Old anecdote on a car I purchased a long time ago.

[veteranvmb]

Now some of the dates and prices are estimates, as I cant remember back this far.
So I am a few years into my profession, and my boss is a car enthusiast. Sports cars in particular. Now hes a family man, so hes limited in what he can spend and drive.
The year is around 1971. His uncle has a ferrari used car dealership in Italy. He informs us there are 3 cherry dino ferraris sitting on the lot, do we(another co worker) want to go in on this.
Holy cow a ferrari. WTF. I think they were 1964,s or something. The price would be 3000 dollars a piece. You could buy a new car, for less then that.
We said sure, and he called his Uncle. 3 ferrari red dinos were going to be ours. It would take about 3 months by boat and papework. The boss did everything, and seeing this was a ferrari and his uncle had a dealership(they had to be authorized at that time in italy) we would get first class vip service.
So the day comes, and he informs us on the day we would have to go to the New Jersey Docks and pick up the cars, and then have to immediately drive the vehicles to I believe edison new jersey where the cars would be readied.
Well after about two hours we see the cars being lowered down. Now 2 technicians from ferrari usa was there to meet us, as the vehicles were shipped with no fluids, electronics disconnected and other stuff.
They took about two hours to do the initial prep on them, explained the gear box, and said to follow them.
We had taken a cab to the docks, so we could drive the vehicles.
Now if I remember, theses cars had 4 double barrelled carbeurators.
They started them up, and I couldnt believe the deafening sound on these babies. So the tow truck, which the techs had, started pulling out. We had trouble getting into gear, and kept stalling the engine. The tech comes up and starts yelling at me in Italian, and gets in passenger seat. I was shifting into wrong gear. He takes a little practice with me, cursing me in Italian all the time.
Funny thing is he goes to grab the stick, moves up my tee shirt and sees my gun.(we had wheel guns, back in those days). He immediately starting treating me with respect. Maybee he thought we were mafia or something.
So we finally get to this turnoff, and go up a hill and theres this two story low lying white cement block facility. A huge door opens, and a bunch of techs in white jump suits, take our vehicles and drive it into a large garage, with spotless checkerboard black and white tiles, and walls with tools. You could eat off the floor.
They said it would take about 3 hours to prep the cars. We were so excited.
Well they come and tell us the cars are ready and give us a bill. It was 375 dollars a piece, for prepping and a minor tune up. I could have purchased a decent used car for 375 dollars. LOL
The head mechanic or supervisor comes and starts speaking with my boss in Italian. And to basically translate he tells us this is not a regular car. If you blow the transmission(and you will once a year) it will set you back 2500 dollars. A tuneup is 400 dollars(and you will need one every six months. )
Dont expect any heat with these cars, as the Italian electronics are the worst piece of crap. "These are sport machines, to drive, not to drive grandma around in"
Long story short, me and my buddy realized on our salary we could not afford these vehicles.
We also promised we would not sell them for profit, as these were special deals.
I drove that car around for six months, before my boss bought it back from me.
They leaked, no heat, tempermental, expensive everything, could make you deaf. But boy, when you shifted into gears, and each of those carbeaurators would open it, it was like flying a jet. Felt like the tires were glued to the road.
So thats my story from my youth, and hope you enjoyed it.

Much regards Jerry

[Stench]

Jerry, thanks for a great story! I can only imagine! I've never seen a ferrari up close, let alone drove one!

[redvette]

Awesome story! Do you recall what kinda gas milage that thing got?lol? Did you ever get the chance to take it to a track and see what it'll do?

[5point0]

Very cool story........I enjoyed it.

[veteranvmb]

Originally Posted by redvette

Awesome story! Do you recall what kinda gas milage that thing got?lol? Did you ever get the chance to take it to a track and see what it'll do?

I double checked and realized it was a 1968 dino. They called them dinos because it didnt have the ferrari 12 cylinder engine. Any engine at that time that didnt have 12 cylinders ,ferrari called a dino. I believe the vehciles were built in partnership with Fiat.
These were hard driven vehicles and probably weekend racers. These were not commuter vehicles before we got them, so we never took to track as couldnt afford repairs.
But put them on the swerving farm roads of upstate new york, and they were something else.
I think the original retail price would of been 11,000 dollars when they were new.

Much regards Jerry