For sale : RHD Ferrari 400 Automatic - Leon Page - Page & Moy motor racing tours

I spotted this RHD 400 Automatic Carburettor on Dutch license plates for sale:

https://www.carandclassic.com/nl/advertenties/C2115230

So out of curiosity I checked it via the Dutch road registery (RDW) and apparently it has been in the Netherlands since 1993. 

And the advert has quite some historic reference about the car (sorry, it's in Dutch). 

Dit is een stijlvolle en zeer goed gedocumenteerde Ferrari 400 Automatic, afgewerkt in chic zilvergrijs metallic met een zwart lederen interieur. Het betreft de gezochte vroege versie met zes Weber-carburateurs, gebouwd vóór de introductie van de met brandstofinjectie uitgeruste 400i. Deze carburateurversie staat bekend om zijn karaktervolle V12, een hoger vermogensniveau en aanzienlijk lagere productiecijfers, waardoor hij vandaag de dag duidelijk zeldzamer is en geliefder onder verzamelaars. Deze Ferrari 400 werd voor het eerst geregistreerd in het Verenigd Koninkrijk op 28 februari 1978, met kenteken AJU266T, op naam van Mk L. Page uit Rothley, Leicestershire. Page was de eerste eigenaar en reed de auto tot 1980, waarna de auto werd ingeruild voor een nieuwe 400 bij 29. 000 mijl. De Ferrari kreeg vervolgens kenteken AJT400A en kwam terecht bij M. A. Sydall in Grantham, en daarna bij verzamelaar Roland Saam via Modena Engineering in Castle Combe. Saam schreef deze auto in voor de Ferrari Owners Club Concours op Brocket Hall, waar de 400 in Klasse K een keurige 156 punten behaalde. Eind jaren tachtig werd de auto geadverteerd in de Ferrari Market Letter: metallic Grigio, zwart leer, “bare-metal” hersteld door Terry Hoyle Ltd in de originele zilveren kleur, technisch perfect afgesteld, voorzien van een Ansa-uitlaatsysteem en met 67. 000 mijl op de teller. De vraagprijs was destijds 95. 000 USD. Later volgde nog een vijfde Britse eigenaar, waarna de Ferrari op 26 april 1993 werd geregistreerd in Nederland. De auto verscheen vervolgens opnieuw in de Ferrari Market Letter, dit keer via Peter van Megen: zilver, zwart leer, 73. 000 mijl, 29. 900 USD. Er werd gesuggereerd dat Jimmy Page (oprichter en gitarist van de wereldwijd beroemde band Led Zeppelin) de eerste eigenaar zou zijn. Een charmant verhaal, maar historisch niet te bewijzen. De auto is sinds 2019 geregistreerd op naam van de huidige eigenaar; in Nederland heeft de Ferrari slechts twee eigenaren gehad. Technisch is er recent veel werk verricht, waaronder revisie van de cilinderkoppen, vervanging van de distributieketting, nieuwe filters, koppakking(en) en een complete remmenrevisie. De auto heeft een geldige MOT tot 19 december 2027. Dankzij de zeldzame carburateurmotor, de uitgebreide historie en de complete documentatie is deze Ferrari 400 Automatic een bijzonder interessant exemplaar voor de liefhebber die de auto visueel én technisch naar een hoger niveau wil tillen.

Now we know for sure that Leon Page owned 24885 and traded it for 32017. And apparently I did had a blog about that one (32017) without knowing or remembering that:

Ferrari 400: The Silver Stone Classic Sale 2017 - Ferrari 400i Automatic

As for Mr. Page: Leon Page must be the Page of Page & Moy, the travel agency. 

They used to arrange tours to Le Mans, see this article in Motor Sport Magazine:

Page & Moy Ltd February 1979 - Motor Sport Magazine

Autogespot in London - Ferrari 365GT4 2+2 - Venezuela

This car got spotted this month in London and a few weeks before in Maranello. I posted it in the Facebook group and the owner responded to it. 

Apparently it´s his daily driver and the license plate was referring to it´s production date: 9766 SF

976 --> 1976  and 6 for the month June. And SF you can guess. 

The VIN is 19693, so it's one of the very last production (19709 being the very last one). It's delivered new in Venezuela to Andrea Ippolito Brancaccio, famous in the motorcycle world with Johny Cecotto.

https://www.moto.it/MotoGP/andrea-ippolito-che-porto-cecotto-e-lavado-ai-titoli-mondiali.html

Biography (English) : https://www.aimaweb.net/contact/

I did find this blogpost with another 365GT4 2+2 in Venezuela:

https://erwin400.blogspot.com/2023/08/exotic-ferrari-locations-caracas.html

Brock Yates - Enzo Ferrari - The Man and the Machine - four-door-Ferrari - 400i - 8.32

 I recently finished this book and a very good book may I say:

It's a biography about Enzo Ferrari and provides many insights about him and how the company developed. As might be known; Enzo Ferrari needed the road cars to cover the costs for his racing department. This is where his main focus and attention was. Yes, the road cars were a necessity and effectively was always of a lesser interest to him. When Fiat bought Ferrari the most important aspect to him was he remained in full control over the racing scuderia. Ever since the road cars production was merely controlled by Fiat. Albeit he likely must had some influence over it. In the book the following is mentioned: 

"Regardless of the myths built up around Enzo Ferrari and his later road cars - such as the 308GTB/GTS, 328GTB/GTS, 512BB Boxes, 400i Automatic - he had almost nothing whatsoever to do with their creation. The last road car that might be legitimately be considered a true Ferrari was the 365GTB4 Daytona. Subsequent automobiles were really more like limited-production Fiats (or mass-produced Ferraris) than like the classic quasi-racing cars of core."

The book also clearly pointed out a few times that Enzo considered buyers of these road cars so called "fools". He looked at them with much disdain. 

Another interesting passage in this book, which triggered me to write this blog is the following:

"While Enzo Ferrari  remained detached from the passenger-car operation on a daily basis, he did not fail to respond to the accolades being heaped on Porsche 959 - a twin-turbo charged, four-wheel-drive, 200 mph road car that would easily outperform the vaunted top-of-the-line Testarossa. This prompted him to counter with the development of the twin-turbo F40 (celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the Scuderia), a winged 200-mph coupe with a gutted interior similar to that of a racing car. The automobile delighted Ferrari, and when prototypes began to run at Fiorano, he exclaimed to a friend,  'This car is so fast it'll make you shit your pants.'
There is no question that his contribution to the F40 project was significant. This semi-racing car was the basis for Ferrari's reputation as the manufacturer of the fastest road cars on the earth (an issue that could be declared by Porsche and Lamborghini loyalists, but the F40 would remain a significant contender in that exclusive league by any measrurement)."

Interestingly I do happen have in my archive this unique photo with Enzo Ferrari in his Lancia Thema 8.32 next to a Porsche 959.

If you don't know, the Lancia Thema 8.32 is a 4 door saloon with a (detuned) Ferrari engine. It was labelled 8.32 as the name Ferrari was not allowed, nor were any Ferrari logo's allowed.  Only on the engine intake manifold it does state "Lancia by Ferrari". In any case, this nicely leads to the next paragraph in the book

"He made one other significant contribution, albeit a negative one, to the passenger-car side of the business. In 1987, the same year the F40 was formally introduced the Fiat management was on the verge of designing a four-door V12 Ferrari on the theme of the luxurious, automatic-transmission, V12 400i coupe. Ferrari was furious over this plan to emasculate his machinery into a tamer, four-door boulvardier. He protested so vigorously that the entire project was cancelled." 

When I had read this paragraph I immediately linked it to these blogs:

https://erwin400.blogspot.com/2024/12/prototipo-prototype-prova-concept-car.html

https://erwin400.blogspot.com/2025/05/prototipo-prototype-prova-concept-car.html

Very likely this must have been the car in question. Interestingly Pininfarina tried the same in 1980 and presented the concept car "Ferrari Pinin". Back then it was also declined by Enzo himself.

My 400 - MOT / APK done

 Earlier this week my 400 had passed it´s MOT (Dutch APK) in one go without any findings. Not a surprise as I barely had driven it since last time. The MOT costed only € 55,-  and no further maintenance required this time. Although I need to look into rear shockaborbers as one of them is bad (left backside), or mabye it's the load leveller. I think I will park this job for the winter. 

The good news is that the MOT is valid for another two years and the car is also roadtax free (in the Netherlands cars older than 40 years and registered before 1st jan 1988 are eligible for this ruling). Next to this I have also the all-risk insureance to pay which is € 872,- per year. 

Not much interesting info here, only adding it just for the records in my maintenance archive. 

1981 Ferrari 400i – Tailored To Perfection

Apparently I missed out on this article from 25th of March 2026, it only popped up on my radar today:

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-european/1981-ferrari-400i-tailored-to-perfection/

Book - The complete Ferrari by Godfrey Eaton

One of the readers was so kind to scan the pages of this book with content about the Ferrari 365/400/412 series. It's now available as PDF on my Google Drive in the book section

Sammy Hagar - 1984 Ferrari 400i

 Via X :

https://x.com/sammyhagar/status/2064073593743433884?s=20

One in the can sounded fucking great back at it today. Can't wait to get out there on the road. Maybe I'll drive my old 1984 400i on this tour #ferrari #5150 #michaelanthony @chickenfootjoe #kennyaronoff #spidercherry pic.twitter.com/3Cz56tK1Ve

— Sammy Hagar (@sammyhagar) June 8, 2026