the Breadvan is a real Ferrari !

Etienne,

Is it maybe you in the blue shirt? If soo , i was standing next to you during the signing session!
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Thanks Etienne for your comments and photos: it means a lot to see that the book is well received and such occasions make it all worthwhile!

best regards,

Marc

PS: I have to take this opportunity to thank the Werner family here as they always generously made the car available for the book whenever asked yet never ever tried to influence the book in any way, whereas there are owners out there who would have said oh comne on write that it won Le Mans anyway, so that is to be saluted.

 

Hello All,

I have been following the thread here on ferrarichat about the certification and of course Marc and Keith book on the Breadvan.
First of all on the attestation. I remember that when we bought the car what a fight it was to even be accepted in the historic challenge. But somehow Ferrari's point of view about the Breadvan changed dramatically and at the beginning of the year they rang me and asked if they could maybe attestate the Breadvan. I said, "for sure just send the attestation !", but they wanted the car in Maranello to inspect it. They picked it up themselves and the attestation process was very easy. They just send back the car together with their papers a few weeks later, after I guess all the guys had a quick test drive which they liked .

Now on the book. I wasn't much involved in the book, except that I shared a drive with Marc at Le Mans Classic in 2008. And it was great fun having him as a co driver in that event and discussing the handling of the car.
I have das so much fun reading this book, despite I really enjoy more driving the car.
I remember the first time I drove it in Monza. It just came out of the states and the only thing changed up until then was the nose. The engine was a desaster and I could hardly keep up with the other SWB's. But developing a car is what I enjoy most and developing the Breadvan was very special. It took quite a while, but now it is really perfect and I am sure that this is the fastest 3litre Ferrari GT in the world. The only sad thing is that it will never be able to win Goodwood as we strickly stick with the FIA rules and most other cars there don't.

Again, a great job Marc and Keith on this book, you really did do great !

Cheers,

Max

 

Thanks Max for your kind words and your help 10 days ago!

You are of course absolutely right it would be good to see the Breadvan have its fair chance against legal cars at the Goodwood revival but as long as a GTO runs around with a bigger engine than in period and as long as Adrian Newey shows up with his "Red Bull special" E type etc etc then the dice are not rolling naturally.

This being said Lord March's priorities as Doug Nye explained lie in putting up a great show which he certainly does. At least you got to disappear into the distance at the Silverstone Classic last summer and won by a country mile: Anthony Reid must still be sulking red faced: I know him from my racing days!

You certainly did an excellent job sorting the car, I can attest to that as it was amazingly easy and incredibly enjoyable to drive.

best regards,

Marc

 

Thank you for posting here. It was a pleasure to see the Breadvan at Goodwood Revival in 2008. Will it be there again in September?

Jack.

 

Good news. After the Goodwood crash the Breadvan has been restored. The body was stripped of all paint, the nose has been repaired. All thin, cracked alloy replaced along with chassis works. The doors which were wrongly in steel are now replaced in alloy.

 

Hello Steven,

Talk about dredging up old threads! Brings back fond memories...

The Croissant charriot has had lots of work in recent years both under the Werner's ownership and after it was bought by the current custodian who is also a great enthusiast and fun to communicate with.
I mentioned to him that the back end should be 3D scanned in case it had a big backward shunt and that in fact has been done. Of course the nose has had its share of eventful days but it is good to know the back end with its complex and very intricate design is safe.

Best regards,

Marc

 

Sure would like to have a copy. Is my involvement with the original import to the U.S. covered?

 

yes

 

Hello Ed,

I hope you are well. Surely you recall that I interviewed you at length in 2008, then my publisher of the time, Tim Parker finally published it in April of 2010 and all contributors including you were sent a copy that spring, seven years ago. You had mentioned that the copy did not arrive so I asked Parker to send a second copy to you that was the last I heard...in 2010. Perhaps Parker did not. All others got their books. If you still don't have it Ed I will get you one myself. Email me at marc [at] marcsonneryservices [dot] com

We then met for a dinner on the Sunset strip in April 2013 when Stephen Mitchell organized a little get together when I was visiting for the Jay Leno Maserati the Citroen years interview, surely you recall that?

Have you given further thought about your Ferrari experiences memoirs? I recall you were hung up about time invested versus income from the book but never mind money these books are labors of love just give to your passion!!!

I am sure I am not the only one here who would like all your tales gathered in one tome: I just finished reading the fantastic work by Kirk White "Don't wash mine" and bet you could come up with as many stories...so how about it sir?!


All the best,

Marc

 

Couldn't agree more with Marc. This is one book I would love to read!

Go for it Mr Niles!

 

Glad not to be the only 1 feeling thus!

Earth to Ed, earth to Ed a penny for your thoughts?!

Best regards,

Marc

 

No, I never received a copy of "Rebel." And no, I am not going to write any book. Your kind comments are appreciated, but I'm too old now, I don't remember as well, I transferred all my files to Marcel, and I have a wife with Parkinson's to take care of. Anyway, it would just be a re-hash of tales already told here, FCA, and FOC. Most of these are online, one way or another. So thanks, but no thanks.

 

Sorry to hear that Ed,

It would have been nice to see you publish your own memoirs but as you say all the virtual chapters can be found here and there.

Send me your postal address by email as above or by pm and since Parker apparently never re-sent it I will buy a copy for you (I never had any stock) and send it to California USA or have it sent from the Burbank Autobooks shop near you.

Ermanno Cozza Maserati's former in house historian for 60 years who is of your generation was very good to me and a few years ago his wife had Parkinsons too, we discussed it at length so I know what you are going through and fully empathize: I wish you every fortitude.

Best regards,

Marc

 

Breadvan at Retromobile

 

Madame Monsieur would you like zome popcorn?

It is on the Peter Auto stand which imitates a burlesque circus/theater, unexpected but cool idea
Sorry for the cell phone photo difficult light.

Will be there all day everyday till Friday 6pm by the way.

My co author for the Breadvan book Keith Bluemel showed me his amazing new GTO book, incredible job.

Best regards,

Marc
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Love this car - fantastic to see it and be able to shoot it on track during 2016
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Can I assume that everyone has heard the epic tale of Dick Merritt driving the Breadvan at over 100mph, caravanning w/ a 275LM (and a third car that I cannot remember), through Indiana at night in a blizzard?

 

Car arrived at New York with transport damage, car was driven in snow blizzard from New York (arrived at Chinetti’s) to Detroit (Sports Cars Club of America meet). 3 cars were driven together: Breadvan by Wales, TdF by Kennedy and 275 GTS by Dick Merritt

 

Having read all of the posts on here I decided to see if there was still a copy of "Rebel Rebel" available and there was one so I grabbed it.

 

I received my book today and it is better than I anticipated. I can't wait to drive into it!

 

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed researching and writing it with Keith Bluemel

Best regards,

Marc

 

Hi all, I've never posted on here before so be easy with me.
I've always been absolutely fascinated with this car for almost as long as I can remember. I remember seeing (what I thought was this car, but later realised it couldn't have been) for the first time in an open yard along side many other classic cars in the middle of nowhere in Cornwall UK. I remember walking around it with my Dad thinking what a strange but fascinating car. I remember the shape distinctly, with the long bonnet, pointed nose & the "Breadvan" style rear. It looked to be in a rough original condition, there was an old Ferrari owners club sticker in the front window, along side the words "raced at Le-mans" written on the windscreen. The yard was overgrown, lots of other rotting classic cars around, no fences or locked gates and nobody around to ask any questions. I knew nothing at all about this car at the time, I was just a young Ferrari fan on holiday. A few years later I saw some pictures of this car in one of the many books on Ferrari I use to buy & sudenly remembered what I saw a few years earlier. Fast forward around 20 years, I got the book Rebel Rebel and read it with interest to see if there was any possibility it was the same car I had seen, but I now realise not.

Would anybody have any idea what it was I saw all those years ago? Are there any old replicas around? Was it an ISO? I wish my Dad would have taken some pictures, but it was before the days of digital cameras and mobile phones.

I did however get to see this amazing car for the first time, up close at the 2015 Goodwood revival. I was very excited to finally see it in the flesh. I was slightly horrified to watch it have an accident during the Saturday qualifying for the RAC TT. I do admire how it is still used for period racing and that the owner is obviously not afraid of a little damage.

Here are a few pics from that day. Great to see how it was hastily patched up ready for the race the next day!
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