330 GT Serial Number 1
As most of you know I also run the 330 GT Registry where I keep track of the history of all 330 America and 330 GT cars.
A while ago, I got this email:
We attended the Merril-Lynch Vintage races at Road America at Elkhart Lake WI. on Sat. July 21. I was accompanied by an ex-Ferrari 330GT owner who owned serial number 00001 while he was stationed in Europe while serving with the US Army in 1976. He sold it in Vicenza, Italy to an Admiral in the US Navy in 1976. My friend, xxx, was the 3rd owner of the car. It was originally owned by Enzo Ferrari and was sold to Major Fellini, a psychiatrist in the US Army also stationed in Vicenza.
At Road America, we saw a few 330GTs that interested xxx. While looking over one, xxx spoke with a young man who owned a yellow 330GT that had some rust on the outside of the passenger door. As they spoke, Max inquired about how he would go about finding what ever happened to his 330 GT. So he gave xxx your e-mail address. We checked out the registry on the web site, but the serial number 00001 was not listed. The number was stamped on the engine block.
We would appreciate any advice, info., or help on how we could discover the whereabouts of the car, or its disposition. Please help us if you can. Thanks very much Yours,
Naturally I was a bit skeptical as serial number 1 (actually 001S) Ferrari is a 166 sport spyder. There were a couple of 330 GT prototypes that were reputed to have been owned or used by Ferrari? I asked Gerald Roush of the Ferrari Market Letter, would it be possible that the '00001' is the numero interno for the first type 209 engine in either of these prototypes?
In response, Gerald wrote back:
S/N 8687 GT
330 GT 2+2
Pininfarina 2+2 Series III
Chassis Tipo 571/65
Motor Tipo 209 No. 0001
Manufactured 1966
Identified as 330 GT 2+2 Series III. Destinazione dealer Nocentini, Italy. Assembly sequence no. 868, body no. 0073. (H. Raab's FSN Part I).
Offered 1970 by Lewis B. Epps, Norfolk, VA. (Road & Track Jan 1970).
Purchased in Italy summer of 1976 by L. P. Gollobin. (Gollobin FAF visit early 1977).
Sold 1987 by Lyle Tanner Enterprises.
US spec car. Has p/s but no a/c. New in prugna with black leather.
1980 ish, brought to Hawaii by Robert Malis. Prugna with black. 1985 ish, repainted in resale red and sold to someone in Hawaii. 1990 ish, sold to Ellen Masaki, a very well known piano teacher. 1999, sold to Larry Thompson, the token old Ferrari mechanic in Hawaii. (Michael Sheehan 22 Jan 2001).
Purchased c. 1999 by Larry Thompson, Honolulu, HI. The aluminum tag that is riveted to the firewall shows the chassis number in the normal fashion and the space on this tag for the engine number is stamped 209/0001. The pad on the right rear of the engine block where the engine number is stamped is also marked with 209/0001. The chassis number, 8687, is also stamped on the block on the horizontal surface just in front of the front carburetor and just behind the timing chain chest. The aluminum plate on the firewall and the pad at the rear of the engine block are stamped with the same size and font of stamp. The number at the front of the block is a smaller size. The aluminum plate and the pad at the rear of the engine look normal and original, like other Ferraris seen. The problem is that I can't believe that this is really the first type 209 engine. I looked at several of my back issues of FML and see this car is well into the number sequence for the later, two mount engined cars. (Undated note from Larry Thompson).
I contacted Larry Thompson to clarify that he did (and does) own this car and to ask for pictures of the various numbers. Larry kindly responded with these pictures:
| Engine serial number and internal engine number on the block. |
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Serial Number on the front of the block stamped between the heads just behind the front cover. |
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| Aluminum plate on chassis. Normally only '209' is stamped in the engine area. |
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Serial Number on the chassis front member. |
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So you can see the there was 0001 in plain site so someone might assume that the engine number was the serial number of the car. As for Enzo Ferrari using it as his personal car, don't all owners want to be able to claim that when it comes time to sell it?
I wrote back to the original inquirer telling what information I had got on 8687 and that it was probably the car in question as it was in Italy during the mid 70s when he had owned his 330 GT and bore a number of 0001. I asked if any of the names were familiar or he had any way of confirming that his car was 8687. I got no response to two emails. I guess that I destroyed the mysticism of his serial number 1 Ferrari. As I wasn't able to get any confirmation, I've left his records out of the registry information of SN 8687.
By the way, according to Hilary Raab's book, SN 8689 had an engine number of 209/0002. Once the serial number of the chassis was stamped on the engine and if the engine had to be replaced, I would think that they wouldn't stamp the engine in the same way or the two blocks could get confused. I don't know if there were some bad castings that made both of these engines fail during testing in the car and they had to be replaced or there was some other reason these engines were numbered this way.
Hmmm, now that build sheets are usually available, I need to talk Larry Thompson into taking the necessary pictures and submit them to the Ferrari Owner's Site. Perhaps the build sheet would provide more to this story.