Steve McQueen's 275 under restore at Ferrari?

Car apparently owned by an Australian (according to this video) ... I wonder if it will ever make it's way to Australia?

Pete

 

Ferrari ... they do it all the time IMO with their old cars. That is why one must question whether they are really the best to restore them ... again IMO.
Pete

 

Well spotted Marcel with the license plate. I also noticed as this is a 4-cam, how come the prancing horse emblem is missing above the name Ferrari on the trunk of the car? Another detail that was forgotten by Ferrari factory...?

 

The prancing horse emblem on the boot/trunk lid may have been a dealer add on? as there are a few Red Book Classiche certified 275 GTB/4s without it including the one for sale at RK Motors and the ex Eric Clapton car that Talacrest sold in the vids below. EC's 275 GTB/4 doesn't have a Ferrari script either. DK Engineering restored it and it's their pic below as you can see.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR_XNOMSa1g]134078 / 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 - YouTube[/ame]



[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB__c3dwgkY[/ame]
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I trust you, Edmond. Thanks.

 

Remember how Italians and Ferrari think about originality. If they decide to leave it off now, as they ARE Ferrari it is original and correct.

Originality and correctness have nothing to do with historically correct according to Italians and Ferrari. As they are Ferrari they can do what they see fit ... and of course it will be correct. We have discussed this before.

That is why one has to question getting a car restored by them IMO.
Pete
ps: This is why they are perfectly happy making a new engine and stamping it with whatever number they like ... they made the original and can make another as they ARE Ferrari. The fact that it is not actually the same engine the car was originally made with does not matter to them ... all good ... all my humble opinion of course.

 

simpli beautifull

 

I agree with you. Its pretty frightening to be honest. Thank god for the historians, the dealers, the restoration experts who are, for the most part, better information sources on what is correct and what is not correct.....

 

Edmond,

While I know you have done extensive studying on the 275 series, and I have no reason to doubt that what you're saying is true, I think that when we're talking about trim, it's very hard to make a definitive statement. Mainly because small pieces like the logo and other chrome bits are extremely subject to the owner's desires. I can definitely see an owner ordering a car with no prancing horse on the trunk lid, as much as I can see one ordering one with shields on the fenders.

Still, I would say in the majority of cases you are right, and the horse is there on the 4 Cams.

All the best,

 

Here is the ex Eric Clapton 275 GTB/4 when blue and also red with the prancing horse emblem and Ferrari script on the boot/trunk lid and in silver without. 09261 was yellow when new according to barchetta.cc.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

You could be right that some options were available to the clients but I have seen just too many 4 cams all look the same with zero variation to agree with you 100%. Would be interested to hear from the expert non-plus ultra - Mr Massini. But he is busy in Monterey

 

Edmond, as you know the Cottinghams, when you next speak to them, perhaps you could ask them why they left the Ferrari script and the prancing horse off the trunk/boot on the ex Clapton car when they restored it. Perhaps it was at EC's request or the original owner had ordered the car, non standard, without them so when DK restored the car they left them off to match the build sheet for Classiche Red Book Attestation?

 

Original dox show that a few 275 customers requested ZERO horse on trunk lid. And at least one without the Ferrari lettering.
Factory and Classiche today dont't really care if with or without horse.

Marcel Massini

 

Details such as prancing horse or F lettering are NOT listed on the factory build sheets. Such details would only be mentioned on the foglio commerciale (commercial sheet) which is another internal factory document for the sale of the car, or on the delivery note (rimesso) to the dealer or on the actual factory invoice. Or on possible correspondence between customer and factory.

Marcel Massini

 

I can't believe I just discovered this Thread. I always wondered what happened to the 275. I used to live in Torrance, Calif in the 1970s. One morning I see a 275 parked next to my 1971 Ford Pinto. Talk about polar opposites. The owner was a fireman (I don't know which city). The fireman was dating a beautiful woman trying to get into the acting business. I spoke with the fireman about the car. He told me he bought the car from Steve McQueen for $25K. The car was in rough condition. He showed me service receipts with McQueen's name. I believe the receipts were from the Ferrari dealership in Hollywood. The car came and went for a couple of months and then I didn't see it again.

As an aside, I would see Steve McQueen in the Vasek Polak Porsche dealership located in Hermosa Beach. I think he bought a lot of Porsches from them.

 

Which 275 did you see, the NART Spyder 10453 or the GTB 10621 before it was cut?

 

The GTB.

 

Thank you. Your story about the car and service receipts in his name corroborates/confirms Steve McQueen's ownership of a 275 GTB (4?) Berlinetta then.

 

I always found it puzzling that a "fireman" could afford a $25K car. I was barley making $3.00 hour and the average priced home in Torrance, Calif was around $60K. $25K for a car, Ferrari or not, was a lot of money. I don't know when the roof was removed from the 275 but I would guess the fireman was not the owner at the time?

 

What colour was it and do you remember the year exactly that you saw it?

 

Thank you Marcel. Enjoy California and hope your ready for tonight

 

This is where my memory gets fuzzy. My wife is 99% sure it was 1973 or 1974. But neither of us is sure about the color. Before I discovered this Thread, I always remembered the car being blue. I'm guessing I'm wrong about being blue since the original color is silver. I doubt it was repainted in the short time frame between 1967-1973/74? As I mentioned before, the car appeared to be in a rough condition. The paint, whether it was blue or silver, seemed blotchy. I was somewhat surprised that a Ferrari wasn't taken better care of.

I have not read through this entire Thread but has anyone tried to research the history the VIN# through the California DMV? Wouldn't California have records on all the owners?

Edit on color. After reading this Thread is see the original color was "gold". I can say 100% when I saw the car is was not gold. Why would someone repaint a 7 year old Ferrari?
Another Edit: My wife has now gotten interested in this Thread. She is 100% sure the car was neither gold nor red when we saw it. She told me the first time she saw the car .... she had just come home and the Ferrari was parked in our parking space and she was a little peeved. This info adds nothing to the Thread ... sorry.

 

The barchetta web site says it was Nocciola/Nero when new. See pic below for a 275 GTB/4 in this colour (09783). It seems that it was Steve McQueen who painted it dark red.

Barchetta info here: http://www.barchetta.cc/english/all.ferraris/detail/10621.275gtb4.htm
Image Unavailable, Please Login