I like to think that we have the vision to see a project to completion better than most people. Our 1979 Ferrari 512 Berlinetta Boxer (BB) project is just one example of this sort of vision.

Many experienced car guys will talk about how it is best to buy a car that has already been completely restored as you often “buy the restoration and get the car for free”. So many cars out there do not need total restorations and can be freshened up and set up to work safely and reliably for very short money.

On this 512 BB, we know that a full paint job is a must as the rough and faded black paint was basically applied with a broom after the original finish was sanded with a rake. We know that the dash needs some work after it was curled up like a potato chip after being fried in the southern CA sun for years. We also know some great tricks to freshen up a car without considerable expense that I will not reveal here on this blog!

The car is solid and complete and has had lots of recent service to keep it performing over the years. The suspension arms are not glistening with fresh nickel finish and the engine bay does not look as though it just came out of the factory, but does this make the car unsafe or wrong? No, the car just has a nicely maintained feel shrouded by ugly cosmetics.

The car smells like new clear coat after a bare metal respray and it looks killer. I did not want a “Pebble Beach” finish, just a better-than-factory job with a touch of orange peel and perfectly straight panels. We are going do all of the satin black detailing just as the factory did and then begin assembling the car with new rubber and various trim.

The color Blue Sera drives me crazy as stated in an earlier entry so I could not resist painting this BB in that same shade. I will be posting photos soon.

OK you Ferrari sick-o’s, I have the ultimate bribe to keep you visiting my blog, ha ha!!
A family friend went to LeMans in 1971 and took a bunch of slides of the event. A Ferrari historian told me that in ‘71 there were 12 Ferrari 512S’s racing.
Anyhow, the photographer stuck the slides in a envelope and mailed them to my father who put them in a safe place never to be seen for 35 years.

I was digging through some old repair manuals a few weeks ago and stumbled upon this envelope with all of these great images. I had the slides digitized so I can post them on my website and blog for your enjoyment. With all the interest in classic photos in magazines and on Ferrari Chat I figured you will enjoy these.
All photos are copyright RPM.

I joke around saying that Pininfarina (PF) cars were built by adults while the people from the other firms who crafted bodies for Ferraris were children. PF designed cars are spectacular and they are built by craftsman

When looking deep inside a 250 PF Coupe you will see structural panels that look as though they were pressed on a die and actually work to strengthen the car. Open the door and look at the structure at the hinges, you see a typical type of panel with flanged holes and nicely tack welded to the frame. You also see bead rolled panels for strength and a car that is perfectly sealed so water cannot get into the car as well as properly vented to remove moisture from problem areas like the rocker panels and bottoms of the doors. I have rarely seen a super rusty PF built Ferrari unless it was treated very poorly.
Dinos, Daytonas, 275 GTB’s are a whole other story as they are built with no regard toward lasting more than 5 years. Somehow, most have survived thanks to some factors that I will not get into right now. Anyhow, Scagiletti cars are a little more crude but were made in similar numbers to the PF line up so I cannot understand why they did not spend more time making a better car.

Our 365 GTC/4 project has made a fool of me, a car built by PF with all of the integrity that you would expect has some stupid design problems. Don’t get me wrong, I realize that this is a 35 year old car but the problem area I am describing could have been thought out much better.

The area in question is the lower air intake for the front brakes. This is a beautiful detail and and well crafted piece of metal. The problem is that once the part was installed into the car there was no way to protect it with paint and the area was moisture trap as there was no way for the water to drain. Even though our car lived the majority of its life in Nevada, it doesn’t take too many car washes to rot this area out.

We had to completely re-build this section but we designed it with the ability to apply both primer and paint as well as allow water to drain out. I do not want this car to come back to me in 5 years with rust bubbles forming!!