I began my search for a Vintage V12 Ferrari, denomination unknown at
the time, when I sold my Blue over Tan 456 GT in early 2003. The 456 had
been a fabulous car and to my mind one of Pinin Farinas greatest designs.
Over time and miles however Italian workmanship came to the fore and I
began to suffer with all the standard 456 problems you will all have heard
of (Windows not meeting, Seat ECU, Electrics…) These problems coupled with
the depreciation made me consider what next.
Ferrari was a given. V12 was a given. Vintage was a possible.
After doing a deal of research I settled on two tipo that fitted my tastes and frankly my budget. These were the 250 PF Coupe and 250 GTE. My first real run at a car was to prove a disappointment but would lead to better things. I had seen an advert in UK Classic Car magazine for a 250 PF American Spec. The car was a very interesting light green over tobacco colour and so I duly arranged to go and inspect it with Nigel Chiltern Hunt who was selling it on behalf of an American owner I believe. Long story short I missed out on the car but I am delighted to say that another TomYang visitor John Vardanian got a beauty. I still believe NJV12 is one of the prettiest PF Coupes I have seen.
So the search continued I looked at Silver over Red car that was being marketed by Paul Baber. Nice car, not as nice as JV’s and more money so I passed. Whilst I was at Paul’s garage in London however I noticed a rather lovely 250 GTE that he had just sold. This was probably the first time I had seen a GTE in the flesh and I just loved the shape, it to me was an early manifestation of everything I loved about the 456. Effectively that was it ? I was going for a GTE. All I had to do now was find one.
Around this time I left my previous employer (US software firm) and after 7 years service I was paid a surprisingly nice severance package. The only problem was I was paid out in $ and the $ to £ exchange rate was horrible. A plan was coming together. How about satisfying my V12 craving with a US car and importing it to the UK? Risky but kind of fun along the way.
After months of scouring US magazines and trawling the Internet via all the usual suspects (Heritage, Sheehan etc..) I stumbled across a website for a company named Exotic Performance Plus. Low and behold amongst the 10 Ferrari’s they had listed for sale was a Blue over Tan 250 GTE that was priced right and looked right. Now my only issue was how to go about inspecting it in Indiana whilst I was living in London. I racked my brain for a week or so and then just decided to ping a mail out on Ferrarichat.com asking if anyone knew anything about this dealer or this car. My expectation of a positive result was pretty low. Within FIFTEEN minutes, yes fifteen minutes, I had a reply to my thread from a previous owner Mr. Rich Wallace.
Rich and I began a dialogue about the car and he was able to produce
many more photos from the time he had ownership. He spoke very highly of
the car’s originality (which was key for me) and also of the seller Mr.
Mike Westrick and so one day I just called Mike up out of the blue. I caught
him whilst he was holidaying in Florida and he must have been in a good
mood because I made him an offer that I thought fair and so did he. The
transaction was agreed. I was now about to spend and send a significant
amount of money for a car I had never seen in the flesh. My better half
at home was going bananas! Things were a little tense in the Jaffrey household
for a while…
Fortunately we had just had our first child Molly who you can see in
one of the photos below and so I began justifying my purchase along the
lines of “honey it’s a 2+2 we can all have the fabulous family outings
together”. I neglected of course to mention that the car was pre seatbelts
and so the chance so securing a baby seat were precisely zero... Cowardice
or Genius…I’m still not sure.
After a bit of tooing and froing and email conversations with John Vardanian I settled upon Codsel as my shipping agent and started to explore their costs as well as import duties to the UK. The great news here was shipping a car solo was quite expensive but Codsel also had a Bugatti they were shipping back and suggested I share a container which brought the price down significantly. I spoke with UK Customs & Excise and was told that cars over 25 years old are VAT exempt in the UK and all I had to pay was 5% of the purchase price as import duty. Bargain. That was it my mind was made up. It transferred my US money to Mike and crossed my fingers.
I stopped worrying when Codsel called me to tell me the car was in transit up to New Jersey and would sit there for a couple of weeks waiting for the Bugatti. At this point I was insured and so all was well.
Roll forward a month and the car finally arrived via NJ and Felixstowe
to my house by Richmond Park in Surrey. The final leg of the shipping process
was done by Codsel UK agent CARRS ? whom I would highly recommend.
I still smile when I remember the doors on the container rolling back
and seeing the car for the first time. It was backed down the ramp into
my driveway and there it was ? my first internet purchase. And it was a
beauty. The car started first turn. I then spent an entire day pouring
over every detail and under the bonnet.
Since the car arrived I have had one or two issues commensurate with a car of its age (1961). Most of these have been attended to by Kevin O’Rourke at MotoTechnique and I had the gear linkage replaced by Terry Hoyle (THRE). I removed the Shields that Rich had added and also replaced a few of the newer engine parts with originals (like the windshield washer bag). I also researched the car’s history with the help of Rich and found it has quite a nice passport:
Made in Italy
Lived in Switzerland
Lived in New York
Lived in Indiana
Lived in London
Lesson learnt:
1. Its more fun to buy something and go through a process of discovery than it is to roll it off a dealer’s forecourt.
2. I wouldn’t have bought this car without the input of Rich Wallace. So never underestimate the power of the Internet or of the Ferrari community that lives on it.
3. People love GTE’s. I cannot tell you the number of times I get stopped by passers by and asked about the car. A car that makes people smile can’t be a bad thing.