Phil Bachman has passed on. He will be remembered as a true Ferraristi. He is famous for his yellow cars. Rest in peace....

     I am very sad to announce that Phil Bachman has passed away on August 4th, 2025. He was a very kind and modest man who was known around the world.

     The Bachman family are some of the nicest people I have ever met and are pillars in the Ferrari community.

     Philip Morelock Bachman, Jr., was born in Bristol, VA, on August 29th, 1937, and was an extraordinary businessman who had a passion for cars and motorsports.

     He attended University of Tennessee and graduated in 1962 with a degree in Business Administration.

     His love for competitive go-karts grew into a real love for automobiles, which led to him purchasing Pless Pontiac-Cadillac in 1967. At 29 years old, he was the youngest Cadillac dealer in the country.

     In the late 1970s he expanded his franchise and acquired what would become Phil Bachman Toyota and started Phil Bachman Honda.

     Eventually during his 54-year career, his dealerships represented Pontiac, Cadillac, Buick, GMC, Honda, Toyota, Scion, Datsun, Nissan, AMC, Jeep, Chrysler, Didge, Ram, Renault, and DeLorean.

     Automobiles were not just his occupation, they were his favorite hobby. Phil realized a dream of his in 1984 when he bought his first Ferrari, a 308 GTS QV in Giallo Modena.

     308s are rare in yellow and Phil thought Ferraris looked brilliant in yellow. That 308 came in handy when he and his wife, Martha, had to make a speedy dash across town – to the hospital, where their son, Phillip, was born soon thereafter. ‘He was almost born in that car,’ Martha Bachman said. Philip is a huge Ferrari fan just like his father.

      He became very involved with Ferraris and joined the Ferrari Club of America. He became a celebrated judge and Ferrari restorer.Phil and Martha both had amazing knowledge of Ferrari. His passion for Ferrari grew into a collection. And what a collection it is!

     He began buying yellow Ferraris but the secret sauce was his yearning for the last car of production. He always asked for the final car in a production line and always asked for it to be yellow! Resulting in a mind-boggling array of Ferraris at his home in Greeneville, Tennessee.

     So how mind-boggling is his collection you may ask? In addition to his cherished first Ferrari, his Giallo 308 GTS QV, he has added some of the rarest Ferraris ever made.

     Here is a small list of his amazing cars: Enzo, an alloy bodied 275 GTB/4, F40, 166MM, 250 GT Lusso, 365 GT4/BB, 430 Scuderia, Scuderia Spider 16M, 612 Sessanta, a yellow FXX, 288 GTO and so many more. And not just Ferraris, as a long time GM dealer, Phil has several Pontiac Firebirds, Fieros and Cadillacs in the collection.

     Phil and Martha were incredible people and they were my friends. One of my favorite memories of Phil and Martha was at a TRutlands Open House Party in 2015 and I took some pictures of Phil having fun with Claude, Greg Jones’s famous parrot! It was so funny. I’ll miss them terribly.

     Ironically, I composed this obituary today, August 14th, the day Enzo Ferrari passed away in 1988.

      Phil was preceded in death by his wife, Martha Massengill Bachman; his parents, Philip M. Bachman, Sr., and Ruth Cox Wakefield, and stepfather Paul C. Wakefield; his sisters, Ruth Bachman Richards (husband Mark Richards) and Gloria Bachman Rachmacey (husband Joseph V. Rachmacey); his father-in-law J.W. Massengill and mother-in-law Willie C. Massengill; and his nephews Milton B. Abercrombie and Phil Bachman Abercrombie.

     Phil is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Philip M. Bachman, III, and Amanda L. Bachman; his niece, Victoria Abercrombie Hays, and his nephews, Paul Abercrombie (wife Mary Ann Abercrombie), Mark Richards, Russ Richards; and several great nieces and nephews.