This fusion of culture, kitch and fun made it an irresistible combination as a popular tourist attraction, with a
reported 12 million visitors a year. The car collection features a number of high end supercars, with Ferraris
prominent in their numbers, including a F50, an Enzo and a FXX, participating in the latter in the factory’s
Corse Clienti programme. The jewel in the crown of the collection is the 275 GTB/C “Speciale”, chassis #
06885, which had finished 3rd overall and won its class in the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hour Race, which he had
owned since 1985, and had refused a number of multi-million dollar offers for it.
On the subject of Le Mans, he raced there himself as a driver five times, finishing 10th in 1983, partnered by
Claude Ballot-Lena and Jean-Louis Schlesser in a Porsche 956. The same year he won the 24 Hours of
Daytona partnered by Bob Wollek, A.J. Foyt and Claude Ballot-Lena driving a Porsche 935. He also owned
and raced a Ferrari 512 BB/LM during the eighties, along with his daughter Bonnie.
Behind the cowboy demeanour and southern drawl, Preston Henn was a Vanderbilt graduate with an
engineering degree, and a very astute businessman. He is on record as saying “So many New Yorkers think
they can take advantage of me because I talk slow. They think I think slow, but I don’t think slow.”
The instantly recognisable figure in his customary 10-gallon hat and blue jeans may have moved to the great
ranch in the sky, but his memory will linger long with all who knew him, and the Swap Shop a monument to
his achievements.
Keith Bluemel
05/2017
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