The poster seen here is an advertisement by BP celebrating the victory (in its first outing) of Ferrari GTO #3987 in the 1962 1000km of Paris held at the Montlhéry Autodrome. The drivers were the famous brothers Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez from Mexico. The pair claimed pole position in qualifying and finished first overall and first in class in the race winning by a one lap margin. The car was entered by Luigi Chinetti's N.A.R.T.(North American Racing Team).
This was an auspicious beginning for one of the GTOs that seemed to own the racing world in its day winning the International Championship for GT Manufacturers in 1962, 1963 and 1964. 3987 was one of nine GTOs on the starting grid at Montlhéry that included fifty-three starters amongst them the extraordinary Ferrari Breadvan driven by Ludovico Scarfiotti and Colin Davis entered by Scuderia SSS Repubblica di Venezia. The Breadvan started from the 15th position on the grid and finished third, two laps behind GTO 3987.
Years later, my best friend Matthew Ettinger owned the Breadvan while I owned GTO 3987 and though their official racing days had passed, their unofficial racing days were in full swing as Matthew and I made full use of their performance on a daily basis. Having driven both of these exquisite cars, I can sum them both up by saying that both seemed to have been made to fit my needs perfectly. I can't think of any other car about which I can say this without reservation. I'm sure that I am not the only one to have had this reaction after taking a turn at the wheel.
This is what the cars looked like when Matthew and I owned them...
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