Volume 4, Issue 1 - January 1997

Ferraris Sooth the Soul at Loma Linda Children's Hospital

every once in a while we have an opportunity to enrich the lives of those less fortunate. on monday, october 21, members of the ferrari club of america?s southwest region donated a day to brighten the faces of several young patients at the loma linda children?s hospital in redlands?leader in child cancer care and heart transplants.

raphael roges and a happy patient at the wheel of his 328.

children, doctors, staff and club members were delighted as legendary racer phil hill and his son, ?1996 rookie of the year,? derek hill, made a special appearance. pilota, cy yedor and co-pilota, shin takei?s enthusiasm for the event recruited our drivers in a matter of days.

that morning, our team of seven ferraris departed from modena sport cars, where bruno borri was our kind host. driving through the sand storms of southern california?s infamous santa ana wind machine turned our high-gloss finishes into...well, you get the picture. but, the kids did not mind one bit. medical limitations became inconsequential in the presence of such a great display of machinery. mesmerized and overwhelmed with curiosity, these children could not resist crawling inside, honking horns and for a few, starting the engine of a real ferrari.

cy yedor?s car serves as excitement for loma linda volunteer and patient.

derek hill, suited up in full race attire, joined our team in distributing gifts to those children who could not go outside. in all, our team visited more than 100 children, from infants to teenagers, handing out racing posters, ferrari stickers, t-shirts and brochures filled with colorful photos of cars.

derek john hill was a big hit with the patients at loma linda.

kudos to those members who volunteered their time and energy:

fred bogerdus (308 gt-4); michael lederman (ogner motorcars? 355 cabriolet); marshall leib (308 gto); rafael roges (328 gts); shin takei (modena sport cars? testarossa); cy yedor (365 gtc-4); and an extra special thanks to derek and phil hill.

gifts, were donated by ogner motor cars and the club. doctors, executives and staff, all equally impressed, welcomed the southern california region back to the children?s hospital anytime?hopefully with a little less wind.

President's Corner

with the start of the new year i am reflecting back., mainly to the thought of things i would like to have done differently. or, more precisely, the ways we can improve (fine tune) what we already have in a very good club. as in other endeavors, it always seems to come down to the same thing: the ?good people?. those beings that come to the front, for the sake of the club, and who continue to give of their time and energy, some on a one time basis and many continually.

when you?re working for the club it?s business as usual. the glamour, excitement and sounds of your ferrari automobile take a back seat. the only product of your efforts is realized when there is a successful gathering of ferraris and the members come away both excited and gratified.

measuring success is the most difficult component. sheer numbers of people don?t always indicate success. some of our ride and drives turn out small numbers but offer the most enjoyment. for mass appeal we constantly strive for diversity of events, both geographically and in content and we always wonder what it really is that our members want. we have tried to offer a blend of concours, social, technical and driving venues. so, until someone complains, i think we?ll keep doing it this way. also, we must be constantly reminded that our members are busy people and must ?fit? activities into their schedule. we try not to take it personally. wally clark - our events chairman - is both industrious and creative. we have a 1997 calendar of events (see page 3) that will assure a great year. one of the highlights will be another (the 3rd annual) rodeo drive event in april. this is a monumental task and one that we and ferrari north america are proud to host. planning is already well under way and we are confident of a 550 maranello presentation.

our continued thanks to the board of directors and all those who have made this club great. i wish you a prosperous and healthful new year.

sincerely,

tom brockmiller

Upcoming Events

rosso rodeo iii

ferrari at rodeo drive lll - april1997 introducing the 550 maranello

an invitational - charitable - celebrity car show on april 19th. once again on rodeo drive and in coordination with the petersen museum. arrangements & notices forthcoming.

sponsored by: ferrari north america & ferrari of beverly hills

gm stylist to speak at symbolic

symbolic motorcars - sunday february 16th

as a unique treat, this event will feature mr. chuck jordan as guest speaker. as some of you might know, chuck has contributed a great deal to automotive style and interest. mr. jordon has worked as chief designer for cadillac studios, general motors executive in charge of gm cars and trucks exterior, director of design at opel (germany), and finally as vp of design for gm until his retirement in1986.

as if that wasn?t enough, he is a personal friend of sergio pininfarina and can recount interesting stories of the famous pininfarina design house. chuck will afford us insight into his early background with a slide presentation of both gm and ferrari. he will tell us of his ?ride with enzo?. but above all, he will tell you he is a real ferrari nut - from the ?50?s, who was there when it was all happening. i assure you an entertaining and informative event. our hosts at symbolic will serve a continental brunch and, of course, an amazing array of vintage ferraris.

for those wishing to arrive the night before, judd goldfeder and the san diego region will host a dinner party at judd?s home, and as you all know he and faye always provide an awesome display of food and frivolity. we sincerely hope you all will attend.

rsvp by february 10th to tammy miller at 619-489-8339 x107

track time in arizona

• january 11-12
• march 1-2
• may 10-11
• november 8-9
• december 6-7

everyone must wear a snell/dot approved helmet less than 5 years old. race cars should have a 5-6 point harness, rollbar, and fire extinguisher. there are 5 race classes. please pick the one you will be most comfortable in.

• red - novice street car group. little or no experience.
• green - intermediate street car group. prior race track experience.
• white - experienced street car group. prior driving school or race license.
• blue - production race group. race experience only.
• yellow - open wheel race group. open wheel race cars.

saturday driver school & sunday open track day: $195
saturday & sunday open track: $160
one day open track - sat or sun.: $85
covered garage space: $25
annual saac membership (new members): $25

contact gemini racing at 602-940-9010 for a full application or fca member ron adams for additional information.

Ferrari of Beverly Hills Hosts Holiday Party

the introduction of the ferrari 456 gt - automatic and the holiday season were more than enough reason for the fca-southwest region to gather over 250 members and friends to a presentation of this latest model. mr. gian luigi buitoni, president, and mr.gianpaolo letta were both present from ferrari north america, as well as mr. philippe lancksweert, general manager of both the beverly hills and san francisco stores.

once again, our hosts outdid themselves providing valet parking and a beautiful display of food and wines, accentuated by the mechanical magistri of the new automatic transaxle and it?s attendant driveshaft and torque-tube. technical details and discussions of automatic transmissions in ferraris followed, with comments favoring this particular pairing.

as introduced, the 456 gt ?automatic? transaxle with drive shaft and torque tube.

a complete analysis of the car and great pictures is in the latest edition of ferrari world, the english publication. you would be amazed at the car?s capabilities, including even enhanced weight distribution. thank you to fna and ferrari of beverly hills for another great event and a wonderful way to cap off a phenomenal 1996.

Phil Hill Dinner at Ogner Motorcars

over 100 people attended this great event held to honor phil hill and to benefit derek hill?s racing endeavors. a great italian buffet was provided, and while a little crowded, everyone was able to eat and enjoy discussing our favorite subject - ferraris!

several awards were given out at this event. jeff littrell, esteemed editor of sempre ferrari, received the dave cummins award, which is a beautiful trophy of a prancing horse inside a crystal enclosure that is awarded by the ferrari club of america for excellence in regional club publications. the trophy was presented to jeff by phil hill and dave cummins, who came over from phoenix to attend this event. dave was the originator of the fca national news bulletin, and the award is named in his honor.

jeff littrell received the dave cummins award for editorial excellence from phil hill and mr. cummins.

another award was given to michael lederman, who has supported fca club events ever since the inception of the southwest region, and to whom the club is grateful for his undying enthusiasm and participation. boy, was he surprised! the award was presented by fca southwest region board member and treasurer, cy yedor.

michael lederman receives his fca trophy from phil hill.

a portion of the funds donated for this event were given to the 11-99 foundation, an organization devoted to the welfare of widows and dependents of the california highway patrol. accepting on behalf of the 11-99 foundation was executive director rebecca centner and director bruce meyer. all monies that were collected for this event were donated to both causes.

the highlight of the evening was phil?s slide show of the european racing scene of the late 50s and early 60s. most of the photos were taken by phil, or by his friends, and are scenes that have never been published before. the people and places chronicle phil?s early racing career, along with stories that only phil could recite by having been there. ask him about dodging mrs. ferrari on the way back to modena sometime. he provides insight, candor and humor that are unavailable anywhere else. an informative question and answer session followed the slide show.

the club enjoys the hospitality of ogner motorcars, under the ambiance of broken porsches.

on behalf of the club, we would like to thank the ogners for hosting this event. we would also like to thanks all the club members who came and gave their support for the event!

Reception at Coachworks

a champagne brunch was the offering of this exclusive body shop designated by ferrari of beverly hills as the consummate paint and damage repair facility.

it was apparent that our cordial hosts and owners, david freed and adnan rawjee, went all out to make this event most informative, and it was obvious by the types and number of ferrari?s being worked on that they know what they are doing.

david and sandy freed welcome guests to coachworks

on our original visit a few months back i saw work in progress on a brand new 355 spyder that by anyone?s terms was a total write off. they had to re-work that car from the frame up and have the necessary apparatus and skill to accomplish such a feat. the rejuvenated ferrari was once again pristine. on the other side of the scale i saw a restoration taking place on a daytona. down to metal and with some rust repair required. the choice was black, and as you would know, you can?t hide anything but perfection under that color.

our own wally clark and coachworks owners david freed and adnan rawjee.

in any event, coachworks provided a tasty brunch for well over 400 ferrari club of america members between 10am and 2pm, as well as on-going demonstrations by colortone automotive paints - the ferrari supplier of basf/glasurit paint (free touch-up samples) and a waxing demonstration by meguiars. the highlight of the event came when they demonstrated the spraying of a 348 in their special paint booth. the entire atmosphere was one of cleanliness, professionalism and caring.

laying the glasurit on a 348 during a spray paint demonstration.

who can attest to the feelings involved when one does damage to his beloved ferrari and thinking that it will never be the same. what a figment of our minds. coachworks specializes in re-birth.

the club thanks all those involved in this event for enlightening us.

Badwater - Run to Furnace Creek

mention the word "badwater" to someone who has toured death valley in a ferrari and you will very likely see a grin begin to spread across their face. badwater is the lowest point in the continental u.s. and as a result the air is more concentrated than at higher altitudes. a better place for an engine to breathe. badwater is about 17 miles from the furnace creek inn. this 17 mile drive is on a great road with great visibility, sweeping curves and spectacular straightaways. the trip from the inn to badwater can be completed in considerably less time than it takes to cover the corresponding 17 miles of its celebrated counterpart in carmel. it?s a trip you can take in the early hours of the morning when the air is still and most people are still enjoying the last hour or two of restful sleep. you can also enjoy this trip after breakfast before settling down for a relaxing day on the shore of the naturally heated pool at the inn.

the furnace creek inn, the panaminits, and the ferraris.

late afternoon is a perfect time for a run to badwater. the shadows are long and on the way back you can visit the artist?s palette drive where the waning western sunlight illuminates multicolored minerals spread over the vegetation free landscape. badwater can easily become more of a concept than a location for the ferrari enthusiast who visits this region. something like a zen experience. i hope you will all have an opportunity to make the pilgrimage to badwater sometime during your span of years as a ferrari owner. a group from the southwest region of the fca made such a pilgrimage over the weekend of nov. 1-3 with very pleasant results.

i have written about the death valley region several times over the past few years, and it is getting hard to come up with new superlatives. it is a special place in a number of ways. there is the history of the old west, the beauty and grandeur of the region, the comfort and style of the furnace creek inn, the traffic free roads and the fun of spending time with some very nice people. this year our caravan to death valley began on a friday morning. we left the city and made our first landfall at the outlet stores near barstow. this was not part of the official plan (the one with the history, grandeur, comfort and all that), but it is often one component of our trip to death valley. after tempting ourselves up to and beyond our limits, we continued on our way and arrived in death valley about 3:30 pm in time to begin exploring all that the inn offers. a pleasant surprise was roped off parking right in front of the inn.

it doesn?t take much more than this to make a bunch of ferrari owners feel like the weekend is off to a good start. after settling in our rooms and relaxing for a while, we gathered in the ?library? for a wine and cheese get acquainted party. after that jack from the inn trucked us down to the saloon for cowboy sized meals consisting mainly of steaks. a few beers and some more wine helped to bring down the barriers and anyone could see that the group was bonding well. my wife is not going to let me reveal all of the conversation topics, but i can tell you that we did come close to the edge of propriety while discussing some personal hygiene matters.

vail, ellen, bill , and bonnie at the wine tasting reception.

on saturday everybody did their own thing which included driving to scotty?s castle, swimming in the pool and yes, a run to badwater. after darkness fell, the schedule called for a leisurely four course meal in the dining room of the inn. i guess leisurely would be something of an understatement. it turned out that most of the ki

Oldtimer's Corner - 1973 24 hr. du Mans

by: ed niles

all rights reserved

so when francisco mir, who then owned the world's smallest ferrari dealership in santa monica, california, announced that he was going to be racing a car at the 24-hours of le mans in 1973, i raised my hand to be among those who would go along as gofers. i had to pay all my own expenses, but i did get into the race free, in exchange for my promise to keep my eyes open for more than 24 hours at a stretch (something i had never done before).

when we got to france, frank's car was just being delivered, having been driven out from maranello on the public highways. it was a factory-modified competition "daytona" or 365 gtb/4. the description and history of these cars has been well-covered in other articles, so suffice it to say that the factory (actually the customer service facility in modena) made 15 of these cars, in 3 series of 5 each, and frank's was one of the 5 cars in the third series, and 1 of 4 built with what the factory records call a "motore speciale". the car received a very special paint job designed by westside designer and ferrari enthusiast robert miles runyan, red on the left side and yellow on the right side, the colors separated by stripes of white and green. the important crew members received matching jackets; that i did not receive a jacket is testimony to my standing (or lack of standing) on the team.

the paint job was one of several "political" problems encountered by the team. the scrutineers decided that the car, being red on one side and yellow on the other, would confuse the score keepers, and decided that the car could not run.

however, frank mir was not a dummy, and he had already learned how political things are at le mans. he had therefore entered the car under the aegis of nart, the racing organization of luigi chinetti. frank had a reason for this. luigi chinetti, although italian by birth and american by choice, had lived in france for a number of years, and spoke french fluently. also, he was a multiple winner at le mans himself, his most famous win being that of 1949, when he drove a 166mm ferrari 23 1/2 hours of the 24 hour race, to take an over-all win. so it was that luigi chinetti carried a little clout at le mans.

chinetti was able to force the organizers to reverse their position. it probably helped that frank mir had engaged two drivers with le mans experience, di palma and veiga, as his drivers.

once the car was accepted as part of the nart entry, frank and his crew had a chance to go over the car carefully. surprisingly, these competition daytonas are not that far removed from the stock daytonas that you and i can drive on the street. in fact, my old friend, ken starbird, and his wife, rosi, used to drive their competition daytona on the street as an every-day driver for many years.

visible changes included small fins on the tops of the front fenders, removal of the bumpers, blue cloth interior instead of leather, and small spoilers underneath the car, front and rear.

francisco mir?s comp daytona s/n 16367 before the start of the 24 hrs du mans. our pal ed holds down the left rear. (chuck queener photo)

once the car had been accepted by the organizers, frank set a

Tech Tip - Dry Sumping 308s/328s

by: bill pound

before i embark upon describing the dry sump system i developed for the 308/328, it?s important to recognize that there is nothing wrong with the stock system if the car is driven in the manner ferrari designed it for. ferrari never intended the 308 to be a competition car and, frankly, would probably prefer we did not monkey around with them.

but since we are all ferrari nuts, the 308/328 is the most logical and inexpensive model to play with, so we do.

in the last issue we talked at length about the limited options available to remedy the oil pressure fluctuations in the 308/328-type motors on right-hand corners. some owners say they do not have the problem but believe me, all these cars share this problem but the combination of not looking at the gauge constantly and the slow reaction time of the electric gauge may lead one to believe that everything is fine.

during a 308 2v imsa engine development program i undertook back in 1990, we built a fuel injected shortened 308 2v motor in north/south arrangement driving through a hewland dgb transaxle. these motors were all converted to dry sump systems using a weaver 3 stage pump for both pressure and scavenge.

we later tried to adapt a lot of these high performance parts from this program to club racing cars, all using the standard ferrari 308 zf transaxle with the stock wet sump. we immediately ran into the oil surge problem. with power in the 325 bhp range and the subsequent increased bearing loads, the oil pressure took on a whole new meaning.

the cost of dry sumping was at that time prohibitive and most of the early ferrari dry sump stuff had been used up by all the guys running the marenello challenge series in the uk. therefore, we decided to start with a clean sheet of paper and come up with something both inexpensive and effective to cure this oil problem.

the result was a relatively simple solution. we simply used the standard ferrari internal pump just to scavenge oil and fitted an external pump mounted to a special bracket mounted where the a/c compress normally goes to supply pressure. this extra pump is driven by a .750" toothed gates powergrip belt similar to the ones driving the camshafts. the belt is driven off a special drive mounted to the stock crankshaft damper. it leaves the original alternator/water pump belt in place.

the system requires installation of a 9" dia oil tank in the trunk compartment. you will need to bore a hole in the rear fender well to the trunk large enough to pass two oil lines and a breather hose through.

how it works:

oil in the tank is gravity fed to the external pump, which then supplies pressure to the engine through the oil filter housing as the standard pump does. once about 3 quarts of oil are in the engine oil pan, the internal pump picks it up and pumps it back to the tank via the oil coolers. the ferrari pump turning at 90% engine speed will scavenge all but 3 quarts of oil from the motor and will maintain a constant level in the tank. the external pump turning at just over 50% of engine speed has an extenal presure relief valve and will maintain up to 100 psi of oil pressure.

cost for complete kit is $2995, which includes everything needed (tank, pump, brackets, drive, lines, and instructions). it is available through bill pound at (909) 245-6017.

1996 - The Year in Review

it?s the start of a new year. it seems appropriate to look back at the many fine events that your club hosted or participated in throughout 1996. we strive for a balanced mix of track, social, driving, show, and technical events. we hope you agree that we did pretty good in 1996. let?s take a look:

gary thieltges? beautiful 1958 250 gt ellena coupe at the newport beach concours d?elegance

• party at the penske museum
• general meeting at ?hot rods by boyd?
• ?wash and wax? technical session at ogner motorcars
• ferrari day at the track with ogner motorcars
• viewing of don weber?s car collection
• track event at phoenix international raceway
• pacific palisades ferrari show and street fair
• palos verdes concours d?elegance
• temecula winery ride and drive
• picnic at skeets and sharon dunns with goldfeder gala bbq
• huntington beach concours d?elegance
• le cercle concours d?elegance
• general meeting at ferrari of beverly hills with f50 technical presentation
• ride and drive with the porsche club of america
• monterey historics and fca national concours d?elegance
• track event for ferraris and porsches with ogner motorcars
• santa barbara concours d?elegance
• tustin thunder road races
• south coast botanic gardens picnic
• virginia city hillclimb
• festa italia
• slide show and dinner with phil hill at ogner motorcars
• general meeting at coachworks
• vara palm springs road races
• ride and drive to furnace creek
• foc/sccscc slalom
• 456gta introduction at ferrari of beverly hills
• palm springs swim and bbq

and, a whole host of fca/alfa time trials and races at willow springs and buttonwillow raceway park, as well as two fca/alfa driver?s schools at the streets of willow. in fact, we will soon know whom the ferrari class champion for the year is and with offer an article in the next issue summarizing the year?s track events.

joel quaid sells our racing program at the santa barbara concours with his ?they?re made to be driven!....? theme.

this is absolutely amazing list of events when you consider that we work in a non-profit mode with a fully volunteer organization. we hope you?ve taken advantage of at least some of this past year?s events and that you?ll give a little something back to the club by maybe offering some help to make sure next year is just as action packed. it will be!

bill inglis, don meder, tino mingori, and cy yedor discuss book on cy?s racing career during meeting at coachworks.

mr. buitoni and mr. letta from ferrari north america at introduction of the 456 gt automatic in beverly hills.

a portion of john and connie thayer?s santa barbara brunch at the biltmore hotel.

miss italia 1995 at the festa italia, wearing what color but... rosso corsa, of course!

bob magaha (from meguiars), sam douglas (formula one driver), and del bowman (ferrari mechanic) at laguna seca.

a sample of george?s fine photography.

my shots are composed with spontaneity, and if there is a good shot there i will get it. i concentrate on focus and if some shots are not as good as they might be, about 20% are quite presentable, and i know i am leaving the door open for luck and karma.?

george feels that the forgoing is one of his best shots to date and i must say that having seen most of them i think they are all great.

you may call george carroll at 213-650-6715.

Classified Ads

for sale: testarossa s/n 72411 (1987 usa model). red/tan. all tools, books, service history. 4200 miles. absolutely as new condition. $80,000. call tino (310) 474-8769 or bob (317) 463-6406.

for sale: 1988 tr. white/tan. 7,600 miles, mint condition inside and out. $82,000. please contact private party at (714) 253-4700 days or (714) 569-8998 pager.

for sale: 1972 ferrari 365 gtc/4, all original black/black, 43,000 miles. great driver, last major service at beverly hills ferrari 120 miles ago. asking $69,500. daytime telephone (818) 765-6803. fax: (818) 765-6847. e-mail: mrchrome@mrchrome.com

for sale: 1987 328 gts s/n 68051 ? rare factory mountain blue/white. 26k miles. excellent condition. serviced to drive. $45k obo. options available: simpson beltsw/ extingusher, forward and rear laser and radar dection and jamming, stealth bra. beautiful. call lars: (310) 318-9333 pp.

for sale: 1970 365 gt 2+2 s/n 12625. 57334 miles. u.s. car sold from hollywood sport cars. three owners from new. fully documented rosso rubino/black. borranis xwx. new paint by ric leonard. leather, carpets, engine bay, underside perfect. winner newport concours. books, tools, records. $48,500 obo. contact richard: (310) 471-1760.

for sale: 1972 365 gtc/4 s/n 15771. 52057 miles. u.s car. fully documents. paint by bill decarr. red/black. borranis xwx. leather, carpets, engine bay, undercarriage excellent. winner at concours italiana. books, tools, records. $58,500 obo. contact richard: (310) 471-1760.

for sale: 1979 308 gt4 s/n 14600. 600 miles. all original. red-black ?boxer? bottom. tan 1st place nationals fca 1992 and 1994. $54,500 obo. contact richard: (310) 471-1760.

for sale: 1975 308 gt4 s/n 09946. 43000 miles. race car. fly yellow/blue. full race cage, auto fire extinguisher. converted by berlinetta motor cars. electronic ignition, stiffened suspension, new konis, new yokohamma 008r, euro headers. club events only, never crashed. beautiful inside and out. $34,500 obo. contact richard: (310) 471-1760.

for sale: the following tires are available with less than 500 miles on them - as new condition. 2 - xwx michelin 215/70-15 (daytona front). 2 - xwx michelin 225/70-15 (daytona rear). 2 - xgt michelin 235/60-15 (daytona rear). make me an offer - tom brockmiller 310-530-1004.

wanted: leather wrapped momo steering wheel with a diameter of approximately 14.5-15 in. (365gtc/4 or similar vintage ferrari?) i would also be interested in information on having such a wheel recovered with new padding and leather. call tino (310) 474-8769.

for sale: daytona parts: transaxle, complete, rebuilt. $10,000. borgo nos competition high compression pistons: (12) $3,600. ring and pinion. nos ferrari stock 10/33 ratio: $2,850. marshall (818) 895-8133 days, (310) 836-3763 (fax)

Buying an Older Ferrari - Part 10 - The Repairs

by: chris kantarjiev

which actually hasn?t been too bad. the shop seems more than competent, and did a very careful estimate (six pages of items!). the final number made me gulp, but the insurance company accepted it without any hassle. we even think we?ve located all the parts. now they just have to show up and the work needs to get done .

when we visited in may, she?d been sprayed with primer and they were blocking it and doing final panel alignment. the suspension isn?t back on yet; it had been taken off to magnaflux. we?re getting close.

apparently four parts have not yet been located. our 330 was still at the body shop (coming along nicely, but slowly - got the new fender fitted last week), so we took the turbo fiat spider for the pacific region fca run to yosemite. we get a lot of ribbing when we take this on an fca run (the friendliest is from the guy who calls it a 275 gts wannabe, which isn?t far off), but it does just fine. all the conveniences work, which was a good thing for this trip - there was a lot of rain and even snow as we crossed entered the park and drove down to the valley. i enjoyed seeing the testarossas, in particular, driving in the snowy scene.

we approved paint color in mid-summer and had hopes that she?d be ready to drive to the historics. it was not to be. the paint had been sprayed in time, but the doors and glass didn?t get installed in time. also, the rear parcel shelf had been damaged while taking the rear window out and had to be replaced.

the hardest part to find was the headlight ring - despite trying three different sets, none was right - each revealed a little too much paint. the final solution was to take one, cut it, weld in a section to make it the right size and chrome it.

the hardest *task* was getting the chrome right. it went back to the platers three times - finally the fourth round came back without pits and blemishes. now that it?s back, it?s gorgeous, though it took the three winter months to get to that point.

she didn?t make it home for christmas, the one year anniversary passed without comment (we were busy moving into a new house - we laughed when, shortly after the accident, someone in the club said ?jeez, you touch anything on a ferrari and it takes a year?). she didn?t make it home for my birthday (april 7). damn close - the newly polished grille and repainted wheels match up in quality with the paint job. i can see that we?re going to have to do some leather work and detail the engine compartment. there are just a few things left ... we *could* have driven her home, but after waiting this long (and spending this much money) i want everything just so. it sure was wonderful to sit in the driver?s seat and start her up - that will have to do as a birthday present, i guess.

about the author: chris kantarjiev is the proprietor of the dimebank garage, a small operation that specializes in british sports and racing cars. he and his girlfriend, pat caruthers, are on a mission to assemble the ideal ?car wardrobe? - a set of cars that includes the right car for every purpose. when not driving or working on one of the cars, they?re most likely standing on a racetrack corner as scca flaggers.

(by day, they are both software engineers in silicon valley. visit the virtual dimebank garage at http://triumph.cs.utah.edu/cak/dimebank.html)