John Moretti - A Unique Life

For those not in QLD who did not get this from Daniel Wilkie, I attach for your info.
There is a Trybooking link where you can indicate your attendance, which will assist in catering

Vale - John Moretti (1954 - 2025)

Ferrarista, the Ferrari Club of Australia have been invited to attend the funeral of one of our very own…...John Moretti.
John's funeral service will be held on Friday 27th June commencing at 10am with a scheduled finish of 1pm. This will be held at Lakeside Raceway in accordance with Johns' wishes.

This will be a truly unique celebration for an equally unique and colourful character who will be missed by all.

Please come dressed as you wish, but ideally in the colours that symbolise both Ferrari and Italy.

John will take his final 2 laps of Lakeside in a hearse before the chequered flag drops for him one last time.
The hearse will lead a parade of Ferraris on those final laps before taking John to a private ceremony at the Crematorium.

To further celebrate his life and reminisce about the rich vein of discussion material John has left behind, there will be a Wake held immediately after the parade laps in the meeting room at Lakeside. A coffee cart and food truck will cater for all those in attendance. John wanted the atmosphere to feel like any other Lakeside race day.

Please come and join John's long term partner Neralee, his family and friends to celebrate his life:

Friday 27th June
Lakeside International Raceway,
Lot 2 Lakeside Rd,
Kurwongbah 4503 Qld.

To assist with catering, it would be helpful to register your and any accompanying persons attendance on the following TryBooking page. https://www.trybooking.com/DCQHM

John didn’t want anyone to spend money on something as ephemeral as flowers. If you wanted to do something, then please make a donation in lieu of flowers to the Liver Foundation in John’s name.

 

I have a Ferrari shirt, are track suit pants appropriate?

 

Mandatory

 

Actually, I think we should all wear tracksuit pants. Just sayin'.

 

We should start a movement

 

John would like that.

 

Hope it all goes well tomorrow.

Very disappointed I couldn’t be there. I tried but just couldn’t get a replacement pilot to cover - one of the downsides of being on the jet.

Thoughts tomorrow will be with his family and I’m sure all you poofs who will be there will send him off properly.

 

My first conversation with John was not long after he bought his 308 GT/4 in the late 1990s. He was a list member of the now defunct Aussie Ferrari TechTalk Yahoo! group. I called, welcoming him to the Ferrari fold. I asked him if he was gay, like the rest of us Victorians. He was horrified. I then told him that if he ever came to Victoria, I would take him to the Steamworks (Some of the original list members here might recall that on line banter). He mentioned he was previously in the armed services, and gays weren't tolerated.

John subsequently came to Melbourne for the F1 Grand Prix, a tradition he upheld until recently. For one of his trips he drove the GT/4 down with Sam L. They were chased by a police car somewhere around the border, but sped up of course. I don't think Sam hopped in the car again. We had a dinner for the Grand Prix in Bridge Road Richmond at the local Vietnamese. When we departed, John did a 180 degree turn to head to his accommodation, and it doing so, lit up the rear tyres in a slide. This occurred outside the Richmond Police Station.

John had a horrific accident in that 308 GT/4 in around 2004. The car ended up inverted on a particularly dangerous stretch of road in Queensland. He had to be cut out of the car. It left him with a permanent dent in his head. Of particular sadness to John, was the paramedic who was travelling in the car behind at the time who tended to him until the ambulance arrived. 12 months to the day after John's accident, that paramedic was killed in a similar accident in the same place.

When I first met John, I thought he was one of the most obnoxious and brash people I'd ever met. Especially behind the wheel. The torrent of abuse other road users copped (Of course, they couldn't hear him, but heard the horn and witnessed the hand movements) was legendary and it didn't matter if it was a policeman either. Or a woman. However behind that exterior was actually a kind, generous and sensitive man, he just didn't show it. He was tremendously supportive of me in life's ups and downs and when the phone rang, it was never a 5 minute conversation.

John owned three Ferraris:
1974 308 GT/4
#09074
1983 308 GTS Quattrovalvole
#45011
1996 F355 Berlinetta Challenge
#104236

I visited John three days before he died. He was his usual big mouth self, with a tinge of resignation. When I saw his 355, I noticed the odometer read over 92,000 kms.

If there is any solace to be felt in John's death, it is that one should really get out and do stuff. Because we really don't know when the cards will turn against us.

With my sincere condolences to Neralee, Troy and John's family.

So long John.

CJ

 

A few images..

John at 19.
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John in his finest heading to the disco!


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There will be a livestream for John’s funeral. Link on this page

https://academyfunerals.com.au/in_our_care/john-moretti/

 

Thanks Greg.

That was great. So pleased I was able to watch.

He would have loved it.


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Same from me Greg. Thanks for posting the info.

 

It was a remarkable send off - I definitely think he would have been pleased! Great to see some fabulous cars brought out for the day.

He would have been even more chuffed by the number of people who travelled from all over the country (as far away as WA) to pay tribute; truly wonderful effort by all those people, including all those who couldn't be there today but had travelled to see him in the weeks before.

Vale, Moretti - a life lived to the fullest.

 

What a wonderful send off, befitting of the man.
RIP John
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Indeed, it was a wonderful send off.
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What an amazing service!! JM would be rightly chuffed, the spirited laps around Lakeside culminating in an Amazing grid formation filled with his beloved Ferrari cars revving their engines. And to the lovely Marc Jones for securing the venue and making all this possible for John and Neralee!

 

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I look in on the Australian threads out of curiosity sometimes and normally they mystify but this thread on John is excellent and highlights the passions of the participants. Good to read and also condolences to the family of John who was clearly an interesting character.

 

It was a teriffic sendoff for truly proper enthusiast of the marque.
The sunshine God's smiled and probably had a few laughs as well.
His 'family' for the past 29ish years turned up in droves as did their great machines.
Neralee did a brilliant job in catering and holding her sh*t together in what would have been awful circumstances,what with one thing and another...

It was grea to catch up with some of those not seen for quite some time as well.

The blood family on the other hand............................

 

Pity the track videos can't be put on here.

 

They will Simon…in a week or two Tasteful Transitions did the live streaming…they will compile the video and it will be available on Academy Funerals…I’ll let you know when it is up!… considering their equipment and the diversity of there placements thru out both the service and track it will be amazing. They did my slideshow coupled with John’s u tube video….it was awesome!

A huge thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the Ferrari Family who came / watched John’s farewell YOU were his family….John introduced me to you in 2018…Adelaide Rally and some of you were there at his his send off…a fitting send off for a unique and colourful character in John Moretti…who leaves a huge void …in not just your lives but also in mine….Neralee xx

 

Dr Lowball making a lowball offer on my Clubman.
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Your first offer's your best offer. Just sayin'