Pictures and text copyright Erik Nielsen
When you're an ex-pat Ferrari nut living in China, you end up having to leave this place if you want a serious Ferrari fix. My wife hadn't left the mainland for five months and we needed our Western batteries recharged. I had a business meeting with one of the big three Japanese OEM's during the week, so I decided to bring the wife along to Japan and spend the weekend in Tokyo. Needing a fix while I was in country, we made plans to visit Matsuda-san's Ferraris at the Sports Car Garden in Gotemba.
Normally, getting to Tokyo can be difficult (and expensive). We knew we had made the right decision to stay at the New Otani Hotel in Akasaka when we saw a Lamborghini Diablo and a Ferrari F40 in the parking lot. How to get to Gotemba is best left to Japanese speakers. We took the Shinkansen bullet train out of Tokyo Station to Mishima station. We then caught a local train to Numazu. We changed trains again and rode the antique local train to Gotemba where we caught a cab to the museum (about $120 US per person round trip).
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The Sports Car Garden is Matsuda-san's sandbox. It consists of several buildings housing his cars and automobilia as well as open spaces including a classic Japanese garden. The open space is commonly used for Ferrari Club of Japan gatherings. The tour starts with his watch collection. Most Ferrari owners are familiar with the Girard Perregaux line of “Pour Ferrari” watches. They’re all here. Along with what seems like every automotive themed watch ever made celebrating everyone from Abarth to Zagato. Each watch is displayed in a small curio case and grouped according to make of watch and watch maker. I commented to my wife that my collection had not yet gotten out of hand... (Anyone care to place a bet as to how long it will take? – The Wife)
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The basement of this building housed what could best be described as every item out of Ferrari's accessory catalog. There were wire framed models, picnic hampers, autographs and miscellaneous trinkets. Two cars were down there as well, a 365 GTB/4 Daytona and a Porsche Carrera RS. More looks from the wife indicated that I should not even think about growing my collection this large. (Anyone care to place a bet as to whether he actually listens to me? – The Wife)
The next building on the tour can best be described as the model collection. There were toy cars sized for children and everything from 1/43 scale on up. Highlights include several scratch built Gerald Wingrove models and several F1 helmets from various drivers, most of them Ferrari pilots. Just to prove that it wasn't just Ferraris that Matsuda-san enjoyed, there was a Ford Thunderbird and a prewar Mercedes Benz roadster on display as well.
A short walk to the third building revealed some of the meat of the collection. Here was almost a complete set of the modern Ferraris on display. The newest cars in the collection were a Challenge Stradale and a black on red Enzo. Most of the cars looked like they were straight from the factory with limited use. Other cars on display that day included:
550 Barchetta
F50
F40
550 Maranello
360 Spider
355 Spider
348 Spider
Two Testarossas
360 Challenge
355 Challenge
348 Challenge
512 BB
308 GTB
308 GT/4
246 GTS
It was interesting to see the bodywork of a Daytona spider resting on the floor. Someday it will probably be turned into another car and the experts will go back and forth trying to determine if it is real or not. It was even more comical to see a set of Griot's Garage car cleaning products being displayed proudly. There was more evidence of years of Ferrari passion on display including event posters, a Colnago carbon fiber bicycle, and USAG tools and tool boxes. If it had anything to do with Ferrari, it was here.
The basement of the main building was full of artwork, most of it modern. There were also Tiffany lamps and Baccarat crystal pieces to view. They may have been there to keep the interest of car guy's spouses if they got bored with the cars. My wife wasn't buying it; she was still upstairs standing in front of the F40 with her jaw on the floor. I think I'm going to have to get one of those at some point...
The last building on the tour was the GTO hall. Only Matsuda-san's 288 GTO was the only car on display, I believe both of his other cars were in the USA for the Monterrey/Pebble Beach weekend. Judging by the wrap around couch in the room, this was a space designed for one thing, looking at cars. A long hallway leads the visitor to a small rest area. The walls of the hall house an incredible collection of Enzo Naso lithographs of each 250 GTO ever made. All of them were painted in excellent taste.
The tour concludes in a Japanese garden which is a perfect antidote for being overwhelmed by Ferraris for the last couple of hours. It was nice to listen to the cicadas chirping away.
The museum is worth the trip if you're already in Japan and have the better part of a day to kill. We found everything to be organized and well laid out, but the collection seemed to be thinner than it was two years ago, the first time that I visited. If you've never been around a real 250 GTO and you're in the area, its a don't miss. Just send an email to them first to make sure the cars you want to see are on display.
The collection is open to the public for a fee of 2000 Yen (~$20). Details can be found at:
Ferrari Museum
