A part of GTO 3987‏

When the time approached that GTO 3987 was going to a new owner, it occurred to me to keep a souvenir--a piece of the car that was significant and with which I had a personal connection. I felt it should be something that was--at a glance--unmistakeably Ferrari and, to the trained eye, GTO in provenance. The gear shift knob seemed the perfect choice. Unlike Ferrari street machines that were fitted with plastic--or in the case of the Lusso, glass--knobs, the race cars of the era were given solid aluminum knobs. Other than the steering wheel and foot pedals, it was a piece of the car with which I had the most contact in controlling the car.

A few years later, a person who had been allowed into the family departed with a number of my possessions that she inexplicably felt entitled to take. Among them were some hand-signed and numbered colotypes, various antiques I had collected, a spare set of Borrani wire wheels for the GTO and--the gear shift knob. It was the last in a series of inexcusable acts that had been going on for fourteen years.

Last night, I attended a family gathering at which one of my sisters took me aside saying, "I have something for you." She unwrapped three items and laid them before me on the table. The first was a Ferrari Owners Club badge in new condition that would normally be attached to the front bumper of a car. It might have been issued by the Los Angeles club or, possibly, the British FOC of which I'd been a member. The next item was definitely from the British club--a pin that bears the words "Prescott Badge Bugatti Owners Club". Hanging from the blue oval is a small red rectangle with the words "Ferrari Owners Club" and two additional rectangles below for "1970" and "1971". The third and most significant item was the aluminum gear shift knob from 3987.

My sister had discovered these pieces in the course of helping the above referenced person into an assisted living situation and suggested that, "These should be returned to Stephen" and thus they came back to me after forty years.