Flashback 1979 Ferrari Meeting Nürburgring

And another great post by Andreas Birner: 

Fiat 170 Ferrari Scuderia Transporter - scale model 1:43

This blogpost:https://erwin400.blogspot.com/2025/12/jody-scheckter-gilles-villeneuve.html

triggered me to further look into the Ferrari transporters used, especially the ones used in the late seventies and early eighties. 

It's the era when Ferrari was strong and their drivers became world champion; Niki Lauda and Jody Scheckter. Also Gilles Villeneuve was very good and popular. And these 3 drivers possessed a Ferrari 400. Well, Niki got a Ferrari 365GT4 2+2 from Enzo as a gift. This one was recently auctioned and ended up in the Netherlands. See this blog: 

https://erwin400.blogspot.com/2025/12/niki-lauda-ferrari-365gt4-22-on-dutch.html

Jody Scheckter, bought one Ferrari 400 Automatic himself. But he had another one which was gifted to him by Enzo.

Adding in this unique photo with Gilles, Jody and Leonardo Fioravanti. It's taken at the Ferrari drivers presentation in 1979

In any case, around 1975 Ferrari made use of these newly produced Fiat 170 tucks for their scuderia. 

According to Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iveco_T-series These trucks were build by Iveco but still badged as a Fiat and largely based upon its predecessor. The production started in 1975 and ended in 1990 with various modifications in between.

Apparently the first ones used in 1976 by Ferrari had the sponsor brand logo's included on the trailer. See, this example with Clay Regazzoni

I spotted vaious scale models for this truck available. Some with the Ferrari drivers used for promotion: ie Carlos Reutemann

Or Jody Scheckter:

As can be read on the package these are made by Polistil and fairly easy still available on the 2nd hand market.

And apparently from about 1977 they added next to the sponsor brand logo's also their own current range of car models on the trailer. You will see mentioned Dino 208GT4 and Dino 308GT4 below each other and next 308GTB, 308GTS, 400 Automatic and BB512. Meanwhile also Good Year got replaced by Michelin.

Another example I found of this trailer:

And it's exactly this scale model I was after due to the 400 Automatic being on it and in actual use in 1979 which matches my own 400. And it's the year of world champion Jody Scheckter who owned a 400 Automatic. 

From 1980 some names of the sponsors changed but also their car models changed. Meaning Tag Heuer now got replaced by Longines and the Dino 308/208GT4 got replaced by Mondial 8. And the 400 got replaced by 400i.  Whilst the BB512 became a BB512i the badge logo on the truck remained the same (withouth the additional i). I also noticed they added the brand "Personal" which is odd as I believe it was Nardi they were using. And prior to that it was Momo but this one was never on it. Below two photo examples of the 1980/81 trailer with Mondial 8, 400i and BB512. 

As for the scale model I was after, I was only able to find one brand who had made one. It was done by "Old Cars" (www.oldcars.it) and they offered precisely a 1979 model. Also a 1976 model (without decals of the used brands on the trailer) 

Of course it was out of production and sold out at every scale model website I visited. Except for one, which did happen to be located in the USA. Meaning additional expensive shipping costs and import duties to be paid. Since I expect chances are slim I would find it again shortly I simply bought it. 

The newer model (1980/81) I was still able to find on various places (by a different brand). A special scuderia edtion was created as well. See their website:

https://www.brumm.it/new/RTS01-RaceTransporterSet.html

Despite this is the correct model for 1980/81 I noticed one minor mistake, they used the 400 badge and not the 400i

I have to say the 27/28 scuderia Monaco 1981 special edition is cool though

In any case, the package finally arrived today. 

Yes, it's licensed by Ferrari. I once read that Ferrari is making more money with these licenses than the acutal car sales. I would not be surprised if that is actual true.

The cabine can be tilted:

The side mirrors were included but not attached on this photo. It's only till I took this photo and noticed it's a RHD truck. Not sure if it was a mistake. When I checked the period photo examples it turns out they are RHD indeed, not sure why thats done? Perhaps historical reasons? Also it has license plate id 371795 MO which is indeed identical as used back then - see supporting photo above.

And as I still don't have a nice 1:43 scale model of a 400 Automatic series, I used this 412 which I had. I also have a blue 365GT4 2+2 1:43 scale model but that's still firmly packaged. So for now I made this photo. Not the greatest photo but you get the picture ...

Auto Becker : flashback to September of 1978

And another great post by Andreas Birner:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DoQSUerHL/

This is another flashback to September of 1978:

Auto Becker of Düsseldorf - then Germany‘s sole official Ferrari importer - had organized a Ferrari-tour to Maranello that included highlights like a visit to the factory and to the Pista di Fiorano, Ferrari's private test track located between Maranello and the adjacent town of Fiorano.

Jürgen Schillo took these photos after the group had lined up their cars in the test tracks‘s service area.

In the first photo we see a 400 GT or 400 Automatic on temporary plate from Düsseldorf, probably a demonstrator of Auto Becker which had been driven to Maranello by one of Becker‘s staff members or by a client. Next to it we see the 365 GTB/4 Daytona s/n 13243. Completed at the works in Maranello on March 11, 1970, this Daytona had been born as an early example with oerspex headlight covers. Having been imported into Germany as a new car via Auto Becker, it was sold new to somebody with residences in Berlin and Munich. When the facelift version arrived in 1971 with the pop-up headlights, the owner had his example converted to the new front design to avoid driving an outdated car. At some point in the 1970s, he sold s/n 13243 to Reinhard Schürer who ran an official Ferrari workshop in Munich at that time. Schürer would eventually keep the car for decades.

In th second photo we prominently see the 365 GT4 BB s/n 18687. Produced on September 30, 1975 in the colour combination of Nero 20-B-619 (black) with Boxer trim and nero VM8500 (black) leather interior, this 365 GT4 BB was imported as a new cer into Germany via Auto Becker. In 1977 or 1978, Walter Lais of Esslingen found the Boxer with a minor accident damage to the left front in a scrapyard in Munich, purchased it and had it repainted to metallic pearl white during the repairs. Apparently a new DIY front skirt had been fitted with a smaller mouth opening, looking somehow „off“ in the photo. Much later this #365GT4BB was repainted to red and has been on display since decades in the Auto- & Technik-Museum in Sinsheim, Germany.

In the final photo we see the late #HelmutBecker, son of Auto Becker‘s founder Wilhelm Becker.

#ferrari #pistadifiorano #ferrari365gtb4

Ferrari 400i Paint : IVI

I had made two paint colorcode blogs for the Ferrari 400:

https://erwin400.blogspot.com/2018/10/ferrari-400-paint-colors-colours-codes.html

https://erwin400.blogspot.com/2018/11/ferrari-400-paint-colors-colours-codes.html

And recently I was approached by someone who had difficulty to figure out what color was used on a 400 for a new paint job. The car had already resprayed a few times in the past. But the provided photo of the paint decal was not much of a help:

And I did not recognize it either. Apparently the brand is IVI. And it is an Italian paint company, see this Italian Wiki: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/I.V.I._-_Industria_Vernici_Italiane

And at some point in time Fiat was a large shareholder of this company and subsequently sold it to PPG in 1983.
So it was a paint often used for Fiats, Lancia and Alfa Romeo.

I was unware that Ferrari/Pininfarina had used IVI as well on their cars, but this is the case though for only a few years in the early eighties. 

As a side comment, last year I was lucky and got my hands on a large genuine Glasurit lightbox, fits nicely in the garage (even though my 400 has PPG paint).

Gold Coast Motor Museum in Upper Coomera, QLD/AUS - Ferrari 400i

https://www.gcmm.com.au/

https://www.facebook.com/goldcoastmotormuseum

Via Marcel Massini on Ferrarichat.com:

Dossier V12 - "La Bourgeoise" de Maranello - "THE SOCIAL LADY" FROM MARANELLO

A magazine test of the 1987 Ferrari 412i (V12, 4.9 L, 340 hp, 444 Nm) by the Belgium magazine Le Moniteur de l'Automobile.

Find below a clickable translated link to the article. It's coming from a Ukraine website. Would be nice to obtain a digital scan of this article for my archive. So if anyone has it available I'm interested to hear from you, SVP.

https://driver-top.translate.goog/blog/701763/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Well, quicker as anticipated I obtained the scanned magazine article within the next hour. It's now available in the download folder. Thanks to Yurri, the man behind:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/362445641094484 

highly recommended if you are into everything about Ferrari. See also this blog: 

https://erwin400.blogspot.com/2025/05/ferrari-story-of-legend-chapter.html

Auto Becker : The „Internationales Ferrari-Treffen Nürburgring“ 1978

Some great photo postings by Andreas Birner Consulting: