Serge Dermanian remembers Ferrari GTO 3987

Serge Dermanian looked after the cars in the Ralph Lauren collection that were kept in Montauk. Here he writes about GTO 3987.

Stephen, regarding the 3987 GTO, I remember when I got the car ready for New York State inspection, after carefully checking brake pads, hand brake, all fluid levels, all lights, wipers, etc.

As a whole, I was not to satisfied with the overall condition of the fit & finish. I had noticed, that the roof line was not as a few others I had seen in the past! My first "joy meeting" with a GTO, was in the early 60s at Thompson race track were I was spending my Sunday afternoons with Mike Gamino and his mechanic Liberio Gerardi. The sight of that tall shift lever impressed me, and the sudden silence of a Ferrari, every time he switched off the engine. Wonderful memories!

Now, the test drive. The engine ran "fairly well" but the gear box had a major problem. You probably remember the reverse gear safety feature, which is a piece protruding under the shift gate; in order to engage reverse, when in neutral, you must push the shift lever down to pass this safety feature. It was designed to prevent going inadvertently into reverse when shifting quickly from 1^st to 2^nd. Imagine the fiasco!

That safety device was completely worn out, probably during extensive racing. It was no trouble for me since I had worked on and driven many of these cars. As a matter of fact,

I had the NART spider next to the GTO and that gate was OK.

The next problem was excessive play in the steering system, I brought the car back to the garage, lifted it to check the steering carefully but all tie rods ends were fine. The steering box was the reason.

I called my friend Geoff Holland in Vermont who had the parts, follower and bearings, in stock. I purchased the shift gate as well. Removing the steering box is an easy task, I had done many of them. After dismantling it, I replaced the worn out parts utilizing special grease with anti-corrosion agents. I filled the box with GLX 140 that I purchased from a trucking company. You should not use 80/90 hypoid oil.

After replacing the shift gate, I purchased a beautiful piece of mahogany (knowing how much Ralph Lauren loved this type of wood) and installed the old gate on the wood block and drilled holes for pens and pencils! On the front, I glued a Ferrari emblem from a key chain and underneath a piece of velvet. Then I mailed it to Ralph for Christmas.

Voila! A Ferrari pencil holder for his desk. If someone sees it on his desk, you will know were it came from!

Hope you like my comments,
Serge Dermanian

I do like them, Serge. Thank you!