Joining the vintage club - 1967 330GTC

Thanks! You have esteemed friends with the same taste: Luca di Montezemolo looked at my car in Rome and said "I love dee kolor!".

All credit to the previous owner who chose it, it is not the original colour. That was Grigio Azzurro, of which I'm still struggling to find a picture. It should be a very light greyish-blue, almost white. The original interior was blue. In 1982/3 the first owner changed the car to white with white interior and black bumpers (must have been doing too much coke, as this was in Hollywood), and then the second owner changed to red/black in 1984, and then finally restored by the previous owner in 1990 to current spec. Which is Blu Sera/Nero.


Onno

 

Yes, this is a thing I'm trying to get done but work always gets in the way. I'm really hoping this weekend I'll find a little time. At least I'll be in Holland with a decent internet connection to upload it.

In the meantime I've written an article on the MMT experience this week for the Ferrari Life Quarterly, I'll need to sort out some pics for that as well.


Onno

 

Nothing to do with me, not sure why you posted this in my thread. Looks nice enough, though.


Onno

 

So. Blimey! Crikey! Darn! Etc. It's been almost a year since I drove the 330GTC!

There were some works to be carried out causing some delay but my specialist was also unlucky with his main vintage mechanic breaking his leg and himself breaking his wrist. So it took a bit of time.

But! She's back on the road again, and boy have I enjoyed last weekend with the fabulous weather in Holland and this gorgeous car. She is running sweeter than I've experienced before. It was just fantastic getting behind the wheel again but the new refurbished carbs have really transformed the car!

So what has been done?

1. New windshield due to the truck dropping the rock in France. The "Mille Miglia verificato" sticker was transferred - nice touch, thanks Alex!
2. New exhausts dampers. They are now SS so shouldn't rust through like they used to. We've used the lacquer to make them look absolutely identical - the original look is very important to me.
3. In the last 3,000km of the Mille Miglia trip last year, synchronisation on the transmission started to get slowly worse. Even with sympathetic shifting and double-clutching graunching could not always be avoided going from 3rd to 2nd. It turns out synchros for 2nd and 3rd could not be found so they have been reversed, and 1, 4 and 5 have been renewed. Piet Roelofs says he'll be making new synchros in the not too distant future - perhaps some of us should pool together?
4. The reason the engine used to drop only slowly in revs and run a bit rough on idle was that the carbs had basically been burnt out. In other words, the valve couldn't close the entire opening, causing fuel and air to be sucked past the valve even when closed. The car has done a total of about 140,000kms in its life and so I think that these carbs were never changed nor updated. To refurbish them Alex found a Dutch company that charged quite a bit of money (I think over €1k per carburettor), but he was ecstatic when they came back. And the result is amazing! The engine now drops in revs almost like a racing engine, runs fantastic on idle, and starts better from either hot or cold too. Silky smooth pulling through the rev range. Just glorious!
5. Particularly because of the slow drop in rev range, I wanted to be able to heel-and-toe easier. Under heavy braking I couldn't reach the throttle as it was too high to reach with the side of my right foot. The throttle pedal has now been adjusted and boy is it a joy to heel and toe now! The only downside is that the total travel has stayed the same so on full throttle the pedal lies a bit flat and you strain your ankle a bit. Fine for a couple of minutes but not for hours on end. But in a car like this you're hardly at full throttle for hours on end, so no probs. I'm really liking this improvement!
6. The window washer waterbag was lost in France last year, has been replaced.

She should be right now for a while... or does that sound naive?

What glorious cars are these - anyone who's ever driven one is a privileged person.


Onno

P.S. Thanks to my friends Cor and Bob for taking the pics.
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Can't wait to see her, Jack - what's your take on autumn?


Onno

 

If I was in Holland, no problem! But I'm in Mali. Will be in Holland over the weekend and then it's MM time!

My sentiments exactly. I know a Lusso is the lesser car but they make me weak in the knees! I'd love to own both!


Onno

 

What a weekend we have had!

Saturday my specialist organised a day for young burn victims and their families at the airforce base Volkel in the east of the Netherlands. I had missed the previous two editions and could not pass up a third time! Given work commitments I had to fly in from Jersey and I missed half the day, but even so it was worth all the trouble.

The weather was spectacular, which did make it a bit warm in the car. The GTC never missed a beat however (although the glove compartment wouldn't stay shut - very annoying!), and she loved being worked hard. The engine turns from glorious bellow to Le Mans screamer above 6,000 rpm, quite amazing how that noise changes. It was hard to stop before the 7,000 rpm redline, but I was quite accurate and shifted at 6,800 every time.

With a rolling start and early braking (no need to take any risks), she hit 225 km/h (140mph) on the 3km straight, which is certainly more than I expected and she beat some (but not many...) younger siblings. The drive home with two 308 vetros and my 550 Maranello was special too.

And yesterday we took in a leisurely lunch time drive with some fellow enthousiasts, during which she was exercised properly on occasion too. What a car to drive, just wonderful.

The best moment of the weekend, however, was that one of the young heroes in my car at the airbase said that he had waited especially to have a ride in my car, as he thought it was so beautiful.

Thanks for the pics, Vu!


Onno
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Someone posted this pic of my car a while ago - previous owner's son behind the wheel. I thought I'd put it in the thread as you don't see a GTC do this stuff very often....

Winter is coming - I'll be driving the car to the shop tomorrow to have a cooling liquid leak fixed and a minor service done. Really looking forward to that last drive!!


Onno
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