Q. is the breadvan part of Merritt's collection?

www.barchetta.cc lists 'Monte Shalett' as the owner, although the last entry is 1992.

Des/NNO/Carbon will know as he has ridden in the car, I suggest you PM him.

Pete

 

Last time I spoke with Dick, he didn't have any Ferraris. This was about 6 months ago. Hasn't had any in a while.

 

I think we would have heard if it had changed hands! Richard Merrit was involved when this car was imported from Italy into USA in 1965, but AFAIK he never owned it.

Best wishes, Kare

 

I think Richard unloaded his last Ferrari, a Lusso, about 10 years ago .. .

He's a Bizzarini man now.

 

Along with the artist formerly known as DES - Carbon, Gilles should also know a thing or two about La Camionette, s/n 2819...

 

Thanks, Pete...

You know who actually told me about this thread...? My BOSS! Do i have the coolest job or what...?!?


Ok, La Camionette, s/n 2819, The Breadvan... Urraco, i won't go into the whole history 'cause that information is readily available in other places and that's not the question you asked... Monte Shalett is the current owner of 2819, however, his wife's name is Merritt; so let's iron out that confusion right now...

Richard F., better known as Dick Merritt & Gary Wales USED TO own 2819 when they imported the car into the united states, back in 1965-'65; it was then sold to Asa Clark of SoCal... Who sold it to Matt Ettinger who sold it to Brian Classic in Great Britain; the next owner after that, that we have record of is Martin Johnson in England, who sold it to Gordon Tatum in the early 80's... Around 1985, Joe Marchetti had it; then it went to Monte & Merritt Shalett... The car has an extensive owner history but an even more extensive and impressive race history... It's a beautiful car with an unforgettable sound and riding in it is something i think about daily...

As much as i think i know about the car, Gilles knows a lot more about 2819 and other Drogo-bodied Ferraris...

 

You guys know a lot more about this than I do, but the article in Sports Car International of September 1989 says that Martin Johnson sold it to Ron Finger, who sold it to Marchetti, who sold it to Monte Shalett. Wrong?

Here's a funky picture of Matt Ettinger with the Breadvan from Autoweek in 1973.

 

Wrong...? Probably not... It's believed that Gordon Tatum was a front for Finger because Tatum didn't have the kind of money needed to buy 2819...

 

We there more pics of 2819gt in that magazine. Please place em at: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11241

 

How so "2819 and other Drogo-bodied Ferraris"? AFAIK 2819GT has nothing to do with Drogo, even if some design clues are quite similar to 2053GT.

Best wishes, Kare

 

Drogo rebodied 2819; it left the factory as a "normal" 250 GT SWB and Drogo was commissioned to rebody the car by Count Volpi; viola! La Camionette...

 

Any proof of this? I am under impression that the body was actually built by Neri & Bonacchini, not Drogo (as often claimed) even if the design was most certainly influenced by Drogo's 2053GT.

The original SWB-body went to Sweden on chassis 2439GT.

Best wishes, Kare

 

Kare, can you substantiate this information...? Any written proof...? Books, magazine articles, etc....?

 

maybe this can help: http://personal1.iddeo.es/superfuzz/bizzarrini/ubws_bizz_ferrari_250_breadvan.htm

 

Actually that link substantiates that Drogo did make the body, ie:

Pete

 

Urraco:

The following is a picture from The French Quarter Classic, 2003 (I think) a Ferrari show held in New Orleans, Louisiana that shows the "Breadvan" and I believe at the time of that show it was owned by M. Shalett.

I am sure that the vehicle has been to other shows after this date.

http://www.ferrarifrenchquarterclassic.com/photos/day2/10.jpg

Best wishes

 

Thanks, Pete... Just had dinner with my employers; the spirits aren't exactly encouraging me to go poking around in the database...

That doesn't look like a picture i took, rather it looks like a picture Richard or Ryan might've taken... Monte Shalett has owned The Breadvan since the late 80's and no one else can or should claim ownership since then... Getting a little off the subject (but i still feel that it's necessary), Monte is one really @#$%ing awesome person and i look forward to seeing and hanging out with him in August and November... He's not just a car for the sake of being a celebritous car guy, he's a real, true, bona fide enthusiast and that ain't no joke!

 

I can't track my source, but my notes are probably wrong anyhow. Hate when it happens p

 

i've been known to be wrong, too... i'm positive 2819 is absolutely a Drogo child, but i'll check anyway, just in case... You can never be too sure; especially with Ferrari...

 

To confirm the afore mentioned by quoting from the Bizzarrini book (2001):

quote: "Enzo did not want to have anything to do with Volpi when it became public that he helped some of the "revolutionaries" financially to set up their new company ATS. Ferrari, therefore, refused to deliver 2 GTO's to Volpi. After he found out that the count already had bought one through his friend Conti, all hell broke loose.
Volpi tried to hit back to the Commendatore and gave Bizzarrini in 1962 the assignment to convert his SWB to an improved GTO at Neri & Bonacchini.
Count Volpi personally told me Bizzarrini achieved the impossible. Within 14 (!!!) days after delivering his SWB at Neri & Bonacchini, he left the factory with the same car modified to the Breadvan. The aerodynamic theories of Prof.Wunibald Kamm's based coachwork (chopped tail) of the Breadvan came from the Venezuelan Piero Drogo, who owned the famous Carrozzeria Sports Cars on the via Emilia Quest at Modena. The weight of the car was 100 kg. less than the GTO. In races, because of the deficiency of a 5-speed gearbox and the quality of the drivers, it did not perform in a way that was the (intended) threat to the GTO's. However, in training sessions he was faster than the GTO's! unquote

 

I sold the Breadvan in 2005 at the end of the year to Klaus Werner. That was the most incredible car I have ever been in, much less owned. I was butt ugly due to crashes and bad body work during its historic racing life in England in the seventies and eighties and that's the condition it was in when I bought it. Thanks to the continuous acquisition of historic photos, research and now at least two major restorations, it looks to me as the exact car that was produced in 1962 for Le Mans as modified by the engineers after its Le Mans practices. My compliments to my friend Klaus Werner for the beautiful work done to correct our restoration done by Sport Auto Modena in 1989. We restored it to its closed nose configuration, the original Bizzarini design of the car before the closable opening for additional cooling was cut into the nose. We directed that the closed nose be reproduced but we didn't have enough research and time to make it correct before the GTO tour of 1989. Plus we couldn't visit Gianni Dienna's works in Italy to actually view and supervise the restoration. It is impossible to understand a complex form like a Ferrari body unless you are able to see it in 3D! I understand that another update of Rebel Rebel, the book written about the Breadvan is due for a second edition.

 

2819 GT chassis number.
This car started life as a 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Scaglietti. Because it was modified into the Breadvan the area where the chassis number was originally stamped was partially cut off and therefore the number had to be stamped in another area as well.
In 2013 the car was sold by Werner to the current owner.

Marcel Massini

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