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Showing posts with label book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book. Show all posts

Monday, 13 December 2021

Book - Ferrari the sports and gran turismo cars by Fitzgerald Merritt & Thompson

 A few weeks ago or so I bumped into this book. What a great cover, so I had to buy this book as I was curious regarding the content as well. Two days later I got a whatsapp message from someone who notified me about this book and had bought it too. What a coincidence :-)

It's actually quite a good book. But not that much about the 365GT4 2+2 or 400 though.





Tuesday, 3 August 2021

Let me sell you a Ferrari - A dealer's Memoir

 A fairly new book that got published in May 2021. And it does have interesting material covered related to the 400. Chapter 7 is called "Automatico" and does provide historical information regarding the usage of the automatic in a Ferrari. Chapter "Madame Ibarra" is an interesting one as that reveals how a new 400i was ordered via grey import (Paris) and sold locally in the USA.

I managed to read a lot using Google books but on a 2nd attempt many pages appears to be limited. Have a try yourself via:

https://books.google.nl/books?id=xLkxEAAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=let%20me%20sell%20you%20a%20ferrari&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=let%20me%20sell%20you%20a%20ferrari&f=false

Or simply order it, I think it's a nice read. 


Update 4-8-2021: So yes, I bought the e-book, it's cheaper and the hardcopy is not available in my country (yet). And yes, both chapters did mention quite a bit about the 400i, including some photo's.

Monday, 28 October 2019

Book : Pininfarina Cinquantanni

A very nice book I recently purchased. I can't believe it took me this long to discover and buy it. The trigger was due to a roadtrip with my Fiat 130 Coupe to Italy to attend the 50th anniversary meeting in Milan. For this trip I had spend some additional days in Turin and visited the Pininfarina museum at their headquarters in Cambiano. But additional I arranged a meet up with designer Paolo Martin at the Pininfarina Windtunnel in Grugliasco. At this meet up I had some retrospective photo's taken based on historical photo's with Sergio Pininfarina, Renzo Carli and the Fiat 130 Coupe. Furthermore I also went to the restaurant in Tortana where Pininfarina in 1951 made the partnership deal with Enzo Ferrari. Due to all of this I stumbled upon this book. Although I haven't read it yet it did contain much uniqe and beautiful (of course) photographic material. I was very happpy to see some 400 pictures regarding the build up in their factory. Find them hereby enclosed.

PS Note the new option regarding the "like" and "dislike" option at the bottom of each blog post. It was a suggestion by one of the readers






Wednesday, 3 July 2019

Book : Ferrari 70 Settanta vetture che hanno fatto la storia

Another book about Ferrari with 70 years of history. And it did contain 2 chapters about the Ferrari 365/400 and the 412. The book is only available in Italian language. So hereby some photo's:





Tuesday, 26 February 2019

Inside Ferrari by Michael Dregni - Ferrari 400 fiberglass floor pans - Pininfarina / Vaccari

A book I recently purchased. I was reading another blog which mentioned this book. As such I purchased it. It's actually a very good book and very affordable as well. It provides good detail and great photo's about about a certain period at Ferrari. Unfortunately the 365/400/412 is not much covered though.


However I found this little section which I consider quite unique material.




See also this blog as reference regarding the chassis and the fiberglass panel:

https://erwin400.blogspot.com/2014/10/william-vaccari-il-tubista-ferrari.html

So perhaps when the 400 was produced the fibre glass floor pans were produced and mounted by Pininfarina rather than by Vaccari.

Wednesday, 24 January 2018

Ferrari by Pininfarina - technology and beauty - by Etienne Cornil

Another book I purchased. A very nice book with a very good overview of the Ferrari line. And of course it had a section about the 400. A very well written piece with nice supporting photo material. It did had some pictures I had not seen before, so adding them to picture archive.

The book itself has been published in various languages, even in Dutch. The book has ISBN nr 90-396-1696-5 (978903616963)





Sunday, 29 October 2017

Ferrari Werbung und Prospekte aus fünf Jahrzehnten

Thought this was a nice edition for my archive. It's a German book with a collection of 50 years of Ferrari brochures. And of course it does include the 400 brochures. Very affordable and cheaper then purchasing each brochure, though the real brochure is cooler. For those interested:

Autor/in:
Titel:

Ferrari. Werbung und Prospekte aus fünf Jahrzehnten.

ISBN:

3613871912

(ISBN-13: 9783613871915)
Gewicht:783 g
Verlag:

Stuttgart : Schrader

Auflage:1. Aufl.
Erschienen:1999.
Sprache:Deutsch







Wednesday, 23 August 2017

BBC Books - Top Gear : CRAP CARS #18 Ferrari 400

In a tweet I came across this "book" CRAP CARS with a comment made regarding the Ferrari 400. And I recalled this particular book from the wiki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_365_GT4_2%2B2,_400_and_412

Today, its sleek, Pininfarina-designed lines and relatively limited production numbers have made many enthusiasts consider it a classic. It has not been universally admired however, and is listed at #18 in the BBC's book of "Crap Cars" and Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear described it as "awful in every way".[13] However, there have been many other favorable articles about the 400 series in the motoring press, including an outlying view expressed by UK motoring journalist L.J.K. Setright in CAR magazine in August 1984, who described it as "one of the few most beautiful, and one of the two most elegant, bodies ever to leave the lead of Pininfarina's pencilling vision".

Out of curiosity I just checked Ebay and found one listed for 2.39 GBP and the shipping costs was very reasonable. So I figured I could spare the money and ordered it. It arrived today and it's a funny read with indeed some remarkable cars listed.





Monday, 31 July 2017

Book : Ferrari on the road by Stanley Nowak

Another book added to my archive. It looks like it's missing the paper cover though. This book provides a pretty good summary about the cars produced by Ferrari up to 1993. And of course it does have a small section about the 400. It's Chapter sixteen: 2+2 redefined. Unfortunately the standard press pictures have been used but I found the supporting text quite good. It did reveal at least about the automatic gearbox that was pioneered by the work of Dick Fritz at Chinetti Motors. He succesfully applied it on the 365GT 2+2 (queen mary), a total of six were delivered. See also my blogs:

http://erwin400.blogspot.nl/2014/12/enzo-ferrari-dino-taggliazucchi-chic.html

and

http://erwin400.blogspot.nl/2015/02/ferrari-automatic-transmission-part-ii.html

Despite the automatic gearbox would have had it's largest potential market in the US it was not officially imported in the USA. So devasting was the cost of meeting all the US requirements, including crashing two cars, that is was not economically feasbile. the price of the car would have been to high. Note this same story applies to the BB365/512.

It also highlights the fact regarding the Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection that seemed to encourage the rumour that the new car would be imported into the USA. It did make the car at least easier to legalise and more found their way to the USA via the grey market, despite the fact that the makers warranty was inoperative and parts were not stocked.

The most interesting part is the following; About 1982, Ferrari North America, who had replaced Chinetti-Garthwaite Imports and Modern Classic Motors as the sole US importer in 1980, made the decission to allow US Ferrari dealers to take orders for the European specification 400i for delivery at the factory in Maranello. This was partly as the result of pressure brought by the dealers who wanted to be able to compete with the grey market on Ferrari models not officially imported. As Ferrari North America is a direct branch of the factory, it became easier to steer the factory in the direction of marketing decsissions that would benefit the North American Market.

This was something I was unaware of and likely explains why quite a few 400i's made its way to the USA (especially compared with the 365GT4 2+2 and 400 carb). It clears up my remark I made in the following blog:

http://erwin400.blogspot.nl/2017/01/invoice-new-usa-imported-ferrari-400i.html

Another blog which is a good example in line with the above is the following which highlights this particular 412 had been ordered new from the factory:

http://erwin400.blogspot.nl/2016/12/usa-ferrari-412-first-owner.html

Despite the 400i got further uplifted and became the 412 it still was unable to meet all of the US legal requirements. Perhaps that explains why only a very few 412 went to the USA even though it could be ordered new from the Factory. You still had to spend more money to make it US road legal. And potentially by 1986 onwards it was then considered to be an outdated model as well. The BB had been replaced by the Testarossa already in 1984, while the 2+2 buyers had to wait till 1992 when the new replacement became available; the 456.

Update 1-8-2017: I was provided a little more information on the above. It appears that around 17% of the total 412 production went to the US - so the US was actually quite a big marktet. The reason for not even higher sales was that in 1987 Ferrari North America pulled out of that sales programme for the US dealers - so they no longer could take new customer orders. Indeed, if you look at the series 2 400i - produced from late 1982 untill early 1985 - some ca 45% (!!) of the LHD production found their way to the US.

This makes it all clear for me now. I Always found it remarkable how many US 400i are/were offered for sale in Europe. Many were imported back again due to the low appreciation for this model (thus low prices) in combination with a cheap dollar - making it an attractive opportunity for European traders/buyers.

So it is indeed a myth that Ferrari was not influenced by the US market when it comes to the 400/412.






Wednesday, 11 May 2016

Book : The Ferrari Legend: The Road Cars by Antoine Prunet - ( PROVA TO 723 )

A very good book I recently purchased and it did contain a good chapter on the 365/400. It's published in 1981, so the 412 is not listed.

It also contained a very large and unique photo of an early 365 GT4 2+2 test car (prova TO 723). The upholstery seems to be made of cloth material instead of leather.



Thursday, 17 March 2016

Book 1984 Supercar Road Tests - Ferrari 400

How's that, a BMW M1 on this blog. Interestingly this German car does have the Vitaloni Tornado mirrors just like the 400. And yes, it does have the Tornado sticker on it as well (albeit only on the left side). For those who are unaware I still have a few stickers left, see this blog:

http://erwin400.blogspot.nl/2016/01/for-sale-tornado-by-vitaloni-decal.html

At first I had bought this book in the German language and quickly I noticed all the cars in this book had English license plates. So it turned out it was originally published as an English book. So now I have both. It does contain quite a lot of articles about cars which I consider interesting. If any of the German readers is interesting in buying my German version just drop me a note. You can have it for € 10,- (excl. shipping).  The book ISBN is:

ISBN 10:060035041X
ISBN 13:9780600350415
 
The article is now available in the download folder:
 

Friday, 15 January 2016

Book : Ferrari Serial Numbers Manual - The Hillary Raab files - revisited 1947 - 2007 | VIN | Matthias Urban

A book I had seen before, it was listed on Ebay. And only for € 10,- Still I thought it would be a waste, so I left it. Not much later I regretted it and of course the book was no longer listed - even though they had quite a few on stock. But I noticed it was also listed on Amazon, even cheaper, for   € 9,86 -  including shipping! Originally the book cost about € 50,- And today I received. It's a bilingual book (German/English). And I have to say it's quite an impressive work. Of course my car was listed as well. Apart from the VIN some cars do have additional supporting information, like the color, engine nr, year, etc. For my car 27303 it mentions the following:

Automatic, Azzurro Metallic / Tan LHD EU Kroymans Collection




Monday, 4 January 2016

Book : Ferrari - Faszination auf Rädern

And another nice book I got my hands on. It's a German book produced by Auto Becker:

Ferrari - Faszination auf Rädern. Gewidmet Enzo Ferrari zum 85. Geburtstag, Wilhelm Becker zum 70. Geburtstag.   

It has a very complete history on Ferrari and Auto Becker with many interesting chapters loaded with nice supporting pictures. Oh, and of course the 400 is mentioned as well.

If you are interested in this book, here are the ISBN details:

ISBN-10: 3923883145

ISBN-13: 9783923883141

  
 

                          

Monday, 26 October 2015

Book - Autobiography Leonardo Fioravanti - IL CAVALLINO NEL CUORE

I should have promoted this book much earlier. I already touchbased a little about it in this specific blog:

http://erwin400.blogspot.nl/2015/08/design-story-part-ii-pininfarina-paolo.html

The next part is coming but is pending on finalizing the video interview and other bits and pieces.

Earlier this week Dedo shared this unique picture with me:


It's Mr. Fioravanti and the Publisher Giorgio Nada at the event Concorso Stelle Sul Liston.

I had the book already in my possession on the 14th of June when I received a signed copy from Mr. Fioravanti himself:

 
 

I can testify it's a very good and complete book, it's actually an autobiography. It's written by himself instead of being done by a ghostwriter in a fancy style - it really gives the book a natural and personal touch.  Lots of questions I had prepared for the interview were more or less answered in the book. Of course it also reveals more on the background about the creation of the 400. I'm not going to release that on my blog so you simply need to order the book. I consider it a must have. As said, it's very complete with many unique pictures and touchbases on his entire oeuvre.

With the days becoming longer and colder it's a good read or else treat yourself on a nice gift for the upcoming festive days.

You can order it here http://www.libreriadellautomobile.it/English/ or here, now with 15% reduction:

http://www.giorgionadaeditore.it/novita/il-cavallino-nel-cuore.html

Happy reading everyone.


Wednesday, 2 September 2015

Ferrari 365GT4 2+2 - Style Auto Architettura della carrozzeria 32


Recently I purchased a batch of the famous magazine Style Auto Architettura della carrozeria (17-35). What an incredible cool magazine. I now will go ahead and try to make it complete. The following edition did contain a small item about the released 365GT4 2+2. Unfortunately not a special and using the known pictures. It did contain a fold out picture as well but I left that one out.