Bill Gelles: A Racing Gentleman

Story by Sean Smith
All photos courtesy Bill Gelles collection unless otherwise noted.

Bill Gelles grew up loving cars, but it wasn’t his fault. His father started buying him Schuco wind-up cars. When he saw the movie “The Racers,” his path was set.

One fateful day in 1970 in Westchester County New York, while driving his 1969 Cadillac convertible, he experienced an epiphany in the form of a black Ferrari California Spyder motoring the other way. Searching for a place to turn around and follow was nearly impossible; when he finally found one and gave chase, the Italian sports car was nowhere to be found.

A while later, Gelles was playing with his son and his go-kart in front of their house when the same black Ferrari came rolling by. The road was a dead end, so Gelles knew the elusive sports car would be making another pass. When it did, Bill commandeered the go-kart and took off in pursuit.

A mile or so later, the California pulled into a driveway. The driver, upon climbing out of his car and seeing a grown man on a child’s toy pulling in behind, started to laugh. This was the introduction of Bill Gelles to Bill O’Donnell and they soon became fast friends.

O’Donnell, a senior vice president at William Douglas McAdams, was in pharmaceutical advertising. He raced in the Sports Car Club of America, was also a founding member of the Westchester Sports Car Club, and later went on to be the president of the Vintage Sports Car Club of America.

Soon Gelles asked the question: “Do you know anyone who has a car like yours for sale?”
Bill was sent to Modena Sports Car Service on 11th Avenue in New York City. There he met the owners, Alberto Pedretti and Alfredo Caiti. They had just what Bill was looking for: an aluminum-bodied competition 250 California SWB Spyder. It was perfect, didn’t even need a test drive. Negotiations commenced. Gelles would buy the car on one condition. It must fit in his garage. He had a two-car garage with two cars and nothing was going to live outdoors. So O’Donnell’s car was brought over to see if three cars would fit.

Soon they figured that three cars could in fact squeeze in. Sold at $5000! Gelles had his first Ferrari. Later, after much investigation, it was learned the car had competed in the 1960 24 hours of Le Mans.

Bill’s brother John got wind of his purchase and wanted in, but no other Cal Spyders were around, so he had to settle for a 1960 400 Superamerica cabriolet. After all, business was good, recalled Bill. “My brother and I owned a specialized construction company that built and maintained gas stations for the major oil companies. We had our own highly trained personnel, a fleet of 26 trucks, and excavation equipment in New York City, New York State, Lower Connecticut and Northern New Jersey.

The next thing Bill knew, his friend Bill O’Donnell invited him to a Ferrari Club of America track day at Lime Rock Park. The event was sponsored by the exotic car dealer Kirk F. White. Gelles had never set a wheel on a race track; all he knew about racing had come from the pages of Car & Driver magazine. His buddy, O’Donnell, had been racing with the SCCA for years in Corvettes and Lotus Super Sevens.

Step one: O’Donnell chauffeurs Bill around in his own Ferrari for a few laps. Step two: Bill follows O’Donnell in his 250 Spyder to learn the racing line. Step three: a very slow solo lap. Step four: more laps and Bill starts to gain some confidence. He goes faster… a lot faster. Step five: Bill spins out in Big Bend and over-revs the engine. Step six: return to paddock with obvious valve clicking. Step seven: a return trip to Modena Sports Car for new valves and other expensive parts. Bill’s introduction to racing had cost over $1,200.

Now the Gelles brothers both had Enzo’s creations, and started hanging out at Modena Sports Car. One day Alberto made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. Would they be interested in a 1965 Ferrari 250 LM?

Bill was not going to buy this car without a test drive. A dealer plate was attached to the full-on race car and Bill was told to take a drive up the Westside Highway. On his return, he was shaking all over. Never had he had such a visceral experience. It was scary, he recalled, but in a fabulous way. Bill bought the car on the spot for $13,000. But he had nowhere to put it. Fortunately for Gelles, his good friend, Bill O’Donnell, had a nice big barn.

The aforementioned Kirk White was a purveyor of unique machines at the time and had put out a newsletter offering his latest toys to the faithful. An Alfa had caught O’Donnell’s eye, and he proposed a road trip to Gelles. Their mutual friend, JD Igleheart, would come along as well since he had a tow vehicle and trailer. So Gelles innocently headed off to Overbrook, PA.

On arrival the Alfa was really not as advertised; it was pretty rough! But that didn’t scare off O’Donnell. Gelles lost interest in the proceedings and started wandering around the show room. There was everything from C-Type Jags to BMW 507s. In the middle of all this sat a white 1957 Ferrari 500TRC. This was back in the day when credit cards were used for food and gas, but Gelles regularly carried a good deal of cash around for his business. On that day, a one-time, all-cash offer of $3,000 was made. Walking out of the show room, he saw O’Donnell— who had ostensibly come in search of an Alfa — buzzing the streets in a 1950s Indy car.
When the big Alfa was put on the trailer, it almost bent in half, so it was decided to put the Ferrari on in its place. Igleheart felt since everyone else had bought a car, why couldn’t he have a new toy? “What else do you have that runs?” he asked.

So the Alfa and the Indy car were shipped back to Westchester while the Ferrari was pulled home by the two Bills. JD Ingleheart drove back in a British racing green Arnolt Bristol with a temporary PA plate.

Bill Gelles had been active in the Ferrari club, but now it was time to go racing. Although many people find their way to the VSCCA through other types of racing, Gelles went at it backwards; he started there. He had joined the club in 1971, running the California Spyder until such time as appropriate car might join in his stable. At the time the cut-off date for eligible cars was 1954. In short order Bill was on the board and took an active role in extending the cut-off date to 1959. He was also instrumental in getting Formula Juniors accepted into the ranks.

Two very eligible cars were added to Bill’s ranks as well, a 250MM Ferrari and the ex-Walter Hansgen Stanguellini Formula Junior. In 1973 Gelles took his 250 MM to Watkins Glen to run in a support race for the Formula One weekend. Unfortunately the weekend didn’t end well for Bill; a broken half shaft canceled the fun.

Bill’s two friends from Modena Sports Car, Alberto Pedretti and Alfredo Caiti, had just dissolved their partnership, but Alberto agreed to come to Bill’s home to make repairs on the car. While tending to the wounded race car, they had a discussion about opening a Ferrari repair service in the suburbs. Alberto Pedretti’s resume read like this: one of the original apprentices at the Ferrari factory in Modena. Worked for the factory race team. Sent to the U.S.A. to work for Chinetti’s NART team while still employed by Ferrari back home. Then on to his own business, Modena Sports Car, with Alfredo Caiti.

The next step was to get it all together. Bill, his brother, and Alberto opened Wide World of Cars in 1974. They became Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and BMW dealers, soon adding Aston Martin to the mix. Because of Alberto’s strong ties with the Ferrari factory and Enzo Ferrari, two more cars were later added to Bill’s collection: a 1974 F1 car and a 1980 512BB/LM.

At another Historic race at Watkins Glen, while running his Ferrari GTO, Bill met fellow racer Steve Cohen racing a Porsche 907. They became good friends and started racing in the newly formed SVRA taking part in events at Road Atlanta and Sebring.

The pair decided to up their game: they wanted to run IMSA, and were put in contact with George Drolsom, who had entered a factory-prepared Porsche 924 GTR in the 1983 running of the 12 Hours of Sebring. Bill and Steve were signed on as co-drivers. Through no fault of their own, the car developed engine trouble and didn’t finish the race.

Gelles tried again in the Porsche at Pocono with the same result. The duo got a ride the following year at Daytona in a Camaro running in the GTO class. The car made it all the way to 8:30 AM on Sunday morning when the engine blew spectacularly going into the bus stop chicane with Gelles behind the wheel.Bill and Cohen wanted to continue in IMSA, but they didn’t want to be at the mercy of other people’s poorly prepared cars. They decided they would instead run Gelles’ Ferrari 512BB/LM.

Bill and Cohen wanted to continue in IMSA, but they didn’t want to be at the mercy of other people’s poorly prepped cars. They decided they would instead run Gelles’ 512BB/LM.

The work of prepping the Ferrari began at the end of 1983. Lee Dykstra was tasked with redesigning the front suspension. Gelles bought a fresh 512BB/LM motor from the factory. Extra body parts and mechanicals were assembled and Eno DePasquale did all the major fabrication. He also designed and built a custom rear suspension allowing for camber adjustment. Eno climbed behind the wheel for a number of races as well. With other one-of-a-kind mods they had created a very radical racer. The team ran the 1984 and 1985 IMSA seasons, competing at Watkins Glen, Sebring and Daytona.

At the 1985 Daytona race they practiced with the original engine and before the start had installed a new, freshly dyno-tested engine. During the night something hit the underside of the car, taking out part of the fuel system; they lost two hours making repairs, but still brought the car home 16th overall and 5th in GTO. They were told by officials that had the race had gone one hour longer, they would have had a chance of an overall win.

Running a business and running a racing team was, however, pulling Gelles in too many different directions.

It was time to take a break. All the cars were sold. Except one.

By 2000 Bill again felt the need for speed. He bought a bike, an Aprilia RS250 racer, got his competition license and went club racing. He may have been the oldest and the slowest guy on track, but he was having the most fun. He raced for three seasons until he had a “moment” late braking into a turn and visited the hospital for three days. While laid up he pondered what he might do for fun the rest of his life.

—The Stanguellini!

It was still in the garage. It stayed because it was fast, fun, and small. He sent it to Vintage Machine Works in Bethel, CT for a total restoration. Bill had now gone full circle, returning to the fold of the VSCCA where his racing career had started. Just for a little added flavor, he purchased a Chevron B31 to race with other clubs.

The urge is still there, so Gelles will be looking at the world over a racing wheel for some time to come.

FERRARI AUTOMOBILES OWNED

1949 FERRARI 166 BARCHETTA CHASSIS 0006M ENGINE 0004M
the third barchetta produced – driven by Vaccari/Mori 1949 Mille Miglia
driven by Stoppini/Bartolini 1950 Mille Miglia

1953 FERRARI 250MM SPYDER CHASSIS 0332 ENGINE 0332
factory team car – driven by de Portago and Cabianca

1957 FERRARI 500TRC CHASSIS 0660MDTR ENGINE 0660MDTR
customer race car – driven at Sebring 1957 – Bill Hilburn

1960 FERRARI 400SA SPYDER CHASSIS 1611SA ENGINE 1611SA
NYC autoshow car – originally owned by George Arents

1961 FERRARI 250 CALIFORNIA CHASSIS 2015GT ENGINE 2015GT
NART racing team car – 1960 LeMans – driven by Sturgis & Slesser

1961 FERRARI 250 BERLINETTA CHASSIS 2731GT ENGINE 2731GT
NART racing team car – 1961 LeMans – driven by Bob Grossman

1964 FERRARI 250 GTO CHASSIS 5571GT ENGINE 5571GT
NART racing team car – winner 1964 Daytona – driven by Hill & Rodriquez

1965 FERRARI 250LM CHASSIS 6217GT ENGINE 6217GT
customer race car – 1965-66 Edoardo Lualdi Gabardi, Italian hill climb winning car

1966 FERRARI 206/246 SP CHASSIS 028 ENGINE 66
customer race car – rebodied by Guglieminetti as 312PB with Tasman engine

1974 FERRARI 312B3 F1 CHASSIS 014 ENGINE 0112N50
factory F1 team car – driven by Regazzoni

1980 FERRARI 512BB/LM CHASSIS 29511 ENGINE 29511
bought new from Ferrari – driven by Gelles/Cohen/DePasquale (and Don Walker )
1984/85 Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, Daytona and Sebring

RACING CARS OWNED OTHER THAN FERRARI

1927 BUGATTI TYPE 37A CHASSIS NUMBER 37133
Supercharged 4 cylinder grand prix
Originally consigned to Malcolm Cambell

1939 BUGATTI TYPE 57C CHASSIS NUMBER 57664
Supercharged 8 cylinder 4 light Ventoux Coupe

1956 OSCA MT4 CHASSIS NUMBER 1168
1500cc twin plug engine sports racer

1969 LOLA TYPE 163 CAN AM RACER CHASSIS NUMBER 163/17
494 cubic inch Aluminum Chevrolet Engine
Originally owned by Penske Racing – driven by
Mark Donohue at Mid Ohio in 1969

1959 STANGUELLINI FORMULA JUNIOR CHASSIS NUMBER 00176
1100cc Fiat Engine – Originally Owned by Briggs Cunningham/
Alfred Momo – driven by Walt Hansgen

1964 LAMBORGHINI 350GT CHASSIS NUMBER 102
3.5 Liter V12 Engine – the Second Lamborghini Built
First Production Car Built ( 101 was test prototype)
Aluminum Body – Geneva Show Car

1975 CHEVRON B31 CHASSIS NUMBER B31-75-03
2 Liter Hart 420R Engine
Originally sold to and raced by Eris Tondelli
Team Italiano Chevron di Emilio Bobbio