PO of this car is looking for info. (Sgt. Peper) Per Carbon McCoy this issue has an article on Ferrari VIN#9801. Can anyone help??? TIA
Try contacting FCA. I would have thought one of the shops on here hawking back issues would pipe up! Sorry, man.
Chassis no. 9801 LHD Pininfarina job no. 99653 Pop-up headlights Orig color Rosso Chiaro Interior Black leather Build date October 13, 1966 Delivery date March 22, 1967 First owner A. Rabinof, USA In 1967 this California was shown at the New York auto show and then sold to the first owner, who kept it until 1981. Joe Marchetti's International Auto Ltd. of Chicago folid it for Rabinof to Ray Stevenson of Macon, Georgia on February 2 1983. Stevenson then sold it to FAF Motorcars in Tucker on August 30, 1984. It had then 35,000 miles and was sold by FAF to Oldtimer-Garage Ltd. in Berne, Switzerland. In March 1985 it was imported to Switzerland in need of a restoration. Oldtimer-Garage Ltd. had it for sale at 200,000 Swiss Francs. It was then sold to an eccentric Englishman who commissioned a ground-up restoration, drives it all over the United States and wished to remain anonymous. The restoration began in July, 1986 at Mario Allegretti's shop in Modena, Italy. The car was repainted red and got a new black interior by Lupi of Modena. In June, 1987, the restoration was completed. As per PH 93 Fourth Quarter 1989. Regards, CH
Thanks, Rounder!!!!!! I think that's what our PO was looking for!!!! It's "out there", somewhere! That's really what heaven looks like, for these old cars. Someone that cares, that does it for love!!!!
Hey thanks for the info on the car! I have one question tho, how do I go about having that information corrected, as Allan Rabinoff was never owner of that car... he is a jerk friend of my dads who wished he owned the car. Either way my dad was not first owner of the car. A gentleman owned it before him in florida who owned a boat yard or something like that. It was here the car was painted white in boat paint to keep it from rusting. When my dad bought it he had it repainted completely and bought new wheels for it. The rest of the story is true up until 83 when the car was really sold. I have quite a bit of history and pictures of the car especially a bunch of really nice ones from the photographer that did the spread on him and the car for Auto Week in 81 or 82... Anyway how do I get that history updated? Thanks Jeff
Sorry, you can't update fake history!!!! LOL! Actually you might want to contact Prancing Horse with your photos and info, they could print an addendum or correction with new info. I know alot of historians try to get it right! Or maybe a letter to the editor in Cavallino. They have lots of interesting discusions there, trying to correct misinformation and set the facts straight. Speedy308, the World's Fastest Art Car, as seen in Cavallino #133 "The Journal of Ferrari History"
With Sgtpeper's clue in post #6, I pulled my stack of Autoweeks and found the article in question, from the issue of March 22, 1982. The owner is named as Bernie Plous, the chassis number is 9801, and it is stated that the car was built for the 1967 New York Auto Show. There are four b&w pix, one of them showing the crooked fog light covers mentioned earlier. Sorry, I don't have Prancing Horse #93.
These old Autoweeks are too big to fit in the scanner, and they are printed on newsprint, so the quality is pretty bad. Just as a sample, here is the pic of the California with the crooked fog lights. "But as Bernie Plous and the other 12 owners - those 'in' on the secret - clearly understand, the California feels best at about 4500 RPM in fourth, say, about 90 MPH, with two on board, gear stowed aft, like some ocean racer, charging across the open seas of highway toward some desert island of the mind."
Been gone a few day but hey hey thanks for looking up that old autoweek article! Thats my Dad all right. That picture was taken down by lake michigan. He loved that car very much - was his second and last ferrari actually. When he bought the car it was painted white by the first owner who owned a boat shop of some sort in florida. He drove it across the everglades (sp) to the carrier truck that brought it home to chicago. There it was repainted red and he bought new wheels for the car. While he owned it, it always lost a bit of anti-freeze which right before it was sold turned out to be a cracked line. The fog lamps are crooked because a crooked shop replaced the stock head lamp motor with one from a triumph car. For the few years my dad owned the car he drove it nearly daily (weather permittig) - heck my baby seat might have even been in that car I wish the new owner wasnt trying to remain anonymous as Id LOVE to see the car some day. Its still the ONE ferrari I want to own forever. Anyway thanks so much for all the help guys. And Miltonian if you ever have the time or desire Id love to see more of that article since my dad no longer has a copy of it. LOL And since youre such a auto week buff, if youre ever looking through out of boredum around that same year there should be a similar article on a proto-type maseratti owned by a gentleman named Bruce - hes a close friend of ours and we ended up selling that car for him - very fun car . The photogapher for both articles should be the same - he was a good friend of my dads back then who lives in California now I believe? Anyway enough babbling just thought Id take yall back to my child hood in the 80 -Jeff Plous
Hi there, Jeff: If you wish, I can scan the Autoweek article in two pieces and email it to you. No problem. It just won't fit in one pass. Still no one has come up with Prancing Horse #93?? I know someone who may have it. Since I still had the stack of old magazines on the floor, it only took me about two minutes to find the Maserati article you mentioned. Here's the car.
Yes that would be really great if you could email me that article - in fact while youre at it do you think you could email me the maseratti one as well? My email address is jeffrey.plous@colorado.edu Thanks very much Jeff
