, for no other reason, Mr Dillon gives a telephone # of 744 6413 but no long distant area code # for Argentina or Buenos Aires. Ok it's a scam but the other thing is that the Barchetta page for 0398TF dated 3/20/2007 has been removed along with any further Ferrari info from the internet.Fortunately in my file for 0398TF I have a copy of the Barchetta page dated which 3/20/20from07. Also almost every reference to 0398TF has been removed from the file. Now there is only reference is to various medical issues and other unrelated chit chat not at all related to Ferrari in any way.My file contains 15 pages of text and photos of info on 0398TF from 2009 including a three page article of text in French with photos from the Ralph Lauren collection in the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris from April 28-August 28 2011. I have a feeling there is more to this story so if anyone would like to expand on this please do. Thanks, tonga's crew

 

Unless you know more about Mr Dillon, I think this still smells funny. And why and by whom has all the info about this car been removed from the web site?.I have 1184 files I am updating and am about a quarter of the way thru after three months of work. I am glad I went the old fashioned way and have every thing on paper. Considering the hacking going on and the horror shows being reported and the stuff being lost in the "cloud", I will still stay with paper. I have the fire extinguisher ready. tonga's crew

 

I have always wondered about this pairing of drivers in the 1954 L.M. winning Ferrari.Neither spoke the other's language or English or for that matter Italian. All part of the unique fashion of the "Golden Years". Best tonga'screw

 

One of my real favorites of the period. Except for a short contract with Ferrari he was basicaly an independent for hire. He was compeditive in every thing from the early post WWII Gordinis to the fastest Ferraris. Front or mid engine, sports or GP, track or rally he could do it all and his services were in constant demand by the best teams. His two wins at Monaco in entirely different cars and his LeMans victory in 1954 with Gonzalez ( neither spoke the other's language) were just the tip of the iceburg. And unlike so many drivers of the period he survived. If you are not familiar with M.T. look up his bio.It's very impressive and his popularity in the rarefied atmosphere of the very best of motor racing is as impressive as his driving. tonga's crew

 

To the likes of Gonzales , Trintgnant and all the other great drivers for hire of the period chassis numbers were for the most part at the bottom of the list of priorities. Drivers were assigned different cars continuously by race managers who usually also picked the driver parings and drivers were allowed to be changed before and even during an event.The most well known was when Collins volunteered to hand over his Ferrari to Fangio at Monza to guarantee Fangio his 5th world championship. There were partnerships such as Phil Hill and Oliver Genbebien at a number of important events, and not just LeMans, but this, for the most part, was the exception.The big difference between the two was Hill was by far the superior in F 1. The days are long gone when to be the very best, a driver had to be successful driving any type of car in every type of event. Yes, those were the Golden Years and so the title of my collection. tonga's crew