GTO 3987 on Mulholland

GTO 3987 on Mulholland

Thursday, December 6, 2012

John Andrews...


Who stole 28 cars (Ferraris included) from John Andrews?‏

I have known John Andrews since the late sixties and have written about some of the adventures we've had together with his Lamborghini Miura, his Ferrari 275GTB 6/C and his Lusso. Most notably, there was a magnificent drive in the San Bernardino mountains with John in his Miura, Matthew Ettinger in the Ferrari Breadvan and me in the GTO. Therefore, it was a shock to learn that thieves have systematically stolen twenty-eight of John's cars (and titles)--including those listed in the opening to this blog. Shortly after dismissing the 'night watchman' who had been living on the premises of John's 1 1/2 acre location in John's motorhome and who had recently acquired a new pick-up truck and a restored '55 Chevy, John's house was destroyed by fire set by an arson. The fire occurred after the 'night watchman' had returned unbidden to live surreptitiously in the motorhome and was subsequently ejected by the police.

It is not the average thief who targets for theft exotic cars worth hundreds of thousands of dollar--or millions on aggregate. Obviously, the cars cannot be sold openly in the usual channels. John's cars are being sold, however, by someone who has a book of names and numbers of people who are known to be able to afford such cars. Who would have a list of potential Ferrari buyers who could purchase a Ferrari worth hundreds of thousands of dollars over the phone, possibly from someone they know and trust? The interview seen here is the first step towards getting an answer to that question. I suspect we will find that the party in question is someone well known to Ferrari enthusiasts and, upon reflection once his identity is known, that his involvement will come as no big surprise. Those who end up with the cars will be required to disclose from whence they came and under what circumstances.

The photograph above shows me with John standing in front of his house that was destroyed by fire last month. My initial interview with John can be seen here.

2 comments:

Vic said...

This really ticks me off. I hope the thief (thieves) are caught and convicted, and that he can recover all his cars.

If there is anything we can do within the community of collectors and fans of such cars, to spread the word, please let me know.

Stephen Mitchell said...

Thank you, Vic. Your re-posting of the blog and video is much appreciated.