Volume 3, Issue 1 - January 1996

Santa Ynez Wine Country Run

a hearty thank you to john thayer, our santa barbara events chairperson, for planning a wonderful weekend for all the participants to a most beautiful region, as well as supplying the best weather.

we all started from the federal bldg. in westwood and gathered a few more in the valley on our way to coffee and pastries at the historical montecito biltmore. john had arranged for ferrari parking at the front entrance -- what a sight, and how special. our next part was a bit more challenging. up and over the santa ynez mountains and le cumbre peak (4000 feet) affording us the most beautiful view of the santa barbara islands. but what a road , or, what? a road? definitely not fast and requiring attention to bad surfacing but well worth the journey.

george primbs waves an enthusiastic "hello" to the camera before taking the helm of his testarossa.

we arrived in los olivos at historical matte's tavern for a wonderful lunch and no mishaps of road or equipment. another tribute to the fine mark of ferrari.

our next stop was fess parker's winery and tasting room, replete of all refinements including fine wines -- a really special place -- well done. we enjoyed a few glasses, conversation and the genuine beauty of the day. on to our hotel, the rancho santa barbara marriott, and freshening up for our special dinner. in route we had the excitement of observing a very bad brush fire spreading over the hill tops and being attended to by aerial tankers and ground crews with bulldozers. it turned out this was to come within a mile of our hotel -- but no real concern. that evening, after dinner, we were able to enjoy the beauty of the glowing embers, all but out. my car cover still smells like the smoke.

the domasins and their 246 gts dino.

saturday night was a true experience of dining. we arranged for the hotel shuttle to take us all to what i later learned was the world famous ballard store. their fare ran the gambit of oyster shooters to bouillabaisse to flaming pheasant and, of course, the real gourmet a local dish of ostrich. we all had a great deal of fun and the group was just the right size to get one large table. there was serious experimentation with the choice of dishes and i don't believe anyone was disappointed. this fine establishment has great character and it's owner, john elliott, is a most cordial host. we were back at the hotel by eleven and ready for bed.

sunday morning was breakfast at the hotel for whoever was up, some went shopping in solvang, some went to other wineries, and a few had lunch back in montecito at our favorite trattoria, tutti's.

blocking the road during a regrouping are (left to right): bill inglis, richard harris, tom brockmiller, john thayer, phil cole, george primbs, and tino mingori (hiding behind george).

this event was really a fun, casual and relaxed affair with the right amount of driving over a variety of roads. it taught us that smaller, more intimate groups of 8 to 12 cars and 10 to 20 people become manageable and permit each of us a special time to make and acquaint with our fellow club members, as well as discuss the merits of the marque. in saying this i would hope that our events chairpeople will not hesitate to have lots of outings, to different and unusual locations so as to appeal to all of us. these, our track events, as well as our general meetings and concours will provide a premier ferrari year.

thanks to the following members for making this a great event - tom & linda brockmiller, phil cole, the domasins, bill & bonni

Election of New Officers

the board of directors met in december to discuss the election of new board members and officers for 1996. according to the by-laws of the club, 4 of the 9 board members are up for replacement this year.

being the first re-election year we've had, we needed 4 of your faithful servants to volunteer to step down. thanks to jeff littrell, shin takei, steve tillack, and cris vandagrif for their service in getting the club started and for offering to let others have a chance.

the board has selected a nominating committee to recommend new candidates. if you are interested in participating on the board, please contact judd at 800-477-7166 x105 so that they'll know of your interest. the elections have been moved from tuesday, april 30th to sunday, april 28th because we are planning a more significant event, complete with informal concours, etc. than could be accommodated in the evening. the location will be announced later but promises to be exciting. please plan to attend and cast your vote.

Upcoming Events

these are old. click here for a current calendar of events

general meeting at hot rods by boyd

boyd coddington is a legend among hot rod enthusiasts, having designed and built some of the best looking street machines around! the facilities include the "hot rod" shop, where construction is under way on a variety of cars. next door is the wheel plant, where large computer-controlled machines make the famous "billet" custom wheels. in the complex is a complete paint shop and several retail stores, where custom designed items are for sale.

the facilities are located just off cerritos avenue, between beach blvd. and dale street in stanton. we need your reservation immediately - no walk-ins will be allowed. please use the form below or call tom brockmiller at (310) 530-1004.

"wash and wax" tech session at ogner motorcars

mr. bob mcgaha, an executive of the mequiar company , will demonstrate the proper use of a very comprehensive selection of fine mequiar products. thought of for many years to be the finest waxes and polishes available to the discerning interests of ferrari owners, mequiars makes great products for both professional and home use. bob is the most knowledgeable person to show us how to wash, polish and wax our precious ferraris for lasting beauty and for concours winning shine.

this is a chance for the "wash and polish" set of members who aren't interested in our normal bevy of track events and ride and drives to come out and make some new friends. if you aren't at willow on february 10th then hopefully you'll be at ogner's. those in attendance will gain a knowledge of the best use of all of mequiar's fine products and i'm sure their ferraris will show the difference.

ogner motorcars is a full service ferrari dealership and the club is fortunate to benefit from their support. they are located at 21301 ventura blvd. in woodland hills. refreshments will be served by michael lederman. please rsvp to him at (818) 884-4411.

don weber car collection/brunch a very special event is planned for saturday, march 23rd. fca member don weber has offered to open up his very private car collection from 9am to 12pm for fca members and their guests only. a free brunch will be served and i'm told don does it right.

his car collection is something to behold and includes his very special 275 four cam purchased new at the factory along with other ferraris and memorabilia from the era of chinetti and the factory. he also has "offy" midgets of sam hanks and indy cars which he promises to fire so that we may enjoy the sounds of a time past.

this is a very special private collection not usually open. you will see a fine presentation of unique automobiles and specialty items connected to racing and the ferrari factory.

we specifically request members and their guests to rsvp no later than monday march 18th to wally clark at 714-577-3838 ext. 231. "the garage" is located at 1332 bell avenue, suite 20 in tustin. please see map for directions.

a new season of track events

so, since you don't have to freeze your butt off with nothing to pass the time but car preparation and bench racing, why not sign up immediately for the first track of event of the year, february 10th and 11th at willow<

Going Racing

by: chip bond

though i have yet to complete my first race, i've certainly learned a lot about the preliminaries. if you also aspire to checkered flag fame, you may have some interest in these recommendations.

1. get permission from your spouse

it's important that your spouse concurs with your decision. the best initial approach is to "make a deal". something like "honey, tell you what, after we finish remodeling the kitchen i'd like to take a couple weekends off to go racing. ok?" when you meet with resistance, a little sincere begging may do the trick. if you maintain a regular schedule of whining and moaning you will eventually wear here down to the point where she confides that her primary concern is for your safety. congratulations! success! you assure here that you will only purchase and race with the best and most current safety gear available. immediately show your sincerity by pulling out all your racing catalogs so you can jointly make decisions about the safest camshafts, slicks, headers, and gear ratios.

2. get a second mortgage

since no mortal can afford to build a race car and run it for a season, you will need to finance your own race effort. your best bet is to use the equity in your home. don't waste time trying to find a sponsor. any business that could afford to sponsor a car is savvy enough to realize what a huge waste of money it is.

prepare a budget to build the car and run it for the season, double it, then add 25%. that should be enought o get you to your first race. go to the bank and get your second mortgage. don't forget to add in a couple hundred to paint the kitchen and replace the linoleum. after all, a promise is a promise.

3. get a tolerant boss

since every waking moment will be consumed by preparing yourself and your car for racing, you need an understanding boss. you may need to change jobs to find the right one. if you do, look for the following qualities in your new employer.

• your new boss likes you, he enjoys racing, and supports your dreams.
• he's amenable to let you work flexible hours and take every friday and monday of a race weekend off.
• he's willing to put in long hours during the week so you can work on your car.
• he takes messages for you from parts suppliers when you are on the other line ordering parts.

don't be misled by thinking that an ideal boss would be a race himself. if so, you can bet that he hired you to cover him so he could race. this would be an impossible hurdle for your effort.

4. find a friend that races

regardless of the amount of money you were able to obtain from the bank, it will not be enough to get all of the other items you need to set-up your car. you will need a racing friend that can load you scales, bumpsteer gauges, welders, alignment tools, etc. remember this relationship must be a two way street. you need to reciprocate to the best of your ability. praise his car and his abilities. sweep his shop and scrub down his trailer. if he races in the same class as you do, don't take his advice. friendship does have its limits.

5. get help around the house

you will no longer have the time to attend to household chores. early in the season you will need to hire individuals to do things like take care of the lawn, paint the house trim and care for your pets. now is also the time to look into a house-cleaning service. the probability that your spouse will move in with her mother increases significantly by mid-season. at that point in your campaign you will be much too busy to do things like check references and discuss fees. be prepared. remember th

Penske Party

by: tino mingori

upon arrival, we were guided to secure underground parking, with a special zone set aside for those members foolhardy enough to subject their ferraris to the rush hour rigors of the freeways. congratulations to those of you in this select group. i was unable to detect any dents or damage which may have resulted from an encounter with a gardener's truck, a mattress on the road, or a ladder in the fast lane. in an area just outside the museum we were invited to graze over a delicious italian smorgasbord consisting of salad, pasta (of course), fruit, cheeses, breads, beverages, etc. which were served in generous portions. furthermore, you could go back as often as you wanted for more.

i can't recall how many times our hard working president judd goldfeder was seen loading up.

what a great chance to see friends and catch up on what's new (and old) in the motor world. greg penske was there to provide his personal welcome and relate a few experiences about growing up in the penske world of racing and automobiles. starting from the very bottom with a push broom in his hand, he worked his way up through various jobs in the organization to the position of president of the penske automotive group, inc.

greg is a gracious and friendly host, and i very much enjoyed talking with him. thank you greg for a delightful meeting venue and the opportunity for a close up look at some spectacular racing cars. your offer to come back sometime and take one of those gorgeous yellow machines for a few hot laps was very generous.

a bunch of thanks also goes to scott st. peter - race car museum, bernie king - restorations, and, most importantly, suzanne castaneda - executive secretary in charge of everything and without whose help it would not have happened. a hearty thank you from the entire membership

by the way, about that word meeting. the little secret of the fca southwest region is out. these "meetings" which occur from time to time are not really meetings at all. they are in fact parties. absolutely no meaningful business whatsoever is conducted at one of these events. so for a good time, be sure to come to the boyd coddington "meeting " (heh heh) in january.

"The Over the River and Through the Woods to a Fine Restaurant We Go" Ride and Drive

the master of planning great driving events, tino mingori did another great job with 1995's final event. the weather gods smiled upon the nine cars that met at the base of the angeles crest mountains on sunday morning, providing great sunny weather like only southern california can boast. after a little coffee at lloyd's coffee shop, some introductions and distribution of the printed directions, the five ferraris and four unmentionables (including one of those hot-rod-vw p-things) took off for a little spirited driving up the twists of the crest.

tino mingori and bill inglis discuss the drive.

tino and his lovely wife lynn took the lead in their also-lovely yellow 275 gtb/4 and all the others followed. at upper tujunga road tino surrendered the lead to the more exuberant jeff littrell in his great-sounding 365 gtc/4. from there the gang traveled down to the town of acton and on to the agua dulce area where, after a couple little rests, they regrouped at the historic le chene restaurant in saugus for a great brunch.

parked beside the stone walls of le chene restaurant are three of maranello's finest, each sporting a highly descriptive license plate. tino's "275 gtb4", bill inglis's "3 ooh 8", and jeff littrell's "v12 fun".

participating were tino and lynn mingori, jeff littrell, tony and robyn cottier, bill inglis, rick and jan lesser, david marks and carol lynch, dennis and linda sullivan, bob and nitsa white, russ woodward and sue robben, and cesar chavarria. cesar is a potential ferrari owner who has longed for one of maranello's finest ever since hearing his first ferrari as a kid. in fact, he loves the sounds of the prancing horses so much that at one point he took off ahead of the group in his mercedes only so that he could be passed at full throttle by the herd. he says the sound is as glorious now as it was then.

no tickets, no one lost (well ok, jeff led part of the group astray for a while but they worked their way back), no mechanicals, no mishaps. just good friends, good fun, and good food. a great way to cap off a fine ferrari year.

Dino Tracking

by: denny schue

it was in 1980 that the time was right, and i was in the market for one of those italian cars. the shape of the 206sp dinos was something that really caught my eye while attending races in the 1960s, and i decided that a dino would suit me just fine... besides the prices were more in line with my budget as compared to the v12 cars. now the story starts gaining momentum into something that has outgrown all expectations. my plan was a simple one. join the ferrari clubs, subscribe to all the ferrari publications, and sit back, watch, and wait for someone who had their dino for sale for a long time. it was my logic that after a period of time i could make a ridiculous offer and buy a car for a "song". in order to stay organized i started recording chassis numbers of ones that were offered. it was a little over a year later in 1981 that i bought my dino, but sorry to say my original plan did not work. i purchased a car that was not previously on my list. by this time i had collected about 30-35 chassis numbers and decided, for fun, to continue adding club member dinos to my list. next came the mailing of forms to known owners to find out more about the cars and their owners. from there it was all down hill! today, after 15 years, the dino register has history on almost 3,100 of the approximately 4,000 made, and past and present owner names that number close to 12,000. assistance started coming in from newly found dino friends from around the country, and from japan, germany, switzerland, hong kong, france, australia, and england. maranello concessionaires in england, the sole distributor for right hand drive cars for ferrari during the dino years, supplied a list of all dinos that went through their firm which listed first owners, dates, and colors. their list also included all the rhd cars that were destined for australia, new zealand, and the orient. garage francorchamps in belgium made a similar list available. dealers in the usa also have been very helpful in supplying chassis numbers on new and used dinos going through their dealerships. it is with the help of these countless people who ma

Oldtimer's Corner - Charlatans and Mountebanks

by: edwin k. niles

in 1959, when i entered the world of ferraris, there had only been something over a thousand of these cars built. ever. so it wasn't that difficult to have an idea where most of them were, along with the names and addresses of their owners. because we were one big happy family, there was remarkably little in the way of proscribed behavior.

by the late 60's, things started to change. and not just my waist-line! the city of angels was becoming the city of angles. in 1967, for instance, i purchased the famous "nembo" spyder from a modena resident. according to all the papers and the serial number tag on the firewall, it's correct number was 1777gt. the next to the last owner was named bonacini, who (i believe) was half of the team of neri and bonacini, from whose names was derived the word "nembo" . all the paperwork appeared to be in order, and i did register the car in california under that serial number. years later, i learned that there was a "nembo" berlinetta as well. it was pretty much the same car, with a hard top. it was pretty much the same car in the serial number department as well; it also bore serial number 1777gt! at one time, both cars were registered in california, using the same number. just think of the confusion that must have caused!

250gt s/n 1777gt - the famous "nembo" rebody of a 250 gte 2+2.

later research indicated that the two cars had been built from the remains of cars (perhaps wrecked cars?) bearing numbers 1777 and 1623. my car had the correct number on the firewall, but the serial number was stamped on a plate in a somewhat unusual place on the frame. it bore engine number 2355gt. so which was the real 1777gt? which one was 1623? where did engine 2355 come from? so far as i know, no one has ever made a claim of wrong-doing, so maybe i shouldn't open the door at this late date. but don't you wonder? was one of them a stolen car? how did they get italian titles for two cars with the same number?

250gt s/n 1777gt - another car with the same serial number!

it was about that same time, maybe 1968 or 1969, when a friend of mine with the fbi called me down to the fbi garage to take a look at a stolen ferrari that they had recovered. it was a 275 gtb/4, with the head light covers removed a la us models of the 365 gt 2+2. the car had been stolen in italy, and shipped to the us with false paperwork. the poor buyer took a big bath on that car, as it was near new.

by the end of the 60's, the scalawags and scamps were starting to be heard from. pranksters and villains. misdemeanants and hooligans.

in italy, ferraris had been hot items on the hot car market for years, but the crooks really started proliferating in the us around 1970. blackguards and mischief-makers. hoods and desperados.

i think that it was in the 70's that we started hearing stories about a well-known ferrari expert, considered by many to be an outstanding mechanic and preparer of ferraris, especially racing models, who was having some difficulty with the law. it seems that he had been supplementing his income as a mechanic by doing a little ferrari trading. why not? the only trouble seemed to be that he was trading in his customer's cars, and pocketing the proceeds. for several years, he fended off civil suits, before he was finally prosecuted and eventually sent to jail. quite a few "hot cars" ended up in innocent hands as a result of the activities of this desperado.

transgressors and scofflaws. pranksters and tortfeaso

Physics of Racing - Part 6: Speed and Horsepower

part 6: speed and horsepower

by: brian beckman

how much horsepower does it take to go a certain speed? at first blush, a physicist might be tempted to say "none," because he or she remembers newton's first law, by which an object moving at a constant speed in a straight line continues so moving forever, even to the end of the universe, unless acted on by an external force. everyone knows, however, that it is necessary to keep your foot on the gas to keep a car moving at a constant speed. keeping your foot on the gas means that you are making the engine apply a backward force to the ground, which applies a reaction force forward on the car, to keep the car moving. in fact, we know a few numbers from our car's owner's manual. a ferrari 308 qv, for example, has a top speed of about 158 miles per hour (255 km/h) and about 250 hp. this means that if you keep your foot all the way down, using up all 250 hp, you can eventually go 158 mph. it takes a while to get there. in this car, you can get to 60 mph in about 6 seconds (if you don't spin the drive wheels), to 100 mph in about 14 seconds, and 150 in about a minute.

all this seems to contradict newton's first law. what is going on? an automobile moving at constant speed in a straight line on level ground is, in fact, acted on by a number of external forces that tend to slow it down. without these forces, the car would coast forever as guaranteed by newton's first law. you must counteract these forces with the engine, which indirectly creates a reaction force that keeps the car going. when the car is going at a constant speed, the net force on the car, that is, the speeding-up forces minus the slowing-down forces, is zero.

the most important external, slowing-down force is air resistance or drag. the second most important force is friction between the tires and the ground, the so-called rolling resistance. both these forces are called resistance because they always act to oppose the forward motion of the car in whatever direction it is going. another physical effect that slows a car down is internal friction in the drive train and wheel bearings. acting internally, these forces cannot slow the car. however, they push backwards on the tires, which push forward on the ground, which pushes back by newton's third law, slowing the car down. the internal friction forces are opposed by external reaction forces, which act as slight braking forces, slowing the car. so, newton and the universe are safe; everything is working as it should.

how big are the resistance forces, and what role does horsepower play? the physics of air resistance is very complex and an area of vigorous research today. most of this research is done by the aerospace industry, which is technologically very closely related to the automobile industry, especially when it comes to racing. we'll slog through some arithmetic here to come up with a table that shows how much horsepower it takes to sustain speed. those who don't have the stomach to go through the math can skim the next few paragraphs.

we cannot derive equations for air resistance here. we'll just look them up. my source is fluid mechanics, by l. d. landau and e. m. lifshitz, two eminent russian physicists. they give the following approximate formula: . the factors in this equation are the following:

cd - coefficient of friction, a factor depending on the shape of a car and determined by experiment; for a 308 qv it is about 0.30;

a - frontal area of the car; for a 308 qv, it is about 20 square<

Buying an Older Ferrari - Part 4

by: chris kantarjiev

back to the market letter. several ads came along and were discarded - no history, no tools, "my son bought it six months ago and decided he didn't want it, so i'm trying to sell it; trust me, my mechanic says it runs like new, no, i have no idea who owned it before." sigh.

after a little while, i get a call from one of the players in the s/n 8679 non-deal. he tells me "chris, i've got what might be the car for you. it's in texas, it's still owned by the guy who picked it up from the factory, it's been in storage for about three years. it's in great shape, pretty low mileage. i've seen the car and if i had the extra cash, i'd buy it. he's been asking way too much for a while, but he's come down to asking something reasonable."

yeah, yeah. you're a car salesman and i don't trust you farther than i can spit, but this is better than anything else i've heard lately. he's going to get me a phone number after making sure that the car is really for sale.

a day goes by, he leaves me a message that the car is in storage in houston, gives a name and number. ok, by sheer luck i have a good buddy, stan, who lives in houston and is a car guy. and even better, is on the internet. he's a porsche fanatic, but he knows what's what.

so i send him some e-mail, tell him about the car and where it is and he says "oh no, not that weasel!". well, it turns out that the mechanic, let's call him "junior", does ferraris and porsches, and my friend has had some less-than-satisfactory dealings with him in the past on the porsche side of the house. oh great. but i don't have a whole lot of choice here, that's where the car is, and it certainly sounds like what we've been looking for.

so i give junior a call and talk to him about the car. he gives me the basic rundown: serial number 9161, metallic powder blue with a black interior, tools and books, 33k miles, original owner. power steering and air conditioning. car has seen some paint, the lacquer shows some checking but otherwise is exceedingly original, down to the factory paint sticker inside the trunk lid. has the original blaupunkt radio, all the chrome bits and flag badges. alloy wheels. full belly pan is there and intact. leather is in decent shape, though it could probably use some lexol and dye. door lights work. windows work. clock doesn't. headliner "perfect". bumpers and overriders intact.

he's been maintaining it for the past five or six years. he hasn't done much to the car lately because the owner hasn't been using it and he doesn't want to push preventative maintenance on him for no reason, but the work he describes sounds like it was done right. he promises to send me some photos. he doesn't tell me the name of the owner, but tells me that he's about 70. the owner bought the car in 1966, the car went to new york to chinetti's agency, the owner picked it up and drove it home to texas, where it has been ever since. owner has photos of the car being off loaded from a klm plane. asking $38k, he figures $35k would probably take it.

in the meantime, stan has been poking around his contacts in houston, mostly trying to figure out the history of the car and who the owner is. one of his racing partners used to be a big ferrari guy, and he will call around and try to get the skinny on this car; there just aren't that many 330gts around houston, so it can't be too hard.

this turns up the story that the owner had junior do some work and apparently wasn't real satisfied (we never did track down a

Classified Ads

for sale:1985 308 gtsi quatro, "last year of the 308" serial no. 53165, in mint condition, 42,000 miles.. red w/tan interior, california car - no rust. . sony 10cd jukebox - am/fm, alarm, new battery, phone, tool kit. all receipts & manuals, good leather. . new rubber (tires) & brake pads, . 30,000 mile belt change & service. . 2nd owner, never been hit, driven daily. . $50,000 or best offer - must sell - moving out of state. . call (818)841-7129, please leave message on machine.

for sale: 1986 328 gtb s/n 61181. red/black, 38k miles. a rosso corsa beauty: second owner since 8k miles. excellent goodyear tires. all records, tools, spare, ready for immediate enjoyment. $41,500. r.a. moore (310) 377-9859.

for sale: 1984 400i. black on black. automatic, 16,211 miles. private collection. excellent condition, maintained weekly. call evenings. jason (818) 353-8536.

for sale: 308 exhaust system. u.s. version with catalytic converter. barry (818) 609-9119.