Today at TWO O’CLOCK!

Today November 8 at 2:00 PM, I will have owned my 330 GTC for FIFTY YEARS!
I bought it on that date from John Apen of FAF Motorcars (now Ferrari of Atlanta) in Tucker, Georgia.
I found it in the classifieds in Road and Track magazine, negotiated a price over the phone, sent a deposit and flew to Atlanta from my home in Rochester, NY. Test drove it, paid the balance, and took possession at 2:00 in the afternoon.
It had around 40,000 miles.
It was light metallic blue and I really didn’t like the color.
So, I had two choices: Have it painted a different color or leave it blue. I chose the former. Big problem - I spent my entire savings and didn’t have any money to have it painted.
Decision: paint it myself!
My favorite color is yellow and after researching, I could not find any record of a yellow GTC.
Decision made - I took the horn button to a paint shop and told them this is the color I want. Turned out to be 1975 Corvette Bright Yellow.
I returned home with a gallon of yellow, a gallon of primer and a gallon of thinner. Plus lots of sandpaper, putty and Prep-Sol.
Put the car on jacks, removed all the chrome, applied the Prep-Sol and then started sanding.
First realization: I didn’t have a clue what I was doing!
I sanded until most of the blue was gone. Primed, sanded some more until it looked and felt right.
Bonus - I found absolutely no sign of any bodywork. Big plus.
I bought another gallon of thinner, carefully wiped the car down, masked off the windows and interior.
Then came the yellow.
I used the entire gallon and when done, it looked really nice.
After letting it dry for a few weeks, I replaced all the trim.
VOILA! It looked like a brand new car.
Not bad for an amateur. I almost sprained my shoulder patting myself on the back!
Now, at close to 210,000 miles it still drives like a dream and is the perfect daily driver.
Of course, I’ve done quite a bit of work since the repaint but that’s another story.
Comments?
Bob Z.

 

DRW: who was the previous owner of your GTB?
Bob Z.