Wednesday 30 March 2016

Ferrari 400 - Misunderstood

Today someone notified me about this great Russian article. Just whack it in Google translator and have a good read:


https://www.drive2.ru/b/2922518/

and part 2:

https://www.drive2.ru/b/2922656/

Tuesday 29 March 2016

Ferrari 365GT4 2+2 body shell


I came across this one on FChat. Apparently the bodywork is being reused to save another one. Just adding this one for the ouch records:

Monday 21 March 2016

Usomanutenzione Owners manual, Betriebsanleitung, Workshop Manuals

A very nice link I was provided today by Pietro. As indicated by the title, it's a website where you can order owner, parts and workshop manuals for mainly italian cars. But it does also contain a nice Google folder from which you can download them freely. I will add the link to the automobilia section as reference:

http://www.usomanutenzione.it/

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B-pcU63O3CjbcTVvemtKN1E0QmM&usp=sharing

Happy downloading everyone



Thursday 17 March 2016

Book 1984 Supercar Road Tests - Ferrari 400

How's that, a BMW M1 on this blog. Interestingly this German car does have the Vitaloni Tornado mirrors just like the 400. And yes, it does have the Tornado sticker on it as well (albeit only on the left side). For those who are unaware I still have a few stickers left, see this blog:

http://erwin400.blogspot.nl/2016/01/for-sale-tornado-by-vitaloni-decal.html

At first I had bought this book in the German language and quickly I noticed all the cars in this book had English license plates. So it turned out it was originally published as an English book. So now I have both. It does contain quite a lot of articles about cars which I consider interesting. If any of the German readers is interesting in buying my German version just drop me a note. You can have it for € 10,- (excl. shipping).  The book ISBN is:

ISBN 10:060035041X
ISBN 13:9780600350415
 
The article is now available in the download folder:
 

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Ferrari Key Fob A.E. Lorioli Fratelli Milano - Roma

When I got my spare key set complete I also noticed about this specific key fob that should be coming with it. Apparently this is another item that has been become very collectible which is resulting in silly prices. This specific key fob is made by A.E. Lorioli. A brand I had never heard of before and I could not find much detail about it either. It's a company that is specialized in making medals, coins and badges. I noticed they have been making badges for Fiat in the past:



I'm unsure if they have making badges for Ferrari as well. Their website www.lorioli.com is no longer active and I sense they might have went bankrupt. As said, I couldn't find anything more about this company. Luckily with help from archive.org I was able to find some old captures of their website. From this I finally learned what the initials A.E. stands for. In case you are interested as well, hereby a translation from their website that provides a bit of history:

The activity is aimed initially at medals related to the events of World War I, to which are added coinages of sporting character, and then tackle the sector of commemorative editions and finally the medals designed for events of national resonance. In 1923, in order to cope with the substantial increase in orders, the company moved its headquarters in Via Bronzetti, number 25, in a new development of the plant, offices and owners' homes. These were years of decisive impetus due to the large spread that the medal obtained during the Fascist period. In 1928 the death of Philip Lorioli and the withdrawal of his brother Michael, the conduct of the business is taken by the new generation consists of Arturo and Edgardo, sons of Philip, and Walter, the son of Michael. Their commitment focuses on perfecting the design and modeling departments, and the establishment of an adequate commercial network.
 
The Second World War leads to a slowdown in production which is reduced in August of '43, when the plant was badly damaged by bombing. The war involves a reorganization of the activity and the construction of a new and broader sales network. It is a particularly sensitive period for reasons both internal and external to the company: in 1946 dies prematurely Edgardo Lorioli shortly after his cousin Gualtiero withdraw from its commitment to the society; change the methods and the processing concepts; changes the market situation. The guide is taken from Arturo Lorioli, making use of the Franco Savoia collaboration for the commercial sector and Giovanni Amati for the administrative.
 
In the early fifties he becomes part of the executive Vittorio Lorioli, son of Edgardo, Philip and Giampaolo, descendants of Arturo. The Lorioli is transformed from a partnership to a corporation, has consolidated its position through the acquisition of a Rome-based agencies in major Italian cities and some representations abroad. Being necessary the expansion and rationalization of production departments, in 1959 began construction of the new plant in Cernusco sul Naviglio who was inaugurated the following year. The disappearance of Arturo Lorioli in 1965, the third generation Lorioli is professionally and logistically able to continue the family business. It is enhanced production and traditional production methods and initiate specialized sectors, such as that of art multiples, intensifying collaboration with the artists and the relations with collectors. The Lorioli participates in the main events and national and international exhibitions of the coin. Indicative is the allocation in 1983 of the AIAM prize (Italian Association of the Medal), an association that brings together artists, publishers and scholars of the coin. In 1990 the members of the family Lorioli transferred the company and the plant is diversified production. The workings of the numismatics industry cease in 1994. Vittorio Lorioli remains in the industry as a consultant and as a researcher making an important contribution to studies of the coin. He works among other things, the magazine "Numismatic Chronicle". In 1996 he increased the medal of the Historical Museum of Bergamo with a thousand historical medals from 1919 onwards. In 1995 he registered at the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo 150 medals made by the Company of family, together with the concomitant donation of Caesar Johnson, build the initial nucleus of the Medals Contemporary Collection

In any case, in order to be complete and Original I simply had to have one as well. But I was not willing to pay insane prices. Surprisingly quite a few are offered for sale and sometimes even in the Original package. I suspect there is still floating some NOS key fobs around, unless these are reproductions:


Meanwhile I also got ahold of a time period magazine by Auto Becker which had a page about Ferrari merchandise. So in 1979 such key fob costed about € 7,50
And now prices are starting from € 200,- up to € 900,-


Last week my radar catched one which was reasonably affordable. And it arrived today, it's slightly damaged but I call it patina, so it's a nice fit for my 37 year old 400. Time for a cuban cigar.



Monday 14 March 2016

Ferrari Classiche : Ferrari 400

By sheer luck I noticed someone liked this older photo by "Tom Yang" which was taken in October 2013. And if you look carefully you can see the Classiche department behind him. And yes that's a 400 on the lift. It's not the first time I spotted photo's with 400's in the Classiche department. Good to see they are valued and getting the right treatment.

Friday 11 March 2016

Ferrari for the family - the hottest advice on buying a 365/400

For those who needs buying advice. A good 400 can still be obtained for less then € 100.000 A classic and elegant Pininfarina body with a V12 under the bonnet. Don't miss out the opportunity to buy a good one while you can.

And another article added to the growing archive. It's now available in the download folder

Thursday 10 March 2016

1979 Motor magazine : Ferrari's Aston Challenger

Ferrari's 340bhp 156mph 400 costs over 28.000 GBP and is a direct challenger to Aston Martin's superb V8.

And another great article added to the magazine archive. It's now available in the download folder.

Wednesday 9 March 2016

Affordable Dream Car: 1976 – 1985 Ferrari 400/400i

I wasn't aware that Ebay also provided blog services. In any case, someone wrote a small article about the 400. Not really exciting so just for the records:

http://www.ebay.com/motors/blog/affordable-dream-car-1976-1985-ferrari-400400i

Monday 7 March 2016

Ferrari 400i vs Jaguar XJ5.3C

Shamelessly excessive, these cars were built for drivers who enjoyed gorging on silken power.

And yet again another magazine article. It's now available in the download folder.
The archive keeps growing. Check out the "magazine" blog label on the right side for a complete overview. I welcome any submission or help on this matter.

Sunday 6 March 2016

Saturday 5 March 2016

Auto Galleria Luce - Japan : Coppa Fioravanti - IL CAVALLINO NEL CUORE

By surprise this exposition came to my attention. Dedicated to the oeuvre of Leonardo Fioravanti.
And yes the 400 is presented (it's a 412 in this case). Cool to see the print outs on the wall. Read my blog on this matter as well:

http://erwin400.blogspot.nl/2015/08/design-story-part-ii-pininfarina-paolo.html

If any of you will visit this exposition I 'm interested in additional pictures.

http://www.luce-nagoya.jp/concours_dElegance.html

http://www.luce-nagoya.jp/Event.html

http://autodesignmagazine.com/2016/04/fioravanti-la-mostra-cavallino-nel-cuore-nagoya/




Tuesday 1 March 2016

Pininfarina advertisement : Ferrari 365GT4 2+2

On ebay I saw this advertisement page for sale:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FERRARI-365-GT4-2-2-PININFARINA-Large-9x12-Original-1972-Advertisement-Ad-RARE-/291694909343

Unfortunately the shipping costs were even more expensive, so I'm skipping this time around.
When checking with the seller I was informed it was taken from an automobile yearbook. I now wonder which book it was? It's definately not the Pininfarina yearbook 72/73 ...