By Wallace Wyss
Photos by Rick Bartholomew
A good time was had by all for Enzo’s birthday at the Petersen on February 17th, especially with a break in the rain.
Somebody must have switched Los Angeles’ weather for Seattle because the normally sunny city had a few weeks of intermittent rains. The Ferrari Club of America Southwest Region were worried they would get rained out in their annual birthday celebration for Enzo Ferrari at the famed Petersen museum.
But hope springs eternal. And on Sunday morning the sun rose and not a cloud was in the sky.
All the variations of mid-engine Ferraris were represented.
Enzo Ferrari was born February 18, 1898, Modena, Italy. To celebrate his birthday, the FCA/Petersen event actually started the evening before with a VIP reception held on the fourth floor of the parking structure, which has a great view of Hollywood and the Hollywood Hills, and had three guest speakers, Derek Hill, the son of Phil Hill, Michael Leventhal, a major Ferrari collector for 50 years and Bruce Meyer, who is on the Museum board and a significant car collector.
The speeches were more of a panel discussion and I learned how Phil Hill was taking more pictures as a race driver than some regular photographers. Derek has made it a labor of love to put these into a series of splendidly produced hardbound books. What is charming about the books is that fellow drivers and crew of those long-ago racing teams were not tensed up when Phil was taking pictures, because he was part of the scene and blended right in. Derek’s mother was there too and she is always good at making a wisecrack.
Mr. Leventhal told of the many significant cars he had that escaped his grasp including a short wheelbase berlinetta in alloy that he sold because someone in Europe was making a copy of it and had found the correct engine, which in a way invalidated his car’s history though his was the real thing. (Not to worry, he does own a very early Barchetta that is a valuable artifact as well…)
The star of the show was rolled out late; Bruce Meyer’s own Testa Rossa, which he often drives on the street.
Bruce Meyer weighed in the same subject and re-affirmed what I heard before, that in the 50s and 60s, Ferrari with their works cars and some private teams would switch chassis plate numbers before going through customs so they wouldn’t have to pay duties, which plays havoc with historians decades later in trying to find out which car raced where.
A Lusso arrives in the welcome sun.
Mr. Leventhal went on about his personal belief that all three of them have driven now-historic cars on many events and driven them hard and he is amazed that with some of the new modern day owners, driving the car somewhere doesn’t seem attractive. He gave the example of meeting someone bragging about owning a 288 GTO with “only 400 miles on it.” He thinks that the joy of these cars is driving them. Bruce Mayer, who later displayed his silver Testa Rossa, said he drives his cars on the street every chance he gets.
The next day, the weather was sunny and bright and easily 100 cars showed up. Not too many were “historical” like Bruce Meyer’s silver Testa Rossa, but there was also a Lusso and a Boxer and a Dino. Most of the rest were newer cars, including very new ones.
One car that stood out as being dowdy and not even in the same family so to speak was a Fiat Dino coupe by Bertone. These cars are a lot less desirable than the curvy Dino roadster by Pininfarina and it’s too bad no roadster was there to compare to see how two coachbuilders, given the same chassis, took such different routes.
Fiat Dino Bertone was a welcome visitor.
The crowd consisted mostly of FCA folk, though the Petersen should be lauded for being so generous in their policy of letting anybody come in off the street to their outdoor cruise-in shows, at no cost.
When I looked at the FCA list of events I saw some great ones coming up including two at Air Force bases, so count me in, I like to enjoy these cars vicariously by talking to the owners and hearing tales of living the life, as they say… like I once did (my last was a GTC/4, alas sold down river decades ago).
THE AUTHOR: Wallace Wyss is a fine artist whose artwork can be found at Concorso Italiano in Monterey or one can ask for a list of available prints or about a commission. Write mendoart7@gmail.com