Pleasant Meet-Up

I received a phone call late Sat. morning from a gentleman who said that he was a Ferrari owner who lived in my town. He mentioned the name of two people (one of whom is a Ferrari owner) who had asked him if he knew me. The gentleman owns three Ferraris, a 328 GTS (recently purchased, and which I mistook for a friend's while out driving in the area Friday evening), an F355 GTB F1 and an F430 GTB F1. I dropped by his house with one of the Dinos, and we had a nice conversation about our cars. He told me that he "went backwards" when buying his Ferraris: first the F430, then the F355, and finally the 328. I had seen all his cars on the street (ending with the 328 first sighting the night before), but never knew the identity or location of their owner. Mystery solved, and a new Ferrari friend located within two miles from me. All in all, a very pleasant result, indeed. Fred

 

Coop, He is an FCA member (I am not), and his '06 F430 was his first Ferrari, so he has been "lurking" as a Ferrari owner for about three years. I had seen him driving the 430 and the 355, but had never met him or put the two cars together. It's funny that I remember seeing both of these cars drive down my street (I live on the corner, and there is a cul de sac---he had to drive back by my house to exit) last summer, and I was sorry that neither car stopped at my house on the way out. At that time, I didn't put the two cars together with one owner. When I mentioned this to him Saturday and asked why he hadn't stopped, he told me that he knew where I lived, but since the garage door was closed (sheltering the Dinos, of course!), he didn't want to stop. He then said: "It was hard enough for me to call you today!" We have since exchanged e-mails, and I hope that he will drop by to see the Dinos before I leave for Italy early next month (I should be in Maranello right about the time when the 458 Italia is introduced to the public). Fred

 

Last night, my new Ferrari friend brought his 328 GTS over, and we took my red Dino out for a ride. I had him put the 328 in my garage next to the blue Dino. On the way back to my house, I took the back way, which is through a river valley road that connects to the other side of my street. Just as we were about to arrive at my street for the ascent, a city police car (I am in a contiguous suburb) approached from the other direction, slowed a bit, and the officer waved. I naturally waved back (particularly since I had just slowed from a spirited run on the valley straight). I thought nothing more of it, went back to my house, parked the Dino on the lawn, opened the engine lid and front lid to cool the Dino, and we sat outside and had a beer. As the due started to form on the Dino, I put it back into the garage, and the 328 was parked near the street in my driveway. Suddenly, a city police car drove up, stopped outside my driveway, and a smiling officer got out. He explained that he had seen us in the valley as he was on his way to work. It turns out that he lives on the other side of my street, about a quarter mile away. He told me that his eleven-year-old son had called him and told him that a "new Corvette" was parked on my lawn, with the hood up. He explained to his son that the car was not a Corvette, but a Ferrari. After explaining all of this, he asked if his son might come over. Within minutes, his wife dropped off the son, who examined the two Dinos and the 328, and accepted an offer to sit in the passenger seat of the 328. The officer said that he'd like to return and take photos of the Dinos, and my new friend offered to show the boy his F430 and F355 as well. All in all, it was a wonderful follow-up to the original meeting, and several of my neighbors must have been scratching their heads as they drove around the idling police car, with headlights on, while the uniformed officer shined his flashlight at the engine of the 328. It looked like a scene from Miami vice! Fred