330 GTC 9911 on BAT

You know, I am just not a fan of DMV’s. In Maryland, they are open only by appointment since the pandemic and it takes two weeks to get an appointment. Yesterday I went in to get the car titled. Nope! Title was transferred from a Trust in California and they demanded proof that the person who signed the Title was actually authorized to sign. I had a signed fully transferable title, the receipt for payment, and the car is in my garage, but they wouldn’t budge. So now I have to get all kinds of silly paperwork from the seller from the trust and can’t get back into the DMV (called MVA - Motor Vehicle Administration - in Maryland) until the 29th. And the plates from California have expired. So I can’t even drive the car on the street. You just have to love good old fashioned government bureaucracy! Oh well, another couple of weeks won’t kill me, but it sure will frustrate me.

Anyone have friends in high places at the MVA?

 

here in germany in my area you have to wait up to 4 weeks to get an appointment for car registering, terrible sutuation

 

Wow…that’s awful.

With a new car or used car from a dealer here you can have it taken care of before you leave the dealership. I tried a titling company today, and they can’t do any better because their system won’t accept a 4-digit VIN and they, like me, would have to schedule an appoint at the MVA. So, the 29th it is!

 

No belongs to Rick Holton who showed it at Cavallino Classic this year.

 

Thought I would provide an update. I had to reschedule with the MVA (my fault, not theirs) but hopefully the titling/registration issues will all be resolved by the 9th. Seller is sending me all the documentation I should need to provide to the MVA.

One interesting thing to note for the history of this car is that the BAT listing incorrectly states the color as Blu Scuro. Invoices that came with the car, but not included in the BAT description and photos, clearly shows the car is painted Blu Sera. This has been confirmed by the company that painted the car. Luckily, I love the color of the car.

The car does have a few issues and paint flaws that were not identified in the description and photos on BAT, but overall the car is in nice condition.

I have also been making some headway on expanding the history of the car. I have found classified ads in the LA Times from 1792/73 and 1976, and have spoken with the individual who owned the car for 40 years. I will struggle to find out the history of the car from the time it left the factory and was delivered in Italy until it arrived in California in 1972…or at least that’s the earliest record I could find of the car being in the states. Funny thing is that the owner for 40 years bought the car in 1976 off the used car lot of McLean Cadillac in Santa Anna, California for $10,000.

More to come.

 

I’m pretty sure the LA Times didn’t exist in 1792, LOL. Obviously, I meant “1972/73”.

 

Thanks. Regarding gasoline, I use a leaded Sunoco Race Fuel with no ethanol and no oxygenation. I’ve been using it for several years in my 1963 Jag E-type and love it. Stupidly expensive, but such is life. It has a shelf life in the car of two plus years. When I bought the Jag, all the SU carb diaphragms had been destroyed by ethanol fuel. Ask me how I found out…drip, drip, drip. Nothing like the smell of a puddle of gasoline on the floor of your garage under your new acquisition to get your attention and get your blood flowing first thing in the morning.

As for the paint, my issue is less about the actual paint flaws, which are minor and in some spots clearly caused by overly aggressive polishing overheating the paint during detailing, and more about the fact that they weren’t represented in the auction description and photos. Subjectively, they are obvious and I immediately saw them as the car came off the truck at delivery. I like the exterior color which is good because if I had bought the car because it was Blu Scuro, when it clearly isn’t, attorneys would be exchanging letters.

I should have paid for a very detailed PPI by a true Ferrari expert, and I chose not to. So, that’s on me. I have a growing list of items that will need to be addressed. I hadn’t expected a perfect car, but some of the things I'm finding are, at the very least, annoying. I’m not sure anything they would have found would have kept me from bidding, but it would have been good to know the issues before bidding.

To be very, very clear here, I am not accusing, implying, intimating, or in any way suggesting the seller was dishonest. He very successfully sells cars for a living. He has sold close to 500 cars on BAT, I believe. Let’s face it, sometimes things are going to slip through and sometimes things buyers will see as significant are not things the seller thinks are a big deal. And things get missed. And the car had recently been serviced (Feb 2021) at a reputable shop so some of the issues I’m finding are rather surprising. The seller clearly relied on them for info. The seller strikes me as a decent guy and has been very easy to deal with. He is definitely a car guy.

Whatever…I’ll get over it all as the items are addressed, I’ve already taken care of a couple of them myself and will, with my local shop (Competizione) get them all taken care of. Bottom line is that I love the car.

So, no more whining on my part. Besides, this most recent acquisition caused me to finally add HVAC to the garage, so that’s an added benefit of this purchase; a dry, comfortable garage.

A quick shoutout to Craig at Fast Cars who did the refurbishment work on this car from 2017-2019. He has been great about answering questions about the car and has bent over backward to work with his painter to get me some paint so I have the exact color for dealing with any paint issues or rock chips I have or find. He is also sending me a set of photos of the refurbishment process so I will have them with the car which will help fill in more history of the car. He’s been very helpful. Everyone has been. I love the community of classic car owners of all makes and models. Car people are generally great and enthusiastic and very helpful.

And the car is lovely and I’ve wanted one for 45 years and I can’t believe how lucky and fortunate I am to be able to obtain a car like this. When I open the door to the garage each morning I almost have to pinch myself. And, yes, I admit to dragging a chair into the garage along a nice single malt Scotch and just staring at the car during the first week I owned it. Part of me wants to put a car turntable in the family room and just have the car on display as a piece of artwork…..but I like to drive too much.

My view is that I am simply the next caretaker in this cars life, and my goal is to make sure the car is in the best possible condition always so that as it passes to the next owner at some point, they will get a car in better condition than when I bought it.

So, onward we go! Every old car is an adventure and the journey is always fascinating.

Have I mentioned that I love the car??

 

When I turned 21, my college apartment mates went to the Ferrari dealer in Detroit and got me this badge. Still can’t believe I have such a classic Ferrari. Having owned a 355 and an F430, I have been a Ferrari owner before, but never something as stunning as the 330 GTC. Still blown away that I own this beauty.

 

Also, I asked a local illustrator to come up with an illustration of the car. He’s not finished yet, but here’s the progress so far. If you’ve never seen his work I highly recommend checking out his website.

https://www.scheningcreative.com/auto-art/autos.html

 

I am happy to report that my car is now titled and registered. It took three trips to the Maryland MVA over three weeks for a total of nearly 10 hours inside the MVA, but as of approximately 6pm EDT, it was a done deal!!

Had a quick dinner and then I slapped that historic plate on and my wife and I took a nice little 30km ride. Ah….just lovely. I’m feeling very fortunate and lucky.

 

Congratulations!

Matt

 

9911:
January 1975:
Advertised for sale in the Ferrari Owners Club USA Newsletter by Nick Dioguardi of Glendale, CA/USA, described as silver with black interior, new exhaust, brakes, clutch, springs, Koni shock absorbers and radiator, air conditioning, excellent, 80'000 kms.

Marcel Massini

 

These are fake Italian plates.
Reproductions.

Marcel Massini

 

9911 in January 2017 at the Worldwide auction in Scottsdale/AZ where it failed to sell.

Marcel Massini

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Thanks for those photos Marcel. And I can confirm the license plates are reproductions. They were put on the car at Drivers Source in 2017. I have the receipts.

BTW, If you look closely at the photos Marcel posted from the Scottsdale auction, you can clearly see that the car did not have factory-installed A/C. Look at the rotary knobs in the center console. This was clearly an after market installation, although under the hood it looks like a factory-style A/C system. This has been confirmed by the owner of the car who had it for 40 years. More on this below.

Here is what I have been able to piece together regarding the history of the car. Sources include all work receipts for the last five years, the 2016 Massini Report (copyright), Ferrari Market Letter, the 330 Register, a conversation with Drew Kelley who owned the car for 40 years, a conversation with Tom Shaughnessy, a conversation with Drivers Source, conversations with FastCars who did the refurbishment work in the 2017-2019 time period, and classified ads from the LA Times in the 1970's. I cannot guarantee the accuracy, but it is what I have so far. I would love to find the history from initial delivery until it showed up in California. It seems like a few 330 GTC's were imported from Italy and other parts of Europe in the 1970's into the USA, especially California and Florida based on classified ads I've been able to dig up. Perhaps Marcel can comment on that?
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History of 1967 Ferrari 330 GTC S/N 9911:

Per Massini report dated Dec 2016 (COPYRIGHT), the car was completed in May 1967 in LHD to Euro specifications and sold in Italy to Bellelli.

From information I have received from a prior owner, the car did not have factory-installed A/C. Sometime between the original sale and the car being offered for sale in California in late 1972/early 1973, A/C was installed in the factory configuration, but with rotary controls added in the center console below the A/C vents clearly indicating it was an aftermarket installation. The Drivers Source sales listing stated that the car had “factory A/C”. It was not factory-installed (see link below to photos of car before latest refurbishment plus the photos above from Marcel) although the A/C equipment under the hood is as it would have been from the factory except for a change from piston to rotary compressor.

Apparently, nothing is known about the car from initial delivery until it showed up in California in 1972. There are classified ads for the car (s/n 9911 appeared in the ads) in the LA Times from Dec 1972 through Jan 1973 from a dealer who incorrectly listed it as a 1968 GTC. The next time the car makes an appearance, per the Massini report, was when it was offered for sale in the Ferrari Owners Club newsletter by racer Nick Dioguardi in January 1975 with 80,000km listed as the mileage.

The car again shows up in classified ads in the LA Times in February 1976, being offered as a used car at McLean Cadillac in Santa Anna, CA. The next owner, Drew Kelley, purchased the car from McLean Cadillac in March 1976 and owned the car for the next 40 years.

As of July 2021, Mr. Kelley is alive and doing well in Nevada and I had a chance to spend quite a bit of time with him on the phone talking about the car. While he was indeed a service manager at the La Jolla Ferrari showroom for a brief time in the 1980’s, he was a bartender at a hotel bar when he bought the car in 1976. He drove the car as a daily driver for many years. During his ownership, the odometer turned over twice. He rebuilt the engine and transmission in 1983 including honing the cylinders, installing forged pistons from a local southern CA race shop, valve guides and seals, at least one new fork in the transaxle and some new gears/synchros as well. His heater valve warped at some point, and he decided to replace it with two VW/Audi heater valves installed at the heater boxes. He used those parts because they had the right hose diameter fittings and were readily available. He then added the second temperature control lever to the dash using a lever from a Dino. So the car now has a heater setup similar in configuration to a 365 GTC. This is the only known (Marcel - comments?) 330 GTC with this setup. He also replaced the piston A/C compressor with a rotary unit.

Drew thought perhaps the car might have been in the UK at one time due to the part numbers on the dual oil coolers, but the Ferrari Owners Club in the UK has no record of the car ever being registered in the UK.

Drew drove the car until 2003. At some point that year, one of the carburetors caught fire. The fire was quickly extinguished, but the car could not be driven so he had it towed back to his garage where it sat for the next 13 years. He bought all the parts to rebuild the carbs, but just never got around to it.

Per Drew, the car was not actually discovered in a garage after many years. It had been sitting in his garage since 2003. Drew decided to sell the car in 2016 to finance his move to Nevada and contacted various people in the Ferrari world to let them know it was for sale. He sold the car in 2016 in a deal brokered via Tom Shaughnessy who sold the car to Peter Kumar at Gullwing Motorcars in NY. Pictures of the car in 2016 can be seen at: https://classiccars.com/listings/view/979602/1967-ferrari-330-gtc-for-sale-in-houston-texas-77079

Gullwing sold the car to Drivers Source in Texas in 2016. Drivers Source commissioned Tom Shaughnessy to perform some initial refurbishment work on the car prior to putting the car up for sale. I have the receipts for this work. The car was put up for auction in Scottsdale, AZ at the Worldwide auction in early 2017 but failed to sell. Interestingly, I have no records of this other than an old internet listing (and now the info above from Marcel). Drivers Source subsequently sold it in May 2017 to noted LA lawyer and philanthropist Peter Devereaux.

Peter almost immediately delivered the car to FastCars for a major refurbishment including any necessary bodywork and a color change to Blu Sera Metallic with a full tan interior. Significant refurbishment work was performed at FastCars and then subsequently additional work was performed by GTO Engineering Los Angeles. Peter showed the car at the 2019 San Marino Concours winning a Classic Car Capital Award.

Unfortunately, Peter was killed in a tragic car accident in July 2020. His estate sold the car via BringaTrailer.com (thru MOB Cars) on June 24, 2021. A listing of the auction results along with over 200 photos and receipts for the work completed at Fast Cars and GTO Engineering can be viewed at: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1967-ferrari-330-gtc-3/ Note that the BAT listing incorrectly states the color of the car as Blu Scuro Metallic. It was actually painted Blu Sera Metallic. This has been confirmed by FastCars who painted the car.

Based on the conversation with Drew Kelly, it is believed that the mileage on the chassis is approximately 265,000km while the mileage after the full refurbishment is less than 1500km.

Receipts for all work performed on the car from 2016 to present are now contained in the history notebook accompanying the car. Based on conversations and receipts, I have actual selling prices for the car in 1976, 2016, 2017, and 2021.

July 2021
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If anyone has additional information or corrections, please let me know. I plan to keep digging for information to try to complete the history on the car.

Thanks,
Kevin
1967 Ferrari 330 GTC S/N 9911

 

9911:
What was the name of that dealer who in December 1972 advertised 9911 in the LA Times?

Marcel Massini

 

Marcel - Dealer name was not listed. Just that it was a dealer and not a private sale. Note the incorrect year listed for the car.

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Holy ****. These newspaper clippings are so eye-opening. 275 GTS, 250 Lusso all for less than $10k.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

Well, they were just “used” cars after all.

I remember Thoroughbred Motors in Arlington, VA in 1981 had a gorgeous 250 Lusso for $12,500.

Going further back into history, I also remember a 250 GTE at a British Leyland dealership in central Massachusetts in March 1973 with a price of $4000. I was 17 at the time and already loved Ferrari sports and F1 cars. I tried to convince my dad to buy it. We bought a brand new 1973 MGB instead….for $3000.

He and I “split” the price of the MGB…he actually paid for most of it…well, almost all of it. I was in high school making $1.90 an hour working at a furniture factory afternoons and Saturdays (and summers). I did all the fun stuff….cleaned toilets, swept floors, dumped trash, greased equipment, cleaned out the sawdust vacuum/filter system regularly and pretty much every lousy job nobody else wanted to do. Eventually I was put on the shop equipment and was cutting, gluing, sanding, routing, and molding parts for the furniture we made. Ah, the good old days. Well, at least I had some training to fall back on if college hadn’t worked out.

My dad and I shared the MGB for my last two years of high school. He used it while I was away at college. My mom even drove it occasionally…she was totally cool! And then my parents gave me that MGB as a graduation present when I graduated from college in 1978. Pretty damn generous of them!

Still, I wouldn’t have minded that 250 GTE

 

@fasthound, I am impressed by the amount of research you've done in the short time you have owned the car. Thanks for sharing it and your backstory!

 

A few other things to note…when Drew bought the car, it had a radio antenna on the driver side behind the fuel filler door. He added an another antenna in the correct side but never removed the old one. You can see them both in the pictures Marcel posted as well as the pictures from The Drivers Source ad from 2017.

If you look closely at photos of the rear of the car, you will see an unusual (well, I haven’t seen another 330 GTC like this) set of license plate lights. At first I, and others, thought they were upside down, but they are not. There is a drain hole on the bottom and the screw on top of the light holders is gasketed. It’s a cool arrangement making changing the bulbs very, very easy. You unscrew the “bolt” at the top and when you pull it up out of the assembly, the bulb is attached to it via a brass or copper fitting. Very freaking clever. Anyone know what car this came from? It’s certainly not what’s shown in any parts manual for the 330. Maybe it’s off a later 365? Or off some other model? Again, I’ve never seen any pictures of a 330 GTC with these particular light assemblies.

Also note the headlight chrome rings are the wrong size…smaller in diameter than they should be. But I like the look. Maybe I’ll change them to the proper size at some point, but for now I think they look kind of cool.

BTW, the illustration I commissioned is finished:

 

i bought back issues from Cavallino.

 

those rear license plate lighting ( from the photo marcel posted ) looks like from a fiat 124 spider US model, only different things are the 2 screws on the top

 

Here are better photos of the license plate light fixtures. Makes changing bulbs incredibly easy.


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