Odds and Ends

    In all the books and magazines here in the office I run across many articles and sometimes unusual and interesting things jump out at me.

    In this case it was a couple of blurbs from Road & Track dated April 1960. The People & Places had the following:

    “Latest motoring equipment in Italy is a 1-ft high red triangular reflector. The triangle must be placed 50 yd down the road whenever a car halts on the highway outside a city at night. Police require drivers to show their triangles as well as their licenses in case of traffic violations.”

    I don’t know if every Ferrari, 1960 and later, has a triangle reflector in the tool kit but maybe this accessory should be available in the trunk. Clearly, the Italian government required one and maybe other countries did also?

    I would bet the Italians didn’t come up with this on their own. Germany would be the logical place to require one first and the Italians thought it might be a good idea.

    This may be one more thing to research to make your Ferrari attain that 100-point status.

 

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     In the same People & Places was another interesting tidbit. In Volume 4705 I wrote an article called Welcome to the Future.

    I opined about how Ferrari would one day be so common that soccer moms would be driving the new Purosangue to a grocery store near you.

    Again, this is from the April 1960 Road & Track.

    “The year’s most astonishing award was made recently in Beverly Hills. There the League of American Housewife Consumers [sic] announced special citations to Enzo Ferrari & others for “their efforts on behalf of women.” Ferrari was honored for his “influence in making the small American-built car possible.” According to the citation “Their economy permits two cars in almost every family today, insuring a longer life span for women, who no longer need to walk to & from the marketing & bringing children to school.” We can almost certainly look for future Ferraris with built-in super market carts & kiddy karriers. There is a good chance that they will be named “Housewife Consumers.” 

    I almost don’t even know where to begin with this one. First, it is 2022 and to even think through the words written here makes me feel like I’ve done something wrong.

    I’m pretty sure the League of American Housewife Consumers was either disbanded years ago or has changed its name to something more innocuous.

    In addition, we cannot assume only women would have a role in running the family household and raising a family.

    But there is still something interesting here.

    This was Beverly Hills in California. Aspiring to a two-car family was something most thought showed affluence.

    What car could have motivated the League to award Mr. Ferrari? How about the latest offering from Maranello?

    Up until the 1960s, Ferrari only offered race cars and sports cars. Exotic, temperamental cars that did not have the civilities to be used as common automobiles.

    Then came the 250 GTE. A 2+2 with room for kids and groceries. New mobility for an up-and-coming affluent society.

    This was not a racing car; it was a sedan with plush leather interior. Sound deadening and a large trunk just made for groceries, stroller and bags for weekend getaways.

    The economy statement does make me wonder, but as we know the 3-liter engine, driven sanely, does yield decent fuel mileage. Compared to the large engined, chrome bespeckled, behemoths made in America at the time, a Ferrari looks downright plain and economical.

    So, here we are in 2022 contemplating the wisdom of Ferrari producing the Purosangue and why Ferrari is now looking to add an SUV to the line-up.

    My current theory is the award was given to Enzo and somewhere it was lost in the mail. The post office eventually sends lost mail and maybe, just maybe, the letter finally arrived.

 

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    Thinking about things that finally arrived, Jim Hunter’s book The Ferrari Place is now available.

    Jim personally dropped off my copy this week. Don’t expect the same courtesy if you order one. He will ship it to you directly.

    This book is an expanded view of FAF Motorcars, how it came to be, the people involved and it is loaded with lots of pictures.

    FAF to the uninitiated was the Ferrari dealer in Tucker, Georgia, who started out suppling parts via catalog.

    Friendly and knowledgeable, traits unknown at the time in the world of Ferrari, they built a business that became historic.

    Jim Hunter visited the FAF building after obtaining his driver’s license. He made the trek to find Ferrari mecca behind the cement plant in downtown Tucker.

    When we look at today’s Ferrari dealer, we should recognize how far the experience has come.

    Take a look into the past and see how FAF Motorcars bridged the gap between Chinetti and corporate Ferrari North America.

    When you get to page 40 you can see what a very young Jim Weed looks like (right, lower left corner). Even better, you can see what a young Steve Ahlgrim looks like (page 41, lower left corner).

    Yes, we were there. Buy the book and enjoy the history.

    Contact Jim Hunter at autospheric@gmail.com

    Instagram and Facebook @theferrariplace