Back to the future: Ferrari factory and assembly line - Part II - Ferrari Testarossa

Remember this one: http://erwin400.blogspot.nl/2013/12/back-to-future-ferrari-factory-and.html

I found another two pictures from a different time era when the Testarossa was being produced. The 412 was build on the same assembly line:

Ferrari 400i - Iniezione - Servizio Assitenza Tecnica Addestramento - Bosch KE Jetronic

I scanned today the injection technical support manual. And funny enough I catched this Tweet afterwards. How's that?

It's now available in the download folder (FerrariKEJetronic).

Cavallino - Market Guide 1988

I came ahold of this magazine Cavallino - edition February/March 1988 no.43

It did had this market guide which I scanned. Interesting to see how the 365 GT4 2+2 and the 400
was perceived back then, and their price tag. If you didn't know yet, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them. But in this case maybe it's better to save it locally and view it.

Italy here we come

That's what I'm talking about: http://www.italyherewe.com/ (sorry, it's Dutch only)

Yes, the 2014 edition is opened. I'm looking forward to it as I'm participating with my 400.
Looks like it will be another cool programm this year with lots of nice driving routes, including the Stelvio and the Dolomites.

Unfortunately my partner in crime can't make it, so I'm looking for a co-driver. If you fancy this and you think you fit the requirements just let me know. Or if you are interested to participate with your own car just seek contact with the IHWC management (yes, they can be bribed).

Wedden dat? (Dutch TV program) - Ferrari blindfolded recognition bet

This is a video snapshot of a well known Dutch TV show, I guess this broadcast is from somewhere in the nineties. It's a TV show about making a bet on special talents people have developped. This guy is able to recognize blindfolded any Ferrari model. One of the cars is a 412. I'm quite impressed on how he makes a distinction between the 400 and the 412. From the foglights he made up it had to be a late 400 (phase 2) or a 412. In the end he had to make a guess as he was in doubt between a late 400 or a 412. But he guessed it right. He could have known for sure by checking if the prancing horse was mounted in the grille. As that's only available on a 412 and the 365 GT4 2+2.

The Hunt Part XIV - Ferrari 400i - Panasonic RM-710

It's time for another update on my hunt. By now it's April 20th 2013 and number fourteen is targetted. I had been already in contact with this person for a while. But due to the winter and some required maintenance that was needed I could not visit it earlier.

It was for sale for quite a while for a interesting price. As usual I had done a bit of research and noticed it was spotted before on the following website:

http://www.autojunk.nl/2010/03/ferrari-400i-automatic-3

The wooden front for the radio console more or less confirmed it was the same car - I had received a few pictures from the owner in advance so that was easy to check.

From the website you will understand I had high expectations as it looked very promising.

Unfortunately the car did not had any documentation or maintenance records. Also the toolkit was missing. When I arrived they were washing the car as it was a bit dirty. It was still in it's Original paint and didn't show any sign of spraying. However the right door panel had a huge paint spot which was caused by a rallye sticker that was removed.
The blinking lights showed much sun exposure and the dashboard had  a huge tear at he ventilator section. The interior looked ok but it didn't had the Original steering wheel.
It had however an extremely outta space radio. LOVE IT !!! It was a Panasonic RM-710. Just see the pictures for it's coolness.

As for technical bits, the distributionchain  adjustment screw showed it did required a new chain. The engine was running very poor. They just had installed a new MDS electronic ignition unit and a Jaguar distriubtor cap (!!) - aparently that functions. They were still working on finetuning it.

As it was located in a garage I also could inspect it underneath. De suspension and shocks looked very good. But the exhaust was extremely poor, as far one could consider it a proper exhaust.

Some of the breaks were also stuck and due to the ongoing repairs the asking price likely would go up. So in the end I considered it to much hassle and becoming to expensive to get it in my desired state. So another one off the list.

 

 

 

 

 

PANASONIC RM-710 - HOW COOL IS THAT!

 

 

Jalopnik DOTS-O-Rama Sunday, San Francisco Edition: 1978 Ferrari 400

I just added another Jalopnik article to the online section. Not a special article but the comment fields are always entertaining to read:

http://jalopnik.com/5153805/dots+o+rama-sunday-san-francisco-edition-1978-ferrari-400

Albert Uderzo - Asterix & Obelix - Ferrari 400 / 412

As a kid I always liked this comic. From the F400 European club website I learned the creator, Albert Uderzo, also possesed a Ferrari 412 (amongst many other Ferrari's):

http://www.f400club.com/la-ferrari-412-dalbert-uderzo-est-a-vendre/

Today I came across this unique picture which I thought is worthwhile sharing as it includes himself and his famous characters. I miss Idefix though ...

The picture is showing a 400i and not a 412 - so I'm not sure if it's his car?

1981 Ferrari 400i Stretch Limousine

Slightly behind as this one was published 5 days ago. Not sure why I missed it out, but here it is on YouTube, only in America:

Prince Bernhard Ferrari 400i

Another blog about Prince Bernhard. There is so much history on this man, but also on his cars. You can write a book about it. In fact that's exactly what someone did. The book is called "de automobielen van Prins Bernhard. Unfortunately I haven't found one for sale, yet ... As known, he owned a 365 GT4 2+2, a 400i and a 412. The book should contain some interesting pictures about these.

 

I got ahold of a copy of the "Cavallino - the journal of Ferrari history" - "Ferrari Royale". It's available in the download folder. It's an edition about the 250 GT Speciale Coupe owned by prince Bernhard.  It does include a nice overview of all his Ferrari's. See snapshot:  

 



Again the Dutch Ferrari register had a unique picture stored of this 400i with Bernhard on it. Remarkably the number plate does not match. It should be JK-69-LN.

 

Just for the records, another unique picture of Bernhard and Pininfarina in his shop:

Ferrari 400 Club meeting at Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace du Bourget

Find hereby a small reportage about the last meeting held by the French Ferrari 400 club:

http://www.f400club.com/a-g-2013-le-club-400-au-musee-de-lair-et-de-lespace/

Ferrari Database

Perhaps a known one but I only discovered it recently. A very interesting website containing much information about each model produced with supporting details:

http://www.ferraridatabase.com/

So together with the Dutch Ferrari register I added these to the club section. Happy browsing.

To give an insight, even this rare one-off by David Levy based on the Ferrari 400 is listed. I only became aware of this one via the Fchat forum:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/365-gt4-2-2-400-412/434008-david-levys-transformed-400-412-a.html

Update 20-5-2020: via Facebook I got ahold of this addiotional info:

Australian David Levy’s bespoke Ferrari began life as a RHD 400 that he rebodied with what began as an Intermeccanica body. That short sentence greatly oversimplifies the challenges, effort and the achievement of his twenty year project. His objective was always to build his own car on Ferrari mechanicals that would not be a replica of any of the Ferrari models that he greatly loved, but would draw styling cues from them.

The engine is a 400 (not 400i) with high compression pistons and different cam profiles. Due to the width of the engine (with DCOE carburettors), it would not fit inside the inner guards so David machined off the inlet trumpets and cast new inlets to take downdraft throttle bodies the engine runs on Haltech EFI and makes lots of horsepower. Since the original Webers would no longer foul on the pedal box, he was able to move the engine much further back in the chassis, also.

He was never happy with the twin bonnet scoops which were a necessity to fit the intake system, but he later found some shorter units that allowed him to do away the bulges. He made a new bonnet skin starting with a Jaguar XJ6 roof skin.

One of the last modifications he made (shortly before he lost a long battle with cancer in 2012), was to fit wire wheels to replace the original wheels that he had designed and cast. These were quite flat faced due to the need to get the wide track of the 400 under a narrower body. This is not nearly as obvious with wire wheels fitted.

The interior is trimmed in dark green hides. The air-conditioning unit is mounted behind the seats so as not to spoil the period look of the dash.

Pinin strikes again

I can't help it. I told it you it was haunting me. Yesterday I checked "Si a Lancia No a Marchionne" on Facebook and saw this cool Lancia. But who was lurking in the back?

As the photo revealed the website, it was easy to look up:

http://www.conceptcarz.com/z22332/Ferrari-Pinin-Concept.aspx

Ferrari 400. Proof that not every Ferrari was beautiful

Oh well ...

 

 

Spotted today at Interclassics: Ferrari 400i

Today I spotted this 400i on the Interclassics. It was sold already. It had a very particular color combo, light green-ish with a dark green interior.

I did a quick on the register and easily found it:

http://www.ferrari-register.nl/ferrari/home/stradali-nuovi/365-400-412/400-i/35031

From this I was able to recover the license plate and learned it was originally delivered in the Netherlands in 1981 and sold to the 2nd owner at 1996. And now it's onto the 3rd owner.