Ferrari Digest, Vol 173, Issue 18
From: Douglas Anderson (dntdock.net)
Date: Tue, 8 Dec 2020 15:48:40 -0800 (PST)

Thanks to George, GP, Erik and others – you have solidified, codified, and generally clarified a question I’ve had for at least 50 years:  I musta made two trips to Henry Perren.  Easily explained.  Carry on.

 

My initial response, the E Type displayed at Perren’s in May 1960, was incorrect.  And therefore I was wrong.  BUT let prattle on.

 

XKE – 1960 or 61?  That was my 60 year question. 

 

We established Bob’s dad did work at Henry Perren’s and in mid-May, 1960, they were the host of the 14th Santa Barbara Road Races pre-tech for the local race cars.  Which Bob and I attended.  Bob’s dad secured two “Worker” passes for us for the races Sat and Sun at the Santa Barbara airport.  Mine, which I am looking at now, is dated May 26 & 29 1960.  Ergo – my time line XKE buoy for lo these many years was simply the wrong dated buoy

 

That mid-week pre-tech night at Perren’s the only race car I honestly recall was Max Balchowsky’s Old Yeller.  On a side street I watched him, by himself, unload the yellow beast with a 401 c.i. Buick nail head engine and 6 Stromberg carburetors.  Either the battery was dead or it didn’t have one and Max asked me for my help pushing the car to jump start it – which I guess we accomplished.  It had dual side pipe detachable mufflers.  Wow.  Since our family cars were always Buicks I enjoyed tinkering on them.  When I saw a real race car with a Buick engine I was an overwhelmed teenager.

 

Little did I know that 50 years later, at my techs shop, Bill Erickson (who ran two Mille Miglia’ s; Peking to Paris in his 1926 Buick; and the Carrera de Pan America) was the tech for the new owners car – Old Yeller.  The same car.

 

In the Sunday, May 29th Modified race, Max finished 3rd while Bob Drake in a Maserati Tipo 61 finished 1st, Bill Kraus in a D Type Jag with a Corvette engine finished 2nd, and Dick Morgensen in a Ferrari 250 TR (Pontoon?) finished 4th.  [Ferrari Content]

 

So ok – how’d I mix up the dates?  1960 we were at Perren’s for pre-tech and since my dentist was located in the Stocker Medical Center the bus from Inglewood dropped me at that corner.  It was only natural that I must have gone in to the show room year later, 1961, on a trip to the dentist and my pea brain tied the two events together.  My minds eye recalls the coupe a light brown and the roadster was a light green.  Subject to clarification.

 

So thank you guys for your interesting stories and clarification.  Worst witness ever is an eye witness.  Mea culpa.

 

Onward

Doug

 

 

 

From: George <ygpz4re [at] hotmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 6:08 AM
To: ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com; Doug & Terri <dnt [at] dock.net>
Subject: Re: Ferrari Digest, Vol 173, Issue 18

 

Doug,

 

The E-Type was first introduced to the world on March 15, 1961 at the Geneva Motor show.  While I can't comment on the fate of cars shown here in the states (though I seriously doubt that they were crushed), the first two cars shown in Geneva are alive and well and still road-legal.  The coupe still wears its GB reg number "9600HP", and the roadster "77RW".  They may not have had VINs in the sense that we think of them today (no cars until about 1980 did), but for sure they had chassis numbers and were tracked in factory records.

 

There's a very famous story of the roadster being pulled off the test track (it was a developmental car) and sent to the Geneva show at the last minute (demand was so great after having seen the coupe).  The late-great Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis drove that car all through the night - at very high speeds - to get it from Brown's Lane to Geneva in time for it to be on the Jaguar stand the very next morning - and it was also used as a demonstrator for media and potential customers.  (FWIW - Dewis is very famous in the Jaguar world - he once drove a highly modified XK-120 to over 170mph in Belgium.  I'm not really comfortable much over 70 in mine!) 

 

But to get back to Ferrari content - the Ferrari Challenge cars of the early days all began life as street cars, so they had VINs.  In fact, one of FoW's drivers from my first season on the team ('96) couldn't bear the beating the car took on the track, so he quit racing but continued to drive it around Bethesda, MD in full Challenge trim - roll cage, seats, fire extinguishing system, livery....  I'm pretty certain that even the 360CH cars had VINs, but for sure, the F430CH cars did not.  That plate on the top of the steering column was blank.  Tangentially, it wasn't until later in the F355CH run that they were factory-built as Challenge cars, and still had VINs.  (I believe - maybe Eric N knows better and can correct me....)

 

Finally - the E-Type is (I believe) the only automobile to have a permanent place in the Museum of Modern Art.  ;-)

 

gp

 


 

From: "Douglas Anderson" <dnt [at] dock.net>

Charles notes ?That thought has crossed my mind too. Fun piece of memorabilia for us mortals who can?t buy old race cars.  ??

I wonder if they?re even VIN?d?

Flash back to May 1960.  Jaguar had just released the new E Type.  They had shipped the very first two cars to the U.S. for display at ??  Detroit Auto Show in March or so.  A coupe and an open car.  I saw them at the local dealership, Henry Perren at 4242 Crenshaw and Stocker in L.A., California.  Fell in love ? my friends dad worked there.  They also unveiled the Mini.  (That car can beat a VW - What??  Naaa ? that shoe box with go-kart wheels? Hah.) So Bob?s dad gives us a small tour ? AND these Jaguar?s are going back to the U.K. after here to be crushed.  CRUSHED??  Yep. 

Perhaps someone here can pick up the baton and clarify any mistakes.

Point is ? heavily modified and could pass as an E-legal (DOT pronunciation) street vehicle, and we (various government, chauffeured, no-it-all?s) don?t want them on the street.  Crush ?em.

End of story. Just a thought.

Doug

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