Ferrari GTOs at Willow Springs &...

[ghibli608]

Thank you! Thank you. This film gave me goose bumps.

It really was another era. I can not imagine just walking on Mulholland Drive and seeing these cars just "race" past.. Impressive.

[thugangelenzo800]

when and why did u sell the GTO???what was the price??thank you for posting i can't imagine myself being 21 and owning a GTO......i guess i would cry when i start the engine....not to brag but i got the Ferrari side emblem tattooed on my heart....the only ferraris i saw where the california the new one........a 360.....a couple 599.....so my dream is to drive a GTO....just once....thank you again for posting this....God bless you :)

[FLSHBK1]

Tell us more about Matt's "Breadvan", please? Any footage left of it?

[GTO3987]

@FLSHBK1 I have no footage of the car but I will be shooting an interview with Matthew for the GTO doc and lots of stories about the Breadvan will be told.

[Vidsandso]

quick question: is the documentary already out?

Thanks for the video. This makes it clear for me i'm gonna be a car nut later. Next year i'm gonna start my corporate career and i know where my savings will go.

[GTO3987]

@Vidsandso I am still shooting interviews for the GTO documentary. I had great sessions recently in France with Marc Sonnery, author of the Breadan book Rebel, Rebel, and Serge Dermanian who looked after Ralph Lauren's cars including my GTO.

[Corbon440]

Apparently Peter Helm's California (3185) has been registered in Lower Saxonia, Germany for some time, not far from where I live. Repainted red and with a hardtop. The more you know... However the current owner prefers to remain anonymous. Did Mr. Helm's car had a hardtop when he owned it?

[GTO3987]

@Corbon440 If so, Peter never used it.

[bradgotch]

Sold it for a Ghibli! Wow

[GTO3987]

@bradgotch One day after he had acquired his Ghibli--a beautiful black/black--he pulled up behind me in Laurel Canyon when he saw me in the GTO. I think he already was missing his car...

[bradgotch]

@GTO3987 Thank you for posting this amazing footage. I grew up with a Father who was Ferrari obsessed and regularly drove to meetings with him. I have been lucky enough to be driven in a few but never a GTO. My Dad finally got his own Fazz 10 years ago a 250 GTE he is very proud and regularly reminds me that it was on the production line with GTO's.

[MTC0316]

oh my god, that's like the perfect dream for me

Ferrari 250s and GTOs, just WOW!

[zzwerks]

Stephen - the videos are truly wonderful. They show what I have only heard about over the years. I have long owned a 275GTS (7907) that I believe you may run across. It belonged to Asa Clark in 1970 and 71. He sold it to buy the Breadvan. I'm interested in knowing if you know anything about this car or know where information could be found. Thanks!

[GTO3987]

Thank you very much for your comments. I knew Asa and, believe it or not, he was the first American I ran into on the streets of Paris after I moved to France. If anyone knows about your GTS, it's Ed Niles. I'll send you a message on how to contact him.

[zzwerks]

Wow - what a small world! Paris must have been especially wonderful place then. Ever run into the Lalouche's? Did Claude tell you the real story about Rendevous? Yeah right...

I contacted Ed some years back. He was helpful in locating Asa but didn't have any other info. Asa had so many cars (like Ed) it would be hard to sort this out.

Thanks!

[GTO3987]

It seems I met the entire Lelouch gang--Lino Ventura, Françoise Fabian , André Dussollier, Charles Gérard--but not Lelouch himself. Made up for it by meeting Enzo Ferrari!

[zzwerks]

What can I say? If given a choice I'd trade Claude for Enzo any day! LOL. Where when did that happen?

It sounds like you had quite a time over there. I was there briefly in 67 and 68. I was a teen with my family. Everything was quite tumultuous, student strikes, etc...

How long were you in Paris? Did you see Asa much? What was he up to? He was quite busy with films over here then, I can't imagine he spent a lot of time in France....

[GTO3987]

I met Ferrari in the paddock at Monza during practice for the Italian GP in '70. He and I talked about my GTO. Fangio joined us.

I moved to Paris in '79 where I lived for two years initially. Been going back ever since!

I saw Asa just that one time near l'Opéra.

[zzwerks]

Wow - other than meeting him at the factory I can not think of a better place to have met Enzo. How did it come about that you met him? No Monza is even better!

I can't imagine that it was easy to get into the puts. Enzo didn't make himself available....

Frankly, I can not imagine the high that this must have been. I mean wow, you had the crazy brilliance to buy a GTO as a youngster to begin with. Then you went to Monza and met Enzo too? Wow! Did Asa have a Ferrari in Paris?

[GTO3987]

Met him again when I'd visit the factory--he'd send me New Year's greeting cards written in his purple ink.

I made my way into the paddock on the strength of an invitation from Franco Lini who was the F1 team manager at the time. I approached Ferrari because he was looking at me in a manner that suggested he wanted to talk. We were behind the pits and he didn't know I was Lini's guest.

To my knowledge, Asa was on vacation in Paris and did not have a Ferrari there.

[zzwerks]

I simply shudder to think of the brilliance of this moment. Did you ever correspond with Ferrari too?

Was Fangio there at the same time or on another occasion? What was he like?

[GTO3987]

I did exchange letters with Ferrari. He would also send me Ferrari yearbooks that he would inscribe. Fangio walked up to us while we were talking. He listened and made a few comments but the conversation was mainly between me and Ferrari--in Italian, by the way.

[zzwerks]

I suspect Fangio knew when to keep quiet. Enzo wouldn't like to be interrupted. What was Enzo's primary interest in the car? I mean it was for racing... You were using it as a driver. Was he concerned about practical or mechanical things? Or was he just into light banter?

BTW: I don't recall that you sharing this at Fcaht. I'm sure that everybody would love to hear this there...

[GTO3987]

I think Ferrari was wondering what a California kid just out of his teens was doing with a GTO and able to talk about it in Italian! I've posted these anecdotes on F-chat in the Vintage & French sections.

[simoneiannucci]

How did you get a ferrari GTO at age 18? Was it used in the 24h of LeMans? By the way you're an extremely lucky person to have owned a GTO. This car is a piece of art. Thanks for posting this.

[GTO3987]

@simoneiannucci I'd made some money working on a movie. The GTO was my second Ferrari. It won its first race at the Paris 1000 Kilometers driven by Pedro and Ricardo Rodríguez. I don't think it ran at Le Mans.

[simoneiannucci]

thanks...

[zzwerks]

And wow - Fangio too!

[theoalfa1]

Did 'The Great Put Down' ever get completed ?

[GTO3987]

Yes and it;s on my profile.

[DiabloVids]

Do I understand it correctly that you were 19/20 when you had this car?

[GTO3987]

That is correct.

[DiabloVids]

Well, that's impressive to say the least.

Do you ever regret selling it? Do you know if RL ever drives his Ferrari's?

[GTO3987]

Let's say I would prefer to still have the car! I only know that Ralph Lauren does not attend the GTO anniversary events and declined an interview with me for the GTO documentary.

[DiabloVids]

Guess so, this and the 250 GT SWB are in my opinion the most beautiful cars ever made.

Do you have any other information on this GTO event you're talking about?

Are you making any progression in he documentary, when will it be finished?

[GTO3987]

Anniversary events are held every five years. Click on my profile to watch Ferrari 250GTO to see the most recent event. Sadly, other projects are taking priority.

[claudiantoni]

Thankyou for shareing Stephen. Thats a piece of Ferrari history right there!

[dirk44pitt]

Fantastic !! Back in the late 60's on Sunset,Beverly Glen Blv. and the Valley you could race around a lot with out the worry of cops. There was just not many cops on the road back then. This is a truly great classic vid for my collection

[johnksoy]

love your vids. just watching some footage of gtos is probably worth a couple grand.

[mikeyoman1]

Great video ! Obviously too much money floating around - who would hand paint a California Spyder these days ! :)

[bust0023]

Something tells me that your 8mm videos and their respective commentary are going to go gangbusters.

[blindreaper21]

the ferrari GTO in my opinion the hottest stylishiest (???) ferrari ever

[ferrarichy]

What a wonderful video. Thank you so much.

[rossocorsa300]

Excellent! Thank you for posting this.

[flyboy3633]

Great stuff. I've always loved the GTOs.

Speaking of, was that a convertible Pontiac GTO in the driveway at 2:14 ?

Did anyone else hear "Highway Star" by Deep Purple as the background music. Krikey, I'm showing my age again !

[sportscardigest]

Thanks for sharing Stephen. Always a treat.

[Pintac87]

Awesome to see the GTOs driven the way Enzo intended long before the collector car mania turned all vintage Ferraris into garage queens. I'd give anything to have been there for this.

[martinmiura]

lovely period footage , I even loved that Karmann Ghia at 0:24 overtaking all those fast Ferraris (today I would settle for that KG )

[rossocorsa]

Thanks for this great video on one of the most fantastic car in the world ever.

[jazzyonno]

Stephen, can't thank you enough for these videos. Fantastic stuff.

[P4Replica]

Great stuff - as always, Stephen !! :o)

[jts001]

thank you thank you thank you

amazing

the good ol' days indeed

[patrickshim]

Stephen, those are some amazing shots! Thank you so much for sharing those rare footages!!!