How did you get into Ferraris?

Lifelong car guy + Italian ancestry + severance package $ + Pininfarina awe = 1st Ferrari

 

I was born into it. My Dad was a gear head. he hung around and worked at a filling station/garage. this was in the early '50s and he used to see some British sports cars - MG's Triumphs, and one Aston Martin. then one day in the mid 50's he saw a Porsche 356 - which he said looked like a space ship he had never seen anything like that. Which got him looking at Road and Track. He bought a Porsche in 1960 ( kept it all his life ) and got into racing etc.. and when I was born in 67, i was just around it. By that time my dad had built a huge slot car track and he had 150 slot cars ... many of them Ferrari's.

One of my earliest memories is of being at Watkins Glen - 1970 ish, and seeing a 330gtc and 206 Dino as well as the F-1 cars ... the noise and look was intoxicating. My dad told me about Enzo and how fast and exotic the cars were. I remember seeing a 330P3/4 there as well, it was so cool.
My first racing love was Matra - Jackie Stewart... but quickly changed over to Ferrari. in 1982 after Villeneuve's death, I sent Enzo a letter and asked for his autograph, and 2-3 months later this large envelope came in the mail, with a yellow brochure - that he had signed. I have that today and look at it every morning. the signature is very faded but it's a prized possession.

 

I have told this story before, there's a thread here somewhere about this. However . . .

As a kid, Kirk F. White was my neighbor. If you don't know who he was, google him. He was always tooling around the neighborhood driving some form of exotic car. He was also, really cool guy.

Ran the first exotic auction that later inspired all the ones you see today. (Photo from the 2nd Annual Kirk F. White Auction.) That's Kirk at the microphone.

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Often, what he drove by in were Ferraris. One day it was a red Dino, and a lifelong lust was born when I was in the front yard and he rumbled by in one. I was probably 13 or 14 at the time.

I was also a huge F1 fan, watching on Wide World of Sports, eventually going to Watkins Glen to root them on in maybe 1977 or 78.


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Culminating in my purchase of a Dino, and then restoring it with the capable help of Algar Ferrari..

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So, lifelong fan, inspired by a neighbor's passion.

D

 

Easy - It was 1984 and I was 18 years old. Into motorcycles and sports cars (not that I could afford any). I saw the movie Against all Odds. There's a race scene in Southern California on Sunset Blvd. between a 911 and a 308. I was HOOKED. I said, right there...someday...I will own one of these cars.

Took me a while but, I've had more 911's than I can count and I'm currently on my 5th mid engine v8 Ferrari (328, 355, 430, 458, 488 with F8 spider deposit made).

It pays to dream...but then make it happen.

 

It was the summer of 1963 in NY when I took a job as a valet parking cars at The Flamingo Club. There I met a man named Phil Brody who promoted me to cabana steward and introduced me to the finer things in life, namely, honing my skills as an expert in gin rummy, the upside down fan and most importantly Ferrari.

 

love this thread. I was on a street in Rome and a black F12 roared by. I thought what if...

 

When I was a child, my uncle showed up one day in a red 348tb and up until then, I had no idea that cars could be so low, so interesting and simply so beautiful. This was 1993 and from then on, I was hooked. He traded it in (the same year) for a black Testarossa which remains my halo car to this day. I am now a huge car guy, write for ********** and love anything with wheels, but Ferrari is a term that is magical and no matter what the model (or color) is nothing less than a synonym for "seductive" to me.

 

I was on the same journey going in the other direction.

The first Ferrari I saw was a red Testarossa and the side strakes were captivating. However, I liked the idea of a lighter more compact V8 version than a heavier V12 GT car, and settled on the 348tb as my halo car.

Al the best,
Andrew.

 

Thanks for sharing! That's awesome. I've never owned a Ferrari, but have been an enthusiast my entire life. I completely get it. My favorite Ferrari is the 355. One of the last truly classical models before the design language changed, which is not a bad thing, but I still love the final design of the 1997-99 versions.

Cheers! - Alan

 

I'm still working on getting into ownership too. Happily, my wife is on board and is looking forward to making a 348tb our fun third car someday.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

As a teen in the early 60's going to East Coast SCCA races and watching Charlie Hayes driving a "Burgundy?" 250 SWB against Bob Holbert's Silver RS/RSK Porsches and various Corvettes. The sound of the 250's V-12 at red line was intoxicating; no other car came close. 40+ years later I finally got my Ferrari. When I was "shopping", the choices were 360 Berlinetta or spider and 575M. The 575 won out because its styling was closest to the 60's Ferraris of my "childhood".

 

The best of luck to you! I will get one some day, too. Cheers, mate!

 

".....various Corvettes"

FWIW, The person on the East Coast who helped establish the Corvette as a legitimate sports car in the late 50s-early 60, was a Wash. D.C. Dentist, Dick Thompson, winning five SCCA championships.

 

I grew up in Miami and saw these futuristic spaceships cruising down A1A and was immediately taken by them.

 

Before I was old enough to drive I used to walk home from school the same way every day (late 70s) ... a house I would pass almost always had a Porsche 928 and Porsche 911 parked in front. I really liked the way those cars looked when it seemed like everyone else I knew coveted a Vette or a TransAm. One day I took a different route and passed a house where there was a red 308 GTS in the driveway. That did it. I walked home that way religiously after that even though the Ferrari wasn't there all the time

 

I was 20 years in 1984 when I read R&T and MT magazines featuring the 288GTO. It was IIRC, about $84k. It really caught my eyes!

 

I grew up in Phoenix in the mid 60's. Back then, Phoenix was still a small town. I never saw a Ferrari or Lamborghini on the street ever. MAYBE you could see an Etype Jag here or there. That was pretty exotic.

I went with my parents to see the movie Grand Prix in Cinerama. I was probably 9 or 10. That was the time I fell in love with Ferrari and F1 in general.

There was one dealer in Phoenix who sold Ferrari's: Max of Switzerland. I used to drive by it and look over into the window. You could buy MG's, Truimph, Jag or Ferrari there. I'm sure the first Ferrari I ever saw was looking through the glass in their showroom.

At the age of 23 I had the chance to buy a completely trashed 246 Dino Gt for 8 grand. It was on a trailer in the back of a friends Alfa repair shop -- also in Phoenix. At that point, you are hooked for life!

So, I blame John Frankenheimer.

 

But the question was when did you get into Ferraris?

 

How did you get into Ferraris?

Like most people, I open the driver's door, put my right foot in, plop my ass in the seat, and then put my left foot in. Voila!

 

right after I sold the Dino, TO YOU!!!



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This is a great story. Amazing history.

Sent from my SM-G981W using Tapatalk

 

When I was about 13 in 1956 a 21 year old next door neighbor took me to the Sebring race in his red Austin Healy 100-4.
The sounds and sights of those V12 Ferraris has stayed with me.
I bought my first one ( 612 OTO) when I was 75 years old.
Bought a 575 last year and looking for a 430 spider now.

 

as an aside, maybe ten years ago, I rekindled my friendship with him. He had long since retired, and was writing a book on his life experiences. I had taken pictures of his auctions, bug some out of my archives, and sent them to him to use as he pleased. He passed in march of 2020, but did manage to finish his book first.

https://www.daltonwatson.com/Kirk-F-White-Don-t-Wash-Mine-p/dont-wash-mine.htm?fbclid=IwAR2ufFqBxlXKB6bPClrWlNV7EkAU5EtLdOE7cKiAL232rt_IA6Bfr7hYcDQ

He had posted almost every chapter on his blog/website as he wrote them. Interesting guy, life long car nut. Ran some successful race teams, too.

D

 

Can’t find the clip with the Birdcage and Brody says something about bugs in your teeth. One of my favorite guilty pleasure movies.