This will drive you nuts!

Gimme two! One for me and one for my wife.

 

:::GASP!:::

OMG...!

 

jeez, it looks like my dad got a deal when he picked his 500 Mondial for $2300 in 1960; then again the transaxle was seized . . .

He immediately called Ferrari of San Francisco (or whaterver the Ferrari dealer was called in the bay area in 1960) and asked for a copy of the shop manual. They laughed at him and told him the only shop manual for that car was in the brain of some mechanic in Modena.

He tried to sell it before going to Nam in 1965 for $4,000. No takers, thank god. Of course, by then it was just a 10-year old, drum-brake racer.

 

Or how about a Zagato DB4 GT from c.1964...?

Or, worse still, a Bugatti Royale from the early 1950s (just deleted my image, but the original ad is for sale on Ebay - do a search under 'Bugatti Royale'.

A bit frustrsating, to say the least...

 

I had some of the same experiences in the late 60', early 70's. A friend had a 121 LM (#0532) that he decided to sell when his employer transfered him, just a "tired old drum brake racer". I could have bought it for about $5000. I didn't have the money then, definetly don't have what it is worth today. About the same time I looked at a 250 SWB for $4500, at least I could have driven it on the street. I also ran across a 250 GTE that had just been traded in on a Volkswagon! They wanted $3000 and when I went back a few days later it was gone. On the other hand, I went with a friend to look at a 330 GT that needed an engine re-build. It ran pretty rough, the owner was in shock from the mechanic's price quote for the "necessary" work. We test drove it around the neighborhood in the evening at just about sundown. He stopped to open the hood and just as we thought, there was a fireworks show around the plug wires. My friend bought it for $1200 and for the price of some ignition wires, he had a nice Ferrari.

 

Bryan, that's awesome...! Do you have pictures you can post of the 500...? How long until the restoration is completed...?

 

In 1977 I had just got out of the Navy and landed a job at Michelin Tire in South Carolina. I decided since I was making the most money I had ever made, it was time to buy a sports car. I went to the local Chevy dealer to look at Corvettes. They had several there along with a used 1972 Daytona . I test drove a Vette and the Daytona and then starting talking money. The Vette was a new 1977 L82 model and they wanted around $12k. They wanted around $14k for the used Daytona. I decided why would I pay $2k more for a used car when I could have a new Vette for less. I have always regreted that .

 

Carbon - here are 2 recent resto pics taken by fellow F-chatter Russ:

 

2

 

Wow...! Bryan, that's AWESOME...! Holy cow, that is so cool...! Thanks for posting those... Please keep us posted on the restoration...

 

Bryan,

Please tell us your not going to paint it. That car is FANTASTIC! I really hope you guys are rebuilding it mechanically.... but leaving the patina. It looks like an old Ferrari racecar SHOULD.


Terry

 

Well Terry, you'll be mostly satisfied.

We are taking apart, cleaning, and reassembling everything mechanical (drivetrain, suspension, brakes, steering),

cleaning it (no chassis repaint, no rebuilding of gauges, etc.),

replacing consumable and rubber items (tires, bushings, hoses, fuel lines),

replacing safety items (new wires on the original Borrani rims, new electrical wiring).

We are going to repaint it in its original french racing blue that it wore when it was sold to its first owner, Francois Picard. The idea is that it will look the way it did for its most successful race when it was 6 months old; Castellotti drove it to win the 2-liter class at the Grand Prix of Venezuela (11/55) as a factory team car entry - see my avatar.

However, we will NOT be doing any substantive body work; most of its scars will remain (the one where my bike fell on it when I was a kid will be removed - the ones where drivers planted their palm near the headrest to vault into the car will remain). And Scaglietti's original hammer marks that appear as hundreds of little half-moons in many of the panels (which are all wavy) will stay.

This is not a 'better than new' restoration; this is a preservation exercise. Everything will be put in working order and only certain rubber and safety-related items will be replaced.

For more pics and a story on Dad and this car, see Forza #37, May 2002, pp. 52-56.

I'll keep you all posted

BTW, for some perspective, the $9500 price quoted above for the 1958 Testarossa constituted 3 times my father's Lieutenant's salary in 1960 . . .

 

BRYAN, THIS IS AWESOME...! Please keep us posted on how the restoration comes along... This is great... It's a gorgeous car... Unfortunately, my screen shows the car in your avatar as being a light green-ish... Is that what it is, or are my colors off...?

 

Carbon - you might have to adjust your colors; there's no green, but that peculiar french racing blue. Find just about any picture of a 1930s Bugatti type 35 and you'll see the color

 

Bryan, I had your pic with lots of patina of the Venezualan GP cleaned up.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

FYI, from The Inflation Calculator website (http://www.westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi):

What cost $9500 in 1960 would cost $56396.31 in 2002

Still a deal, all things considered.

 

boudewijn, THANK YOU for the cleained up pic - I need to replace my scratched up wallpaper w/ the new image. thanks again!

 

that TR is bella