Ferrari

The Man, the Book

Dick Merritt passed away last week at the age of 90. We extend our condolences to his wife Elisabeth, his son Kendall and daughter-in-law Ruth and granddaughter Riley. While there are many sides to Dick Merritt and even more stories, it seemed fitting to republish the below article at this time.

By Pete Vack

By the mid 1960s, many used Ferraris were falling apart, found in cheap suburban tract housing behind chainlink fences, the Vignale or Ghia bodywork hidden by tarps, dogwatched by a mutt on a rope. Most were in America; Illinois, California, New York, Long Island, Boston, and military ports like Long Beach, Norfolk, Jacksonville, San Diego, although old Ferraris could and would be found in Europe, South America, and Australia.

They were usually in the hands of well-meaning, somewhat knowledgeable foreign car enthusiasts who knew what they had but did not have the time, energy or money to properly restore their treasure. Many were young, but saddled with family responsibilities that precluded investing any grand sum into fixing a car whose value was at the very best purely speculative.

Once such young man was Richard F. Merritt, who had worked at Ford, GM and selling Volkswagens part time, and who realized that the Ferrari would be the next Bugatti. Over the years, Merritt would buy and sell 48 of the most desirable Ferraris ever built, but his main claim to fame would come as the co-author (with Warren Fitzgerald) of the landmark Ferrari, the Sports and Grand Turismo Cars. If any one book made the marque, it was this one, hereafter to be referred to as “F&M” for Fitzgerald and Merritt.