Ferrari Mailing List: Re: The stunts on the movie and back home in the hangar

[Douglas Anderson (dnt]

Hello Lash

Here’s a couple more pictures I found.  The white car belongs to a DDS who used THIS GT40 as his tow vehicle.  Whaaa?  Ayup – look real close – belcow the license plate - see the trailer hitch?  Very euro type.  He’d trailered his GT40 race car to the tracks using this GT40 road car – in this case, Riverside International Raceway.

 

 

Here’s another picture of the blue beat up street car.  this was taken at Chaffe Motors – I recalled the name.  Mind you – this was 1967 or 8.  Chaffe was located on Hawthorne Blvd about 132^nd st.  Literally up the street from Shelby’s new digs on 190^th.  If I recall – Shelby started either in Venice CA or at LAX (where a lot of the movie was shot) left hand side of the run ways – Clyde would know -  (Mines Field) or vice versa and then moved down to 190^th in Torrance CA. 

 

 

Jack Balch was Chaffe service writer and had something to do with Shelby, ergo – here’s a GT40 from Texas – fix it.  I recall one time some parts were needed and phone calls were made to Shelby, jack gave us orders – go to Shelby – they are expecting you – go in the front door – do NOT look around – go to the back – they will give you a box – bring the box back here.  DO NOT talk to anyone else.  Now go.  Honestly – I don’t recall anything about where we went – just zip zip zip in and out of there.  They could have been building tanks in there – I have no recollection.

 

At the dealership where Bob was a tech (that’s Glen in the car laughing at me because I could smoothly take off without stalling bugger) I just recalled looking at this sad blue car from Texas that cost the fellow who bought it $10,000 1967 dollars (about what - $75,000 now?) and musing - -  what a pile of crap, nothing fit right and the parking brake was reminiscent of my mom’s 1936 Plymouth – a horizontal lever above the passengers knees that pulled a wire that pulled the regular brake peddle tight.  Real Rube Goldberg – and a starter button that looked like a door bell button all for $10k?   Ahhhhh – but today?  I wish there was a time machine.

 

Onward

Doug

 

From: Lashdeep Singh <lashdeep [at] yahoo.com>
Sent: Friday, November 15, 2019 4:22 PM
To: Doug & Terri <dnt [at] dock.net>
Cc: The FerrariList <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] The stunts on the movie and back home in the hangar

 

Doug, GT Mk3 street version or a converted Mk1?

 

I have ridden in one original, #1072, a few chassis before the double LM winner #1075.

 

It was an extreme, hardcore machine.

 

Compared to a Daytona, it was like a greyhound versus a walrus.

 

1160kg in street trim!!

 

 

 

 

On Nov 15, 2019, at 11:30, Doug & Terri <dnt [at] dock.net> wrote:

Ken Miles – according the book “Go Like Hell” he got the shaft in more ways than I can count (past three).  He shoulda won Lemans; the phony winners get all and I mean ALL the Ford glory – dinners, meetings, gala events etc etc and Ken gets to back to his home and his Siamese cat that can use a toilet; and, he gets killed testing the J car in front of his young son.  I don’t think I ever met him but we did get to flirt around in a wire-wheeled street GT40 RH drive street version.  About 1967.  It might have been GT P/1001.  Clutch?  HAH – it was an in-and-out box.  Steering?  HAH – tootling about and compared to a Ferrari Daytona the Daytona is smooth as silk and drives like a dream.  But it was cool . . . well, hotter than hell in the cabin.

Doug