PJ said...- Hello Stephen,
I found your blog few days ago and I'm completely stunned with your stories about your Ferrari GTO #3987.
Those videos at Willow Springs and Mulholland are astonishing and the passion that you put in your writing when the subject is the GTO is almost touching.
I'm writing you from Portugal, I'm a huuuuge Ferrari fan and I would like to know please if it's possible for you to write about the GTO # 3987 since the first owner to the present, if you know the full history, of course.
It would be very appreciated and make me dream for a little while.
Thank you in advance.
My best regards,
Paulo Vilela,
Braga
Portugal
Below you will find a history of GTO 3987 as compiled by the Barchetta website [http://www.barchetta.cc/english/all.ferraris/Detail/3987GT.250GTO.htm]. There are four errors/omissions I can point out. The first is the indication that a 3.3 litre 250LM engine was installed in 1966. This is inaccurate. The LM engine was installed during Dr. Stuart Baumgard's ownership which began in 1972 after he acquired the car from Alain de Cadenet. The second is that two owners are overlooked entirely. The first is Mark Slotkin who bought 3987 from Otto Zipper. The second is William Rinehart who bought the car form Mark Slotkin. I bought 3987 from William who had over-cooked the engine. The date given as my acquisition--1965--is incorrect and I did not take ownership of the car until 1968 if I remember correctly. Finally, according to Marcel Massini, the original GTO engine removed by Stuart Baumgard was reunited with 3987 by Don Walker.
There may be other inaccuracies of which I am unaware.
Ed Niles makes a further correction to the Barchetta information:
"Otto Zipper was on Wilshire. Ferrari Reps of Ca was von Neuman, on Cahuenga."
This is a cut & paste from Barchetta:
| 62 - N.A.R.T. | |||||
| 62/oct/21 | 1st OA | 1000km Paris, Montlhery | Pedro Rodriguez/ Ricardo Rodriguez | #1 | Pourret p325, 326 1000km Paris p20, 23 |
| 62 - Mecom Racing Team, Houston, TX, USA | |||||
| 62/dec/02 | 1st OA | 5 Lap Tourist Trophy over 2-litres heat, Nassau | Roger Penske | #85 | |
| 62/dec/02 | 1st OA | 25 Lap Tourist Trophy, Nassau | Roger Penske | #85 | BSW p232, 233 |
| 62/dec/02 | 1st OA | 5 Lap Governor's Trophy, Nassau | Roger Penske | #85 | |
| 62/dec/08 | 5th OA | 5 Lap Texas Classic race, Nassau | Augie Pabst | #85 | C137 p55 |
| 63/feb/17 | 2nd OA | 3h Daytona Continental | Roger Penske | #29 | |
| 63/mar/23 | 4th OA 1st GT | 12h Sebring | Roger Penske/ Augie Pabst | #24 | 250 GTO p72 |
| 63/may/25 | 1st OA | Pensacola GT race | Roger Penske | #17 | |
| 63/sep/08 | 8th OA 2nd IC | Road America 500, Elkhart Lake | Roger Penske/ Augie Pabst | #7 | C152 p51 |
| 63/sep/29 | 2nd OA 1st IC | Lynndale Farms, Wisconsin Race, main | Augie Pabst | #2 | |
| 63/oct/13 | 5th OA | L.A. Times GP, Riverside | Richie Ginther | #211 | |
| 64 - Otto Zipper Motors, Ferrari Representatives of Hollywood, Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA, USA | |||||
| 64/oct/11 | 5th OA | Riverside, Los Angeles Times GP | Richie Ginther | ||
| 65 - S. Mitchell, USA | |||||
| 66 - with engine 6045 250 LM | |||||
| 71 - Alain de Cadenet, GB | |||||
| 72 - Stuart Baumgard, Encino, CA, USA +213-981-0883 | |||||
| 77/aug | Pebble Beach Concours | Stuart Baumgard | |||
| 78 - Gaon & Stillmann, USA | |||||
| 83 - Don Walker, Dallas, TX, USA - restored | |||||
| 84/aug/23 | International Ferrari Concours | Don Walker | |||
| 84/aug/25-26 | 7th | Monterey Historic Races | Don Walker | ||
| 85 - Ralph Lauren, Long Island, NY, USA | |||||
| 02/jan/26 | display | XI. Cavallino Classic, class 16 | Ralph Lauren | ||
| 05/mar/16-jul/31 - displayed in the Fine Arts Museum, Boston, MA, USA | |||||
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4 comments:
Hello Stephen,
Thank you so much for your answer.
Looking back to your GTO history, I wonder if it's possible to give a value to the car, knowing that it was driven by Pedro and Ricardo Rodrigues, Roger Penske, Richie Ginther in races, and so many other personalities like you.
However, GTO's and other Ferrari cars were manufactured do drive, to run, to race. Not, in my opinion, to be kept closed in museums or private collections by owners that never drive them.
I don't know if Ralph Lauren drives the car like you did (he should!), the only thing I know is that, looking to the video in Mulholland, the car can be very beautiful and exciting when displayed in a museum (like in Paris), but reaches the "Zenith", is full peak when driven hard in twisted roads like you did.
Also I almost found myself in love with the car, maybe because I know the history, maybe, as I told before, you put such a passionate element in your writing, maybe both and a lot of other feelings that are very hard to put in words, to explain in a rational manner (we are talking about a car). I'm trying to imagine the feeling to own and drive such a car.
Once again Stephen, thank you for this bit of automotive history and for sharing it with your readers.
My best regards and I wish all the sucess in your projects.
P.S. Looking forward to the GTO documentary...
Thank you very much PJ! The GTO has always provoked a strong reaction from the first time I saw one--which just happened to be 3987 going the opposite direction on the streets of Brentwood. I knew at a glance I wanted one but never would have guessed that I would own the GTO I saw that day.
When I asked Ralph Lauren for an interview about 3987 (adding that I was a former owner of the car) he declined my request, so we are left to wonder about his experiences with 3987 though they may be documented elswhere.
You might, however, enjoy the interview I taped with Serge Dermanian at his home in Nice, France. Serge looked after Ralph Lauren's cars that were garaged in Montauk. He drove them, cared for them and loved 3987 as much as I. See it here:
http://emcpb.blogspot.com/2011/08/serge-gto-and_15.html
Hi Stephen,
So did you sell it to De Cadenet? And if so, did the car 'live' in England for a few years?
In the Victory by Design' episode on Alfas, De Cadenet says that as a young man he wanted a racing Alfa, but couldn't afford one so had to settle for a 250 GTO!
Craig
Cyirush, I did sell 3987 to Alain de Cadenet but the car never went to the UK. In fact, for a time it stayed in my garage after Alain bought it. To the best of my knowledge, 3987 remained a US car making only excursions abroad as when it appeared recently in Paris.
That's not to say that Alain didn't acquire another GTO that he kept in the UK.
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