Ferrari Owner's Web Site
Ferrari seems to have the owner's site (www.ferrariowners.com) up and running now (though it goes down quite regularly). They are going to have a lot of features for owners, but the most important one to me now is being able to get build sheets.
Apr. 2009 update:
The Original Vehicle Colours document is no longer available from the owner's
site.
Mar. 2007 update:
The Heritage Certificate has been replaced with an
Original Vehicle Colours document.
Oct. 2005 update:
The owner's site no longer makes build sheets available, however
Heritage Certificates can still be
requested.
Some people have had problems registering, receiving 'The Username selected is not available' error message even when using quite unique usernames. It also turns out that the nickname (used for an email address) also has to be unique and they use the same error message which is misleading. So change both and try again if you receive that error.
Here's what they use to say when build sheets were available:
"Getting hold of a copy of your Ferrari's factory assembly sheet is easy. Just insert the details requested on the form and send in digital photos of the car's punch marks. The Build Sheet is available for the majority, but not all, the cars produced between 1947 and 1968. The service will be fully available starting from December 2001. See just how your car was when it left the Ferrari factory."
Registration number *
Type of engine *
Number of engine *
Type of gearbox *
Number of gearbox *
Type of rear axle (if applicable)
Number of rear axle (if applicable)
Photo of car exterior
Photo of engine number
Photo of gearbox number
Photo of chassis number (punch mark present on the car)
Photo of rear axle number
Now my only problem is that I don't have a picture of the gearbox number and on a 330 GT, it's on the top, requiring me to remove the console and tunnel to take a picture. One can read it using a mirror and a flashlight from underneath. I might try to take a picture in the mirror and then reverse the image using the computer.
For a primer on where to find these numbers on a 330 GT, please click here.
For those who don't know, I also run the 330 GT Registry where I'm trying to keep track of the ownership history of each car. If you own (or have owned) a 330 GT or America, please take a look at the registry and register your car.
A day later: Well, I took off the console and tunnel cover. Then I was looking at the access panel used to get at the reverse light switch on the side of the transmission. It's pretty close to where the serial number is, so I decided to take it off and see if it was possible to see the number.
Success, the serial number is near the end of the arrow. I did have to loosen the tunnel enough to raise it an inch or so to allow the camera to take a good picture.
So I went to the Ferrari owner's website, filled in all of the numbers, loaded all of the pictures and clicked on 'Enter'. Then what I got back in return was:
Request cannot be forwarded. The build sheet is not available for the vehicle specified.
I guess I can't really believe that. Now, I don't know if it just hasn't been entered into the system or they are just having problems.
I had better luck with applying for the Heritage Certificate:
Requested data correctly entered. Ferrari will check the data.
So now I wait until I'm notified. Click here for an update.
I had sent email to the contact listed
about the lack of build sheets for my car. Here's the reply:
Dear Mr Chesbro,
We apologize for the inconvenient caused.
We would like to inform you that we are finishing to digitize the
build sheets. We think we will be able to complete the build sheets at the end
of January.
We kindly ask you to repeat the request the first week of
February.
Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to
contact me via email.
Best regards,
Tiziana Mecozzi
Customer Care Ferrari Owners' Site
So all hope is not lost. I'll wait a few weeks and try again.
I received another email from Ms. Mecozzi in response to a couple of errors that I pointed out in their web site. In that she said that I would be personally notified when my build sheets were digitized and available. So now I have real hope that they exist at the factory and I'll eventually get copies. Now I just need a way to have them moved to the top of the stack by the scanner!
Today, February 27, I got an email from Ms. Mecozzi saying that my build sheets were ready to be requested. The one thing that she did mention was to use '08755gt' for my chassis number. I think that this will be confusing to others requesting their build sheets as my chassis number isn't stamped or written anywhere on the car in that format.
Ferrari has made a nice change in the request process. Previously, you entered all of the data and uploaded your pictures only to be told that the build sheets weren't available yet. Now, there's a verification page where you simply enter the chassis number. Then you are either told that the build sheets aren't available yet or the page to enter the other numbers and load your pictures is displayed.
Using my chassis number in the format specified, I was successful in entering the request for the build sheets:
Requested data correctly entered. Ferrari will check the data. :)
The smiley face was mine as the first time I entered everything, I got a 'page not found' after waiting a long time. When I clicked on 'refresh' for that page I got a 'service is not available now, please try later' message. I just went back and re-loaded the pictures and everything worked fine the second time. So finally success. Now I just wait (im)patiently while someone checks the numbers and pictures and then OKs the request.
I also checked several other chassis numbers (of friend's cars) and it looks like the build sheets are being digitized and posted in serial number order. All of the numbers lower or near mine (8755) were available while 9667 (sorry Buddy) wasn't ready yet.
Now that that everything has been scanned, I see that 747 build sheets (out of 1139) are available for 330 America and GT cars.
I got an email from Ms. Mecozzi saying that my build sheets were posted and ready to download. Click here to see them.