Ferraris of Mine

These are images that I've scanned from my own original photography, and some contributed photographs, of Ferraris that I now own.

1981 Ferrari 308 GTSi Red/Tan (Turbocharged)
S/N 36471

I bought this car in the fall of 1987 with 28,000 miles on it.  It needed a fair amount of work and new paint.  Christmas of that year, I accidentally hit a deer while travelling at 70+ MPH.  I took that opporunity to combine some of my money with the insurance money and had the damage repaired and then had it completely repainted.

Later, my wife and I restored the interior, replacing all the carpet, vinyl, leather and padding that we could.   After over a year of interior work and $3,000 in supplies, the car is gorgeous and quite original.  The only deviations I made from the factory was to remove the cloth headliner material and replace it with leather to match the seats.  Also, instead of OEM nylon carpet, we used a superior carpet supplied by Mercedes that is a hybrid of wool and nylon.  The carpet is the same color as the OEM carpet, but has a short nap and it wears better and cleans far easier.

After I started racing, I bought a set of 16-inch Ferrari rims that were from a 308 QV.  With race tires, this improved handling significantly, but it became painfully obvious that the car was under-powered.  That's when I decided to go "whole-hog" and replace the mechanical fuel system with a modern system.  In the process, I sort of added a turbo and dry-sump system, too.

I've put over 24,000 miles on this car and it puts a smile on my face every time I drive it.

	Side view - roof out (72k) Prior to interior restoration.
	Side view - roof in (67k) Prior to interior restoration.
	Front view - roof out (76k) Prior to interior restoration.
	Front corner - roof out (103k) Prior to interior restoration.
	Front view - roof out (118k) 1994 Dallas Concours.  Nice picture... one of my favorites of this particular car. This was after the interior restoration, but before the turbo mods and 16" wheels.
	Door jamb plate (69k)
	Interior view - seats and headliner (105k) Provides a good view of the leather headliner.
	Interior view - seats and carpet (112k) A better shot of the seats and non-OEM carpet.
	Interior View - driver's seat (71k) A better shot of the driver's seat.
	Interior View - deck and headliner (63k) Here's a shot of the rear deck and headliner with the roof in.  All that fresh leather smells good...
	Interior view - dash (99k) The restored dash and some leather
	On Display at the Fall 1996 Embedded Systems Conference (89k) This car was put in a booth at a convention to draw attention to the booth.  At the time, the 16" wheels had been added and the modified engine was installed, but not running.  It was missing an engine control system and all of the fuel system.   Still looked good though...
	The staff at the Fall 1996 Embedded Systems Conference (105k) I'm in this picture, but which one?  I'm the one with the facial hair...
	The 308 GTSi along side two "friends" (63k) The 308 is a euro-spec 2-valve and the TR is an 84 US-spec.
	On the track, hauling butt (52k) This is me driving at a local roadcourse track.  I'm making a sweeping left hander at 50+ MPH.

1979 Ferrari 308 GTBi Grey/Dark Blue (European, Dry Sump)
S/N 28133

Not only is this car lighter and stiffer than the GTS, it has the higher output European motor.  Since the car was not imported until after it was five years old, the EPA let it come into the country with NO smog modifications.  Although some homologation was done for DOT, the engine is unchanged from its 255 HP euro-spec configuration.  This car is much more nimble other US spec 2-valve cars, and delightfully easy to drive.  I've driven this car nearly every day since I bought it (over 7200 miles and counting).  Since I performed a major 30K service when I bought, and soonafter replaced the alternator, this car has been solid as a rock and reliable.

The paint is original and is now officially "gone".  Rust is breaking out on the doors and side panels.  It's terrible to look at, but mechanically it's very solid and the interior is in very good shape.  I may paint it soon, or I may convert it into a full-time track car.

1985 Ferrari Testarossa Red/Tan (European spec)
S/N 56225

Myself and another bought this car due to overwhelming temptation.  The car came to my attention with a bad clutch, bad starter and several other mechanically anomolies.  With a little over 50,000 miles, costmetically the exterior is nearly perfect and the interior, while needed recoloring, is in very good shape.  Once we fixed the mechanical problems, we've been driving the car without much in the way of problems.  We'll probably continue to fix it up, and perform a very, very thorough service on it and then sell it in the next 6-9 months.  Anyone looking for a good Testarossa that'll be ready to drive?

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Last modification: 13 Jan 1999