A 250 GTE Personal Site, by Luke Kowalski, in northern California

Acquisition of #4823, Interception, Resources, Restoration, GTE scale models, GTE pics repository

Interception:

On May 20, there was a news story saying that terrorists had been planning to smuggle operatives into the US in shipping containers. While I was not expecting to have Osama pop out of my container (having reclined in the full luxury of the Ferrari interior), I was concerned about a delay with the US Customs clearance. It turned out to be a non-issue, as I got the "all cleared" call from the warehouse called Triax International (better than "Triad International"). I reserved a U-Haul and car hauler for the next day, called some friends to see who would be available on short notice and shifted a couple of meetings at work.
It was my father-in-law who ended up going along, and he even had lots of trailer towing experience (zilch here). When I showed up at U-Haul, they had no trace of my reservation, accused me of hallucinating, but finally procured a smashed up pickup. The smell of horse manure and the butts left in the ashtray (the manure was in the bed, or traces thereof) was overwhelming ! And the guy who was supposed to show us how to operate the tie downs and various ratchets did not speak any English. We finally figured it out and set off on a 40 minute drive to the Port of Oakland.
After standing in line at the port warehouse and listening to at least 5 different languages being spoken, I was told that I did not need to stand in line at the import window. I wanted the export line. I decided not to criticize the logic of this and obediently switched to another line. Here, I was not exposed to the same linguistic learning experience, but I did hear some good blond jokes from the truckers. My container was already at the loading doc thingie, and I followed a guy to see it opened. One seal, 4 tie downs and the removal of wood blacks was all it took to release the car from its 1 month home. I was surprised to learn that the containers themselves are actually waterproof. The car was pushed into the warehouse after a guy with a forklift made a bridge out a steel plate ramp. Two snickering warehouse workers pushed it out into the yard while I steered. It took 4 guys and 3 $5 bills to push the car onto the flat bed trailer. I managed not to crash the whole assemblage on the way back to the peninsula. I did learn something, though. Idiots in giant SUVs ("Hey, I got beat up in school, so I bought an Expedition with a brush guard") take advantage of your lack of maneuverability and speed. A few times, I had the load dance on me. All is well that ends well. The car is now on the lift at a shop nearby. I did not have the facilities to flush out and recoat the fuel tank, so that is being done now. We will see what comes next...
For now, here is what I have of the history of the car (please e-mail if you know any of these people. The source is Len Miller's 250 GTE registry, now in the hands of Bill Preston in Texas):

• Dear Mr Kowalski,

  We inform you that the original factory specification external colour of your Ferrari is Grigio Argento 20265 A It. with black leather (Pelle Nera VM 8500) interior and the car was produced in July 1963.
  ---It turns out that I will not get my Heritage Certificate from owners.ferrari.com (the gearbox number does not match the rear axle number, so the car is not "worthy" of a certificate.

• Sold to?
• Owned by Chuck Head in the late 70s. This record appears from Telaio, an internet group that tracks Ferrari serial numbers. Apparently, it was then red/black (reported by noted Ferrari specialist and book author [VelocePress], Allen Bishop), but I see no evidence of a color change on the car at all, and preliminary factory records indicate that the car left the factory silver ( Grigio Argento 20265 A It)
• Car mechanically rebuilt by Bill Rudd in southern California
• Owned by Tony Belmont in Mount Vernon, WA. This was before 1983. This or previous owner skipped town following charges of arson
• Bought as a repo by Jeff Beard from Lynden, WA, in 1984
• Bought by William Pielow, Edmonds, WA 1985-1988. Bill is now deceased, but he did one of the restorations (body and engine). Is this the second Bill Rudd resto, or the same one?
• Owned by Brian Conlan, Seattle, WA, Dec 1988. Brian advertised the car as having 5,000 miles on a complete rebuild, asking $123, 500 in March of 1990
• Purchased by Henri Barbier in 1990, shipped to Lanaken, Belgium.
• I bought the car from Henri's son, Peter, in May of 2002. It is now at 79K miles, beliwved to be original.The records got lost with the previous owner...