330 GT 2+2 One Off Barn Find, Help Identify?!

Don't worry Horsefly, I'm with you all the way. We 'mortals' often lose out on the fun with these older ones. Car will not be in a wheeler dealer's hands.

Indeed, it is bound for the DC area for good.

Any and all threads on the coachworks will remain of interest. Thanks Guys.

 

Thank you for posting the latest information on this car, and best of luck with the project! Hopefully you will soon be able to enjoy driving it!

Did you receive any documentation with the car that can solidly confirm any of the speculation about the history of the car? Was it indeed owned by Mecom? Was the body indeed modified when the car was new? Can it be established which coachbuilder constructed the new nose? Was the work done in Italy?

 

Miltonian:

I don't trust anything (though earnest and well intentioned) until it can be documented. The car will arrive at Ferrari of Washington (DC) in a week or so and several well schooled pros will help survey the clues. Fortunately, despite its condition, it is very high caliber coachwork and the potential sources for such high quality, dated work are relatively few. Despite my affinity for all things Texan (Mecum or otherwise), we owe it to the car to be meticulous and get to the bottom of the journey on it.

Will post pics as we get a close and detailed look. Anyone with ins with any Italian coachwork shops is encouraged to offer suggestions for the assay! Of course, anyone near Ferrari of Washington is also welcome to swing by to take a look. (Though relatively new and low key relative to other dealers, they usually have a number of interesting cars in the background). Many thanks.

 

As I said earlier in the thread....writerguy (whose real name is Jim Muise), wrote until recently for Texas Driver, (now named American Driver)...has interviewed Mr. Mecom for an article on his history. Mr. Mecom lives here in Houston.

I agree on the restoration to the OEM color. I liked the way the ad said "indications of the car being originally blue", that's the most elegant description of a color change respray I've ever heard! "Now red, but door dings blue" is the way I describe my blue serra (now rossa red) 308GTB.

Congrats on the purchase.

Bubba (real name Alan, as seen in Cavallino #133)

 

A quick note. The May 1963 issue of Road & Track has an article, "New Wave of Texas Racing Teams", that features John Mecom, Jr. In this article it is noted that his racing team owns a 250 GTO, being driven by Roger Penske, and Mecom himself owns a Ferrari 250GT coupe and a Ferrari 4.1 Superamerica Pininfarina Coupe. This would have been before the 330 went into production.

 

Oh yea, they were big players back in the day, IIRC even thru running a 250LM.

 

Spotted yesterday...
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Still in NOVA?

This car appeared in 2008 at FoW and we started the project. Complete basket-case (along the lines of the other Barn-Find thread) upon arrival. Wrong project for the owner (his first Ferrari) but he wanted to proceed and it looks like the vision is nearing completion?

 

Does anyone have any more details on who actually did the conversion on the nose of this car or have any further details on the restoration?

 

It's actually in West Virginia now, looking sharp, too. Sorry I didn't get a shot of the engine, but it's rebuilt and about ready to fire.

 

We could never find out and Mecom would not answer any questions. Someone closer to the family might be able to dig, but we could never get anything.

Seems that someone else has taken over the project (unless the owner moved.) Glad to see that it is back to it's most historic color combination. Monster of a project, though.

 

I'm asking for more info. If I'm free to post who's doing to work on it now, I will.

 

Anything you can find out and post will be greatly appreciated here I'm sure. Thanks for posting the above pics btw.

 

Am I missing something here or should this really really ugly "non period rebody" really be discussed in the sub forum established for this purpose???? tongascrew

 

The thread is 5 years old... It's just where it is.

 

It's not been established that it was a "non period rebody."

 

The discussion I had yesterday indicated that this was done immediately upon delivery in Italy. Very informal with the owner of the shop.

Edit: I misunderstood. The work was done in John Mecam's shop in TX.

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I passed on this car before it was tidied up because there was no provenance, if that's the right word, for the modifications. Whoever was selling thought it was worth a lot. The question I have is it worth more or less than a stock 330 of the period? Since I did not buy it I suppose it's now worth millions.
I too thought it needed a return it to stock nose job.

TomB

 

It's not a replica of anything, nor would I really call it a "rebody." It's just a car with a modified nose.

 

Interesting to speculate; does an 'in-period' body modification, done for a high-profile owner, which turns out to incredibly unattractive to the overall form, but has lived on for 50+ years, now enhance or detract from the cars collectibility? Should the 'nose job' be returned to original? Is it more 'collectable' even with an ungainly design? Would everyone here own it in spite of the nose?

 

Rule one in antique world is that an item must have a purpose to be worth something. The purpose may or may not be the same as the item was originally designed for and in the end many things just have the purpose of being pretty. The nosejob does not change the function of an old car one bit, so it all comes down to how pretty and desirable it is. Modified cars are always hard to sell, so I think this car would have better change of surviving if it was restored back into original.

Now remember that Adrian Conan Doyle's 250GT SWB with a Chiti nose conversion made in the period was not worth saving. It was restored back into original 15 years ago.

 

This reminds me of the question of "What if all people were exactly the same?"

I like the difference. This one isn't quite my cup of tea. But I will celebrate our diversity.

This also serves to tell a story of the marque. That people are attracted to it and want to alter it to their tastes.

When we see a beautiful one off we celebrate it. And in fact cars have names and the like exactly because it is different and we see it as attractive.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I'm not seeing it so much here, but I am happy to see it nonetheless.

 

Well said.

 

I don't think it looks that bad. If I were looking for a 330, and it were on the market, I'd consider it, but I don't think I would pay more for it than a stock 330. Of course, I'm not looking for a 330, and it's not on the market, so the point is moot.

If I owned it, I'd consider modifying the nose a bit further and adding an egg crate grill, to make it look more like a 365-- but that's just me. I certainly wouldn't put it back to the stock 4 headlight configuration.