Hi Guys! Perhaps this video has been linked to before on Fchat but I haven´t seen it around and I enjoyed it very much and thought that some of you guys here might as well. Alain has really lived an exciting life! [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SLyifm0WuU]Ferrari Club of America / NER Sunday Brunch with Alain de Cadenet March 23 2013 - YouTube[/ame] Rgds /Niklas
So I keep waiting but since no one has noted it I will. Alan says the Gto he bought from Stephan Mitchell was in effect stolen from him when the next owner gave his mom a 'Micky' and took the car and the paperwork. The next owner, according to Barchetta, was Dr. Stuart Baumgard. It's glossed over but you can tell there is still some bitterness. However as it doesn't seem to have come up, at least as far as I can tell, in the close knit California community of the 1970's. I wonder if there is indeed more to the story. I know Stephan Mitchell no longer posts here, something about Carbon hitting on his date at some event it seems, but perhaps someone would like to set the record straight as De Cadenet has opened the subject. By the way, have you seen his daughter?
I think it would be very understandable if Alain was bitter about one of the greatest cars ever made being stolen from him, being someone who appreciates and has great experience of its virtues and that's without even considering the 250 GTO's huge value today. Losing the Froilan Gonzales 375 Plus too, I'd be more than bitter... However, he is philosophical and seems to have dusted himself off and got back up, which takes great character, and remain the amiable and positive person he obviously is which has endeared him to the public where he is able to profit from his popularity. Perhaps he takes some solace in that he personally prefers the "full blooded SWB". See here: http://www.streetfire.net/video/victory-by-design-ferrari-gto_200578.htm
His preference of a 250 SWB "hotrod" to a 250 GTO would be questioned by most were it not for the source. His word on the subject is definitely worth consideration. What was the s/n of the GTO. Thanks tongascrew
The red S1 GTO in the Victory By Design video is 3767GT and is the car that he sold to Sir Anthony Bamford, which is now painted green as he tells us in the video in post 1. The one stolen from him was 3987GT.
So none of the Vintage California set are going to discuss how Dr. Stuart Baumgard ended up with De Cadenet's GTO???
I would assume that Steve Mitchell knows. He visits here sporadically. I well remember Claudio Zampolli driving it for Stu, breaking a wheel spoke in the process.
I can't remember if he works for a TV show, a car dealer or what? I met him and he is quite the charmer. I want to send him my novel, FERRARI HUNTERS --he can identify with the protagonist. Or hell maybe even the antagonist...
Damn Ed, if you don't know... Isn't that such a weird story to drop into his speech. He buys a GTO from Stephan Mitchell, leaves it at his mom's house in L.A. flies back to Europe and a man calls his mom up tells her how he always wanted that car and can he come over and see it, comes over, takes her out to dinner and the next thing Alain knows this guy owns the car and says he paid his mom for it. And Alain's mom says this guy gave her knock out stuff. This seems like a crazy story not to have been discussed amongst you Los Angelenos. What was Dr Stu like? As I mentioned I've heard Steve Mitchell does not frequent this board anymore because of a thing with Carbon and a girl. Thanks for your response!
Alain is a charming chap, and a great raconteur. He has owned and driven cars most of us only dream about, usually for TV lately. Stuart Baumgard was a highly respected orthopedic surgeon, and as Steve Mitchell put it, sleeping pills were not in his tool kit. After Steve sold the GTO to Alain, it never left the L.A. area, and in fact Alain had Steve store it for a while. Alain's mom sold it to Stu for $6500, which was it's market value at the time(!). Alain should have taken the sleeping pills for a few years; he would have made millions. Instead, for whatever reason, he sold it at the bottom of the market. Didn't we all? In my case, it was usually because I had a bank loan coming due. I'm guessing the same for Alain.
in 77, 78 or 79(prices would suggest 77/78), I was offered a GTO with an LM engine in it...I immediately knew whos car it was and hastily made a few calls....agreed upon an amount-in CASH-to be completed within the next 48hrs.... the short version is it took me 24-36 hours to scrounge the 90K in CASH, get a couple of "traveling" companions, "borrow" dad's twin engine 310 for a day, fly down to So. Cal.... Only to find that Dr. Stu had sold the car "over the phone" to some oil biz guy from Dallas(?) Later found to be a fellow named Walker-later a BIG collector of some note.. In all fairness-despite my outrage(this was the LAST GTO UNDER a 100K i ever saw...ever... 1 last series 2 car at 100 around 6-9 moths later, but FORGET series 1 cars...I knew this would be my last grab....) In all fairness, the 25K difference WAS almost 33% more money-but still...I had made a deal in principle.... it goes to show you....the used car biz is not for the faint or indecisive....even then, you don't always get the girl.... :-{
What would be brilliant imho would be some stories from the people that were there such as 335s post about nearly buying the GTO, I mean some of the offers present in the 1970's were ridiculous. Testa Rossas, GTOs, Alfa 8c's, for as little as $5k........ Even here in NZ some of the great classics were sold for slightly above scrap. But then as Ed noted who had money for another old car, that nobody really had the money to properly restore. Thanks for the fantastic posts guys, keep them coming.
Stoney paid $5 for his GTO from his brother-in-law Chris Cord. That should have been about 76 or 77. Don't know what the buy/sell numbers for 4091 going to and from Epstien. 5909 was $70 by Epstien to Payne. $120 or 130 to Obriest. 4091 was on a truck to Texas when Epstien changed his mind, recalled the truck and then sold the LM. Jeff
Yes, Don Walker was a client of Walt McCune, a former LAPD sarge who became a Ferrari trader, working with Bruno Borri and Luciano Fabbio out of Modena Sport Cars. He was very successful in riding the first great wave of Ferrari price increases, and is now retired up North somewhere, I hear. My, how this thread has strayed!
From what I've heard the last GTO that was offered and/or sold under $100k was #3387gt. It went from Steve Griswold to Mark DeFriece 35 years ago this month for 75k to 80k. Griswold even made a point that the only other available GTO he knew about had a 6-figure price ("perhaps this was the S2 you were talking about at 100k?)