My 400 - Original colour setting - Ferrari Classiche - Actual Delivery date

Earlier this week I was approached by someone who wanted confirmation of the Original colours of my 400 for his database. According to him it was likely to be Azzurro Metallizato with Beige VM 3218 interior and Blu carpets. As far as I could see myself this was the case, however I don't have it officially documented though, nor was it mentioned in the warranty papers or such. It was something on my target list to obtain an official Ferrari Classiche paper stating the origin of my car. Such paper would cost you € 300,- To give you an idea what it looks like:

For those interested regarding this intriguing owner, see this blog:

http://erwin400.blogspot.nl/2015/10/bring-trailer-1974-ferrari-365gt4-22-5.html

So yes, quite an expensive A4 paper. But anything Ferrari is slightly overpriced in my humble opinion. Nevertheless it's an item I would like to have included with my 400 for historical completeness. But for now it can wait.

Prior to this I was given the following source who potentially could assist in confirming the same information; Tony Willis at The Maranello Concessionaires Archive.

But I was also given the name of Marcello Massini. I guess for the majority of the Ferrari incrowd this is a known name. In fact he can be considered the authority when it comes down to Ferrari history. The following article provides a nice story about him:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/velostrada/issues/200509/Ausbrooks_Massini.htm

So I just send him an email to get confirmation about the colour setting used for my car. The next day I got already an answer and he confirmed the following is correct:

Azzurro Metallizato with Beige VM 3218 interior and Blu carpets

He also mentions the actual factory delivery date is 27 February 1979. My Original warranty booklet mentions however the deliver date of 27 December 1979. So that's exactly a 10 month gap which I can't explain.

My theory is the following. When doing research regarding the first owner of my 400 I found out he had the car shipped immediately to the UK when it was newly delivered. This to get a complete new leather upholstery, see my blog about this matter:

http://erwin400.blogspot.nl/2013/12/car-owner-history.html

So I suspect the warranty of the car became active on it's return from the UK since it was still unused in between. I guess this might have been settled/agreed with his Ferrari distributor Auto Becker.

Mr Massini however mentions the following; "Cars were not easy to sell in those days and the warranty only begins once the car is really sold. The car may have been sitting unsold for several months."

Although I don't have any insight about this particular era and how car deals were made I find it difficult to believe these type of cars would have been produced without an actual order or pre payment to confirm the deal.

Actually from the following time period magazine article:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8teqGKDb3gkVlNSYkN3b3UwNHc

I understood that in May 1977 there were no new 400 cars available for testing or to provide demo's. This was due to the high demand and impatient new owners waiting in Maranello. Even the company "works" car had been sold.

I Always found it quite peculiar that my 400 was a carburettor version given the delivery date of 27 December 1979. The first injected cars were already on the road in August 1979 or even earlier. But now I know the actual delivery date was 27 February 1979, so that's another mystery out of my way.

I'm now curious to know from Ferrari Classiche when the actual order was placed and how long it would take to build a 400. It is estimated it would take about 1 month to assemble a 400. Of course there could have been a waiting list between order and start of assembly and we expect that varies so we guess around 2-3 months. Anyone who has got more insight in this matter please get in contact with me.

And for the records, a picture of the paint sticker located in the trunk of my 400. So yes, the color is Azurro Metallizato with code 8044169