Through the
Corkscrew II
It was
pretty wild, in 1979, to believe
I could own a Ferrari. But I swear it was that I got in with a bad
crowd who led me astray. And no surprise...John Lewis was again at
the head of the pack.
Sherri
had gotten a job as an escrow secretary in a Title and Escrow
company. This is a technical position preparing the paperwork needed
to buy or sell property in California. All her work was under the
supervision of an Escrow Officer, who was responsible for checking
the work and actually managing the process. Of course this meant
dealing with Realtors all day. And from a prior post (Whittel's
Duesenbergs) we have already met John Lewis, Boy Wonder and Realtor
Extrodinaire.
John
was roommate with Sherri's boss, Ron Willingham. I can't imagine
anyone living with John for any length of time, so I was not
surprised when Sherri said Ron was moving out and John was throwing a
Going Away party. It is not that John was a bad person...but I did say he was the World's Oldest Living Teenager, right? Think
about it.
We
had been at the party for awhile when John entered, approached us,
and asked us to come outside and see his “new toy.” Though I knew
John had been a “car guy” all his life I was not prepared to see
a silver 1966 Ferrari 330GTC. At that time known as the most
“tractable” Ferrari (whatever that meant), it sported a 4 liter
Colombo designed “short” (as opposed to Lampredi engines) V12
derived from the 250 three liter, which was the most successful
Ferrari motor up to that point. It also had a five speed, disc
brakes, Borrani wire wheels, and was sex on tires. God it was pretty!
John
ushered us in to the car and off we went, ripping around Mariner's
Island outside of San Mateo with Sherri on the transmission
tunnel...innocent days, but not as challenging as the time Tom
Wessling and I double dated in my Austin Healey Sprite. But I
digress.
Upon
return John stopped the car and turned off the ignition. Turning to
Sherri he asked:
“What
do you think?
“That
was really cool,” she replied.
Uh
oh.
John
and I both started laughing.
“What's
funny?” she asked, beginning to worry.
"You don't know what you just started," he said.
At
the time I had the 914 which I had bought in 1970 of course (see “BRG
to a Five Speed Brown Bag”), and a fairly new 1977 Suzuki GS750
motorcycle,
And
then John introduced me to the people of the Ferrari Owners Club, Bay
Area Region, to this day many who are lifelong “family” to
Sherri and me, but also to our younger son...a gearhead from the day
he was born. I am not making it up that his second word was an attempt to say “motorcycle.” It came out something like
mocyc...but I hardly cared.
So,
come a club track event down at Riverside and off we went...Bill
Morton in his own GTC, John in his, Tom and Tish Thinnesen in their
246 GTS, the Joneses in their own 246, Tom and Verna Griffiths in yet
another one, an attorney named Bob Epstein who we all called "Crazy Bob" in a
(yes, really) 250LM, Marshall and Nancy Matthews in, best I recall,
their 250 California SWB cabriolet (he was the body shop manager for
Carlsen Porsche south of SF)...and a bunch of folks I'm sure I'm
forgetting...perhaps a dozen or more Ferraris in all, and one aging
914 gasping to keep up as we ripped around a “Closed:Flooded”
sign and tore down CA 33 paralleling I5 at some ridiculous clip.
I
think Steve Tillum, who was head of neurosurgery at Kaiser in Redwood
City, was allng and driving the 275GTB/C Competitione he had just bought. On the return trip we stopped for oil for it and (it was dry sumped) it took...a case! Think there was a slight leak?
Steve is the only guy I know who thinks his wife would like a purse made from an armadillo as a gift for him playing boy racer in a ridiculously priced car over the weekend. I never heard how that came out but I suspect not well, based on the reaction of all the women with us on the trip.
 |
| 250 California |
 |
| 246 GTS Dino |
The
four cylinder 914 really is a decent 85 mph car...but we were doing
90+ and hitting well over the ton. I was rowing gears and screeching
around turns as fast as I could peddle, and was barely holding my
own.
I thought I had fallen in with the best drivers I had ever seen...until I drove one. At 100 a Ferrari made even my driving look good.
 |
| 250LM |
Of
course we got stopped!
Some farmer called it in as we went screaming by his place. Are you
kidding? Do you have any idea what a dozen Ferrari V12s sound like at
6000+RPM? Heaven...er...LOUD!
The
cop said he knew all about the track event, and that we needed to
transfer over to I5 at the next intersection and keep it to 70. He
drove off, did just that....and off we went at 90 down CA33 again. I
guess he just gave up, or maybe thought at least we were out of
earshot of that particular farmer.
 |
| 275GTB/C Competitione |
It
was easy to make friends with these people. No snobbery and they welcomed
the lowly “VW” and us with open arms. So....
I
think Sherri must haver dared me to figure out how to buy it when I
told her I was after a Ferrari. Since nothing but a front engined,
three liter V12 would doeven though the V6 246 Dino was quite a
sexy car, and beyond any 12 I could afford, this was going to be challenge. My budget left only the 2+2
and 250 Coupe as possibilities, and even the coupe would be an
uncomfortable stretch.
A
few weeks later a “LeSancey” grey 250 GT Pininfarina Coupe 2+2
(for such is the real name of the beast, though most have dubbed it
the “GTE” for reasons that are still rather obscure and
contentious) sat in our garage. Interesting timing, as I had quit my job
because of excessive travel and was out trying to sell real estate to
stay afloat. A losing battle while paying for this understated, but
to me very pretty, and wonderful car.
Just
the sound was poetry. Twelve cylinders, 24 valves, four exhaust
pipes, three carbs, two coils, two distributors...the valve adjuster
screws alone cost four bucks apiece in 1979...if you could find them. Yikes.
I
was in love.
 |
| Understated Elegance Most People Thought it was an Aston Martin |
Oh
yeah...this was supposed to be about the Corkscrew, wasn't it? Maybe
next time. I think you can imagine, given what a Ferrari was and
still is, what's coming, though maybe not next.
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