I have had a passion for Ferrari since I was 13 as a result of my father
taking me to Watkins Glenn GP.
Immediately I had the Ferrari Fever as well as the Niki Lauda Fever.
At the age of 16 I drove my fathers Alfa Spider (Niki Lauda Special Edition)
and have had numerous Alfas since. But I had always said I want a Ferrari
by the time I am 35. Well okay it was 30 originally but I had to move it
to 35. A friend of the family I had known for years had several Ferrari’s
including S/N 3733 of which he had owned for 11 years, kept it in a heated
garage and paid a large price-100k plus. Another interesting note is that
this owner had parked cars as a kid in Manhattan and he remembered parking
S/N 3733 many times. Little did he know that he would one day own this
car. I believe the car left Manhattan and was in California for some time
before it returned to New Jersey to the Checkered Flag (William Kontes)
who then sold it to the previous owner. Well, I kept telling him for years
I would buy the car but the answer was –It’s not for sale! One day
in Jan 1999 he called me and said its yours if we can work out the details.
And that’s the short story of how I made it to my revised goal of owning
a Ferrari S/N 3733 at age 35. I might ad that it was a big plus that
the car had 4 seats and there is room for my wife and 2 kids. (She would
have not gone for a 308) Since, having restored a 1954 Porsche Speedster
and learning from what I believe to be some of the best Porsche restorers
in the world I applied those principles to fine tuning S/N 3733. This mostly
included the engine and compartment. I am a fanatic as to having original
nuts, bolts, correct plating, stickers, wiring, hoses, clamps etc.… as
if it just came off the assembly line. Enzo would be proud. But now I need
a new Project car ! Any ideas or leads ?