4/4/08
Boxer Trivia
I've been knee deep in this Boxer Major Service at François'
shop, and
the while I was borrowing tools from Bill Pollard's shop, the talk was
also about Boxers because he had three more at his shop! Jim Grove, one
of Bill's employees, worked on these cars when they were new and
getting Federalized at Amerispec. Boxers were not imported to the U.S.
by Ferrari, but independent shops that were approved by the Department
of Transportation were allowed to modify these cars to meet American
specifications of the day. Whenever you see cars sold in this era, DOT
papers mean that the car was modified officially by a shop to meet the
American standards and certified by DOT. Amerispec did a lot of these
cars.
One modification was the installation of side impact door beams that
the European specification cars did not have. A small hole was cut in
the door jamb where an impact bar could be welded at both ends of the
inner
door.
Jim showed me a door that was Federalized by another shop, and how if
differed from the Amerispec mod.
This modification was done by Amerispec. This plate is larger and tied
into the latch assembly. Jim explained that each door bar was hand
fitted in place and carefully welded not to damage the freshly painted
cars. The plates were were usually painted black, but this one was
painted to match the body color. When Jim was cutting these door
plates, he kept
every plate from every car he modified and wrote the serial numbers on
these pieces in case DOT wanted proof of the work done on these cars.
Jim still has the box of plates, and if you have a Boxer that was
Federalized through Amerispec, Jim may have your plate!
So the next time you're at a Ferrari show, you might know a little bit
more about a Boxer than the judge in the Boxer class!
Just a reminder, I'm looking for a
new Vintage Ferrari Project. If you have, or know of a restoration
project, please let me know. It would be great to restore another car
on this website! My E-mail.
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