As a young man, growing up, even in Southern California . . . I had never actually seen a Ferrari, in person. Oh yes, I had seen many pictures of them in Road & Track, I had read articles, and heard newscasts, talking of their legendary exploits.
It was on my honeymoon, in August 1969, that my wife and I stumbled upon Ferrari of Hollywood, in Beverly Hills. We had been walking down the "Miracle Mile" . . . and there we were, staring through the window at a showroom full of Ferraris. Obviously, I had to go inside, to get a closer look . . . perhaps even "feel" one. That year, three models were being offered . . . Dino 246GT, 365GT2+2 and 365GTB4 Daytona. After telling the salesman we were just looking, I picked up a brochure, and we left. I actually felt a little uncomfortable in the dealership, perhaps because a Ferrari was SO much out of my family's economic class! My father was into Volkswagens and Ford Mustangs!
In 1972, I purchased my first "new" car . . . a BMW 2002. Wow, was that fun! And in 1985, I acquired my then "dream" car, a beautiful 1971 BMW 3.0CSi Coupe. Owning a Ferrari, was never even a pipe dream! But, three years ago, I was in the position to invest "a lot" of money into doing a full restoration on my beloved Coupe! When I started doing the math (while talking to the experts about a frame-up job), I happened to browse Hemming's to see what that amount of money would buy in a good used classic. I quickly discovered, that I could have a Ferrari . . . IF I wasn't too fussy about the condition.
I did more research, and finally subscribed to Gerald's Ferrari Market Letter. Amazingly, my eye fell to a 1969 365GT2+2 . . . the same model we had seen on our honeymoon trip, years earlier. I actually dug through our souvenirs from that trip . . . and low and behold, there was that brochure! The car listed in the FML had already been fully restored, and was even more money than I had budgeted. However, the link back to our wedding year, made the purchase inevitable!
So, we have now been proud Ferrari owners (and FCA members) for nearly 3 years . . . and are fully enjoying that rare, and distinct pleasure! Not an inexpensive hobby . . . I've put an additional $12,000 into our pride and joy. But worth every dollar!