In the beginning, Bobbi just wanted to keep Forrester, her one and only husband, happy. Forrester was an engineer, and even before they were married, Bobbi realized engineers were numbers types, not big on showing emotion. It was hard to tell when he was happy or sad. He was just Forrester. He had been her first college boyfriend, a senior […]
Barn Finder’s Dream Car
Take a look at that crude lash up race car – might be a purebred underneath? Now back when I first noticed Ferraris in the Sixties, I barely knew the different models, like 250 LM but they were changing hands at say, $7,000 because vintage racing hadn’t created the market yet, and communication (i.e. finding a mechanic and parts) was […]
Car Artist’s Favorite Ferrari 1966-67 P3/4
One of the great mysteries of endurance racing in the Sixties is why Enzo Ferrari, arguably the superior technician in developing race cars, couldn’t beat Ford at Le Mans in ’66 with the Ferrari 330 P3. It wasn’t for lack of trying. Ferrari had won Le Mans five times in a row, leading up to the 1966 battle. So they had […]
When the Big One got away…
Some race cars have resumes that show high points and low points, and for this particular car, the low point was a later death for its celebrity owner, who I had met when working at MotorTrend and seeing a racing Ferrari on Sunset strip six floors below. I ran lickety-split down the stairs and flagged the driver to the curb and offered […]
A Cast Aside Ferrari Concept Car Finds a True Believer…
The concept car is often what starts a new group of fans, waiting hungrily for the production model. Alas, sometimes the concept does not get the green light and it remains a one off. In this case, the Dino 206GT was indeed productionized but alas, most of the interesting features of one of the most interesting concepts built on its […]
Ferrari 250 SWB: Yes, people still drive treasures on the streets…
When I first moved to California in 1970 a few of the real cognoscenti were still driving Ferrari race cars, some still with numbers painted on from LeMans, on the street. Not so much now but only last week, in July, I spotted one at an informal car gathering in Malibu. But it is rare when you see a car that […]
Benedict Castle Concours
Sometimes the word concours means a contest to determine which car is the most original, so it doesn’t quite fit this show. This event is more of a competition among customizers — some as famous as Chip Foose, others not famous at all but highly skilled. One minute you’re looking at a Mercedes 540K, and the next you’re staring at […]
Too beautiful to go fast? -The Ferrari Lusso
I remember visiting a guy in Newport Beach about 30 years ago who was a Can-Am racer who had just bought a Ferrari 250GT Lusso. I went over there with some guys that owned lusty Can Am racecars so they looked upon him as a “weenie” because he didn’t have a car that shook the earth when you started it. […]
The Fabled Ferrari Daytona – The 365 GTB/4
When Mid-Engine cars were coming in, Ferrari offered one last front-engine alternative… By the time Ferrari was still selling the 275 GTB, the concept of a front engine GT car being top dog was getting a little old. Why? Because that damned Ferrucio Lamborghini had introduced the Lamborghini Miura which was mid-engined. Doubly embarrassing for Ferrari because he had […]
DESIGN CRITIQUE: SF90 XX Stradale
The SF90 XX Stradale and its open cousin-the SF90XX Spider–were developed for the track focused XX program. i.e. build a race car that’s street legal. There have been other cars in Special Series that are similar in intention–the 599GTO the F12tdf, the 488 Pista and 812 Competitizione. Some of the previous XX cars were bought and kept at the track […]